Why I Am Not a Podcaster

September 11, 2007 · Comments

citizen journalism

It’s kind of strange to be the cofounder of PodCamp and not identify as a podcaster. Or is it? I make media every day. I make text or video or audio or some combo EVERY DAY. So I identify as a media maker, or a social media expert. Hell, Twitter is media, should I use it that way. But I’m not a podcaster.

I say this often at PodCamps: “It’s like calling a carpenter a ‘hammerer,’ because he uses that tool, among many others.”

I’m also not a blogger, or a videoblogger or any of those things. I’m ALL of those things. It’s like my man, Clarence says at social events, “I AM media.” And yet, I’m not.

I’m a human with a message and a brand around that message and by brand, I’m saying that I stand for something that I hope translates when you tell others.

Making sense?

Now, apply it to your day jobs. You’re not a project manager. You’re not a consultant. You’re not a … what the hell DO you all do? (That’s a comment request. What do you do? Why do you come here? How does it intersect?)

Visit the social media mothership, take your supplies, and then go back and create things (messages, meaning, value, entertainment) OUTSIDE this fishbowl. Go find the place where you can really set things ablaze.

And then tell me what you are.

Photo credit, m-c

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  • It's not about the medium/tool, it's about message. A carpenter has many tools, he doesn't use a hammer for everything :)

    -Jeff
    http://blog.zemote.com
  • Julien Smith said it best - I'm not a podcaster, I'm a marketer with a podcast.

    What do I do? Bre Pettis says he makes things.

    I create heroes.
  • Cameron Reilly
    Why do we call a carpenter a carpenter then? Because he... carpents?

    Anyway... my 2 cents:
    http://gdayworld.thepodcastnetwork.com/2007/09/...
  • Lately I've been thinking about similar things. The question is "What am I?"

    I find that both me and my audience respond to authenticity. I don't have millions of dollars available to filter and package my content. I can't compete with mainstream media in that way. But I can try to be unfiltered, to be authentic, to make a connection with the audience.

    The wonderful part and the challenge of being authentic is that I don't think you can fake it. You have to become the real thing. You have to answer the question, who am I? How can I develop and fulfill who I could really be. I have a feeling that many people in new media might go through this process.

    Anyways, just some thoughts.
  • Ula
    I am full-time student, part-time webworker, part-time helper for those who wants to be present online, but don't know how & random-time blogger/twitter(er)/facebooker.
    Most of my time online - I'm trying to use this medium as a tool for this, what is most important for me. But in the same time "real life" has bigger priority.
  • Meg
    It's 8:06 am and so far today I've been a valet, a cook, a waitress, a housekeeper, a writer, an editor, a correspondent, a nurse, a negotiator of peace, a teacher, a diplomat, a babysitter, a mom, and a wife... just wait until noon hits!
  • kat
    i am a fan
    :)
  • We've always needed to label things for easier understanding. Unfortunately, that then connotes that someone only does one thing (or one thing well).

    Example: How hard is it for Stephen King to publish something that's NOT horror? Where would a bookstore PUT it?

    And yet -- is Stephen King not an author?

    (Answer: Yes, but he's a HORROR author. Or a FICTION author... Unless you're talking about "On Writing," in which case -- and just this once -- he's a REFERENCE author...)

    But... he also wrote screenplays... which makes him...

    A storyteller?

    (Answer: Yes, but he's a 20th CENTURY storyteller... unless he publishes something in the 21st Century, in which case...)
  • I am BarbaraKB.
  • I'm actually in the opposite camp. First, I don't commute much, so I don't have long stretches of hands-off time to spend productively. Second, I prefer strongly reading over listening because I find reading much more efficient. For example, skimming, table of contents, etc.

    That said, I really appreciate how you're pushing media, thinking about novel applications, trends, and the future, and making it happen. Super impressive!
  • I am constantly changing the title on my blog and on my LinkedIn profile. I am a writer. But isn't anyone who produces a podcast? But then that makes me a producer - a podcast producer. But sometimes I'm the reporter. Let's not forget, videographer, editor and title wizard.

    One of my goals is to produce either an independent film (actually video) and maybe even a Web-based science fiction series. So that makes me a filmmaker, no wait a videographer, no I mean a podcaster? FX wizard wannabe? No scratch that, a media artist! Yeah, that sounds cool ...

    Then every morning I turn into a pumpkin and unfortunately have to go to my day job.
  • Yep , I know that feeling I spent much of PodcampUK being asked " So whats your podcast ?" It was intersting to see how many people knew whom I was due to all the social network buzz.
  • Damnit, Brogan. Now you'll make me reflect endlessly about who the hell I am and what I do. As one who denounces labels, I market myself these days as a "new media producer" who creates content for mass consumption via podcasts, blogs and lifecasts.

    Hell, I don't know, but it's definitely something I've been thinking about. Thanks for posting this.
  • That can be a hard question to answer when you work primarily online.

    One of the great things about the web is it allows us to move faster, communicate better, and accomplish more (etc.) than we could pre-web.

    For some of us that means there are no nice shiny Job Titles that we can easily take. Job Titles chaff.

    In my day job I've settled for "Product Management and Communications Specialist" but for a long time I was Title-less.

    When it comes to all my Outside-the-day-job activities I've settled on the title "Publisher".

    Boil down all the content creation (blogs, podcasts, video, audio etc) and at the end of the day we're just getting it all published somewhere.

    And 'Publisher' is a much easier to explain at family get-togethers than the whole truth.
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