Yesterday, Valleywag blogger Nick Douglas wrote an elaborate critique of the Podtech.net venture titled “Why PodTech isn't a real media network,” prompting Podtech video blogger Loren Feldman to respond today with a scathing video titled “Nick Douglas Is Worth $9600 A Year.” Whether you agree with Feldman’s take or not, there is a certain unique art to his vitriol in this case.
Some of Feldmans’s choice quotes: “He was 2 when Yahoo started …” “He’s a wannabe. A jock sniffer.” Feldman even went as far as calculating Douglas’ net worth based on his advertising offer on his personal video blog saying, “$9,600 is what Nick Douglas think’s he is worth… there are cheap hookers who are worth more than that.” I kept waiting for the rimshot sound effects to begin.
But what this dustup is really about is Silicon Valley culture versus Silicon Alley (New York) culture.
I remember the early days of Web 1.0 in Silicon Valley (I was living in
Milpitas at the time) and as a native New Yorker the thing that stood out was how nice everyone was. At the same time, the local method of takedown was to inventively wrap an insult within a compliment—the technique general kept the peace, unlike New York where open war is declared daily over small insults. The Valley is still a generally nice place to meet nice people, but with the rising popularity of blogs has come a new edge and some are still struggling with how to deal with that edge.
Douglas (based in Silicon Valley), for instance, is often referred to as “a nice kid” by many of his Silicon Valley targets despite his acidic posts. What some don’t realize is that the “take the piss out them” tone of the site is guided by Douglas’ boss Nick Denton, whose British-meets-Spy
Magazine-meets-New York street tough editorial hand can leave some shell shocked (Denton is also based in Silicon Alley).
Left to his own devices (how much “real” vitriol does anyone have at 23?), Douglas would probably never be inspired to write such harshings. Most in the Valley understand this and give him a pass.
Feldman, on the other hand, is in the Alley, sweaty, chainsmoking and fighting for his digital life in gritty New York City—there will be no pass giving.
