Influence of the "blogosphere"

May 16, 2006 2:48 PM

Does anyone have specific examples of products that were either boosted or busted solely from buzz created on the "blogosphere?"

I'm trying to come up with a list of products that, had it not been for the attention they received on blogs, would never have been successful. Or vice versa. I'm thinking along the lines of the slanket or the optimus keyboard. Any others?

posted by bjork24 to Computers & Internet (44 answers total)

The ClueCat certainly took a beating on a lot of blogs.
posted by tommasz at 2:54 PM on May 16, 2006

I'm not sure if it's a "product" (or if it belongs on your list), but Snakes on a Plane is probable notable.
posted by subclub at 2:55 PM on May 16, 2006

Google. Notice Google's advertising budget: $0 (or so it seems)
posted by StarForce5 at 2:57 PM on May 16, 2006

All I can think of, off the top of my head is the cueCat fiasco. I doubt that it's failure is directly related to the news coverage it recieved in geek blogs way back, but it was covered extensively..
posted by aeighty at 2:59 PM on May 16, 2006

No products as such. Still, they sell music:
Arctic Monkeys
Clap Your Hands Say Yeah
posted by koenie at 3:05 PM on May 16, 2006

Google. Notice Google's advertising budget: $0 (or so it seems)

Google spend vast sums on money on keeping people like AOL on their side and they also run enormous, although carefully targeted, advertising campaigns on a regular basis. Also you have to count all the Google AdWords which advertise Google products as well.

But yeah, it's mostly blogs/word of mouth I suppose :)
posted by public at 3:07 PM on May 16, 2006

I'm gonna say TIVO.
posted by jedrek at 3:08 PM on May 16, 2006

Not a product, but after a blogger was sucked into a bait and switch with a camera store in Brooklyn he blogged about it. If I remember correctly there was a lot of backlash from random internet folk that caused a lot of problems for the store. Blogger's website post here, and mefi thread here.
posted by dripdripdrop at 3:08 PM on May 16, 2006

...wait you mean the Optimus Keyboard has been a successful product? I thought it was just some pretty renders still?
posted by public at 3:09 PM on May 16, 2006

Wasn't there a Kryptonite lock (or whatever that lock company is called) which was picked by someone and all the buzz on the blogosphere severely damaged the lock company's reputation?
posted by wackybrit at 3:19 PM on May 16, 2006

The first that popped into my mind are the 37signals products, if only because I've read and heard about their services pretty much exclusively via bloggers. This isn't to say that they wouldn't find success without bloggers -- they are making a pretty damned good product -- but that I think bloggers were (and still are) instrumental in drawing attention to their products.
posted by fishfucker at 3:22 PM on May 16, 2006

I have a pad of sticky notes that say 'LUV 2 BLOG' on them. The adhesive is the worst ever and the ink smears.
posted by cellphone at 3:25 PM on May 16, 2006

There was the Raging Cow thing
posted by milkrate at 3:27 PM on May 16, 2006

The first thing that comes to mind is the Raging Cow fiasco. Basically Dr. Pepper set up a blog to shill its Raging Cow drink and people caught onto it. Next big one the comes to mind is the PriceRitePhotos incident, in which a camera store gypped on person too many and the complaints made their way onto the blogosphere.

I hope this helps. Not sure if this meets your "product" criteria though.
posted by freakystyley at 3:38 PM on May 16, 2006

How about that movie, Snakes on a Plane?
posted by hooray at 3:45 PM on May 16, 2006

Response by poster: These are all great! It doesn't have to be a "material" product, so-to-speak, but at least something that has to do with hype (good or bad) being leveled towards a product, service, website, etc.. In a more concise form, I'm looking for examples of the "blogosphere's" ability to help or hinder.
posted by bjork24 at 3:46 PM on May 16, 2006

Dan Rather.
posted by NotMyselfRightNow at 3:51 PM on May 16, 2006

The subway perv from flickr and Firefox.
posted by Mr. Gunn at 4:19 PM on May 16, 2006

The Oozinator.
posted by Mr. Gunn at 4:20 PM on May 16, 2006

I'm going to second TiVo (and point to the relevant MeTa thread). The much-discussed giveaway (complete with "technical glitch" that moved hundreds of units out the door) came at a critical point for the company.
posted by ewagoner at 4:27 PM on May 16, 2006

The Subaru WRX owes at least part of its popularity to internet forums, which is not exactly the blogosphere, but it's close enough for me.
posted by aubilenon at 4:28 PM on May 16, 2006

Glen Greenwald's book is selling well, promoted only on blogs.
posted by sonofsamiam at 4:36 PM on May 16, 2006

Pepsi Blue?
posted by Doohickie at 4:43 PM on May 16, 2006

TV B Gone
Adagio Tea
posted by growabrain at 4:43 PM on May 16, 2006

The Dairy Queen Moolatte got a lot of negative play. Enough play that DQ bought search engine positioning and even started making comments on blogs. Just Google "moolatte mulatto" and you can still find stuff, a couple of years later.
posted by acoutu at 4:44 PM on May 16, 2006

Blowing Smoke was a direct-to-internet movie who's sales were largely blog-driven. Not the worst movie I've seen, either.
posted by trinity8-director at 4:58 PM on May 16, 2006

It may or may not be the sort of thing you're after, but Osu! Tatakae! Ouendan for the Nintendo DS probably would've stayed an obscure (if exceptionally good) Japanese rhythm game if word-of-mouth via gaming blogs and forums hadn't made it so popular in the West. So much so that there's going to be a US semi-sequel, actually.
posted by terpsichoria at 5:25 PM on May 16, 2006

Possibly the LitterMaid. No one wanted one after people started reviewing it poorly.
posted by haplesschild at 5:35 PM on May 16, 2006

pretty flowers.
posted by 3.2.3 at 6:07 PM on May 16, 2006

Well, if it doesn't have to be a product, I would the A Million Little Pieces fiasco would qualify. Sort of.
posted by gregoryc at 6:24 PM on May 16, 2006

I would SAY, I should say.
posted by gregoryc at 6:25 PM on May 16, 2006

LOL @ 3.2.3!
posted by StarForce5 at 7:18 PM on May 16, 2006

Neighborhoodies?
posted by GaelFC at 7:52 PM on May 16, 2006

Getting thing Done
posted by any major dude at 8:09 PM on May 16, 2006

That should read Getting Things Done
posted by any major dude at 8:10 PM on May 16, 2006

Segway
posted by Rash at 8:28 PM on May 16, 2006

Does Howard Dean count? It seemed to me he garnered a lot more attention from blogs than newspapers and TV news until he let out that yell and everyone started calling him crazy. Plus he received a ton of his campaign contributions via the Internet.
posted by DyRE at 9:30 PM on May 16, 2006

The Hipster PDA
posted by k1ng at 9:40 PM on May 16, 2006

The Blair Witch Project.
posted by tellurian at 9:44 PM on May 16, 2006

The Million Dollar Homepage.
posted by tellurian at 9:48 PM on May 16, 2006

Moleskines?
posted by furiousthought at 10:35 PM on May 16, 2006

Snakes on a Plane !
posted by doogyrev at 10:35 PM on May 16, 2006

Not sure if this one qualifies, but the Harry Potter Vibrating Nimbus 2000. The story made its rounds on the blogosphere, although I'm not sure if it made or broke the product though.
posted by freakystyley at 7:22 AM on May 17, 2006

Clip-N-Seal got their product onto the space shuttle merely by blogging about it. 37Signals sold tens of thousands of dollars worth of copies of their book solely through their blog. There are dozens of little t-shirts and t-shirt shops that make most of their money through blog-driven sales, from sites like Threadless or preshrunk or muledesign. And *lots* of crafts people make at least part of their living by keeping a livejournal or something and talking about their work.

That's off the top of my head. I could probably think real hard and come up with a dozen more; There's lots.
posted by anildash at 3:26 PM on May 17, 2006