Why Does Europe Lack Great Big Tech Blogs?
I think there is a gaping hole on this side of the Atlantic for tech blogs. It really annoys me when all the content I read on a daily basis has an American slant to it and that we have nothing really tailored to the European market. I know we do have some blogs like Techcrunch Europe or The Guardian tech blogs but there just seems to be a real lack of quality content here in Europe and we all rely on what we get from the USA. I’m not sure what the problem is as we have a huge amount of interesting start ups and technology companies over here with some great innovation happening but for some reason nobody has been able to get a meaningful tech blog off the ground that I go to every single day of the week. I know people will correct me in the comments and say there are some great blogs and I’m sure there are but they are niche, I am talking about a mainstream tech blog that is read and respected all over the world. So why are there no great tech blogs on this side of the pond?
The Language?
Lets face it I am never going to go and read a technology blog in either German or French and I would imagine the same is true in reverse. Europe is a collection of over 10 different languages so building a community around a blog is nearly impossible. The most obvious choice is of course English but by writing in one specific language you are effectively ruling out 80% of your audience from day 1 in Europe. Having said all of that there is no reason why your English language tech blog could not be read all over the world in English speaking countries to grow the audience.
Thinking Local
Too many blogs and websites pigeon hole themselves in to being an “Irish Blog” or an “English blog” and as soon as you do that and start writing about local content you effectively rule the rest of the world out. Nobody outside of Ireland is really interested in the Irish tech scene. I’m not saying that all blogs should be international because we certainly do need local blogging about local issues but too often blogs are happy to be the big fish in a small pond rather than trying to look at the bigger picture and try and attract a global audience.
The Lack Of A Tech Hub
Some might be able to make a case for London and the vibrant start up and tech community that is there. Some might even say Dublin with it’s huge tech players like Google and Facebook and thousands of staff but to be honest nothing compares to the scene over in Silicon Valley. Blogs are able to thrive in the USA because they have a central hub of activity, a geographical focus point where all the big companies are innovating, holding press conferences and have all their staff mingling with bloggers on a daily basis. Writing stories or breaking news from over here in Europe is nearly impossible and you are essentially relying on second hand knowledge or picking up tech news from American blogs.
Anybody Could Do It
Nearly all big blogs including Mashable and Techcrunch were started out of spare bedrooms before they grew in to fully fledged businesses employing writers all over the world and attracting huge traffic. The software that most of the top blogs use is free and with some simple modifications you can have a platform that can attract millions of readers if the content is good enough. There really is no barrier to entry to get in to this market all you need is a little drive, a lot of hard work and a basic understanding of the online world and the ways to find the latest news. It blows my mind that nobody has cracked the European technology blog market yet and I really do think it is a market that is wide open should the right person be able to overcome the couple of issues I mention above. I just wish there was a central hub with European technology news that could compliment the American focused blogs I already do read.
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