Adventures with Because Effects

November 28, 2007 in Blogging, Business, Future, Ideas, Journalism, Life, News | 7 comments

Twitter is paying my rent, Marshall Kirkpatrick says. Specifically,

I don’t mean they’ve hired me as a consultant, though I would love that, I mean Twitter is great for news discovery. Read on for my thoughts on how you can use Twitter more effectively, but keep in mind that communication has its own inherent value – I swear that’s what I like best about Twitter!

How is it paying my rent though? Earlier this week I was remarking (on Twitter) about how many of my recent story leads came from Twitter. I counted and at that time 5 of my last 11 stories were based on news I learned first from my friends on Twitter. It was amazing.

This is a perfect example of a because effect, which is what happens when you make more money because of something than with something. We first talked about this back at Bloggercon 3. Some retrospective on that here and here.

But gradually it’s going to dawn on people that not everything needs a “business model”. And that far more money is made because of the Net, blogging, Linux, IM, and even businesses such as cellular telephony, than is made with any of those things.

7 comments

  1. Being Amber Rhea » Blog Archive » links for 2007-11-28’s avatar

    Being Amber Rhea » Blog Archive » links for 2007-11-28 on November 28, 2007 at 7:23 pm

    […] Doc Searls Weblog · Adventures with Because Effects “Gradually it’s going to dawn on people that not everything needs a ‘business model’. And that far more money is made because of the Net, blogging, Linux, IM, and even businesses such as cellular telephony, than is made with any of those things.” (tags: twitter tech money business) […]

  2. rexblog.com: Rex Hammock’s weblog » Blog Archive » Should bloggers care more about “Long Tail” economics or “Because Effect” economics?’s avatar

    rexblog.com: Rex Hammock’s weblog » Blog Archive » Should bloggers care more about “Long Tail” economics or “Because Effect” economics? on November 28, 2007 at 9:47 pm

    […] his blog today, Doc Searls explained that the economics of blogging/twittering is more related to what he calls the “because […]

  3. Marshall’s avatar

    Marshall on November 28, 2007 at 11:18 pm

    Thanks Doc, glad to be a fodder of a blog post of yours any time! Maybe we can meet some day. Keep up the great work!

  4. Doc Searls’s avatar

    Doc Searls on November 28, 2007 at 11:37 pm

    Much obliged, Marshall, and likewise all around. Rock on.

  5. Inside View from Ireland’s avatar

    Inside View from Ireland on December 2, 2007 at 8:06 pm

    Making Money Because of Blogging…

    USING JAIKU to pose a question that will arise on the anniversary of the Irish Internet Association’s tenth anniversary, Krishna De wonders if anyone makes money while blogging. I have always thought that perspective is too capitalistic, assuming that…

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