Today I turned into a reporter and interviewed Pandemia, Tommaso Sorchiotti and Catepol - 3 very well known Italian bloggers who joined our community

We’ve asked them what they think about web, social networking and of course our own website.

Here’s their profile

Name: Luca
Age: 32
Posting from: Senigallia(AN) Blog: Pandemia.info (but also lucaconti.it)

Name: Tommaso
Age 28 (who would have thought?)
Posting from: A small small town in the suburbs where hopefully in a couple of months we’ll have DSL connection. Maybe someday I’ll decide to move a few miles from here to Senigallia and benefit from the reputation of a certain blogger who lives there
Blog: On my tumblr you’ll find all the crazy random thoughts flowing through my mind during the day. On microblogging.it , instead, I try to restrain myself a little bit  (but mainly because I want to get invited to those exclusive cocktails!)

Name: Caterina Policaro
Age: 32
Posting from: Potenza/Vibo Valentia (basically I don’t have a house)
             Blog: http://www.catepol.net

And here’s what they answered to our questions

Which blog/blogger is the most entertaining to you?
PANDEMIA: Dilbert J
TOMMASO: omg, a blog to entertain people! This sounds like a good idea. Anybody has ever thought about it?
CATEPOL: Besides me? Just kidding! There’s a bunch but when I have some spare time I especially like to read  le avventure della profe and chatter with her many loyal followers

And the one you like the least? Got to be honest…
P: Techcrunch, bene informato solo perché ha le mani in pasta…which is not a compliment

T: Every blogs with posts over 140 characters. Maybe because I have little time, maybe because I don’t understand what the hell they have to write about

C: I would prefer not to make any more enemies. There’s already a few people out there who don’t like me. Blogs I don’t like are those that I don’t read, though sometimes I may keep them on my feedreader. So honestly there’s no special name coming to my mind. Basically all those blog talking nosense. By which I don’t mean blogging about silly things in a funny way. I actually mean those blog talking about nothing, taking advantage of the fact of being anonymous to trash other people without positively contributing to any discussion. Those blogs that wouldn’t say anything about the author but just report news that everybody already knows to attract a few more visits. But I won’t tell you any name…

Whose the sexiest blogger?
P: Enrica Garzilli from Orientalia4all, but don’t tell her husband (the other blogger from the site)

T: Any girl who knows how to manage a blog is inevitably sexy. And if you go on a  date and it turns out that there is no chemestry at least you always have some topic to discuss

C: After me? Again, I’m kidding. What do you mean by sexy…there’s so many beaufiful girls and handsome guys in the blogosphere. And I’m not just talking about the way they look, but most importantly they have beautiful personalities. Among women I would say Ninna, among men…well I don’t know I’m married and I’d better not to say anything
 

Are you ashemed of anything you posted ?
P: If I were, I would have cancelled the post

T: Well, I don’t think so. The secret is never to read again what you posted. Despite typos and the risk to be thought an illitterate

C: Some posts, from a while ago. It’s not really like I’m ashamed but when I had fewer follower I would just post anything that would come to my mind, talking of real people and real events  (and I must admit that I’ve actually cancelled a few posts about my mother in law). Some posts are too personal, when there’s a lot of people following you, when they can trace back to the real people you mention that’s not nice. Now I don’t do it anymore. Again I’m not ashamed. It’s just a more self-conscious use of this media that from an online journal has turned into something different. I’ve even tried to open a secret blog for this kind of post. It’s blank! I don’t like to write if there’s nobody to read me. So now when I want to come out I have my own little tricks on my public blog and nothing more

Which post gave you the biggest satisfaction

P: Something I posted on Pandemia but that I wrote for Read/Write Web

T: Maybe when I live-blogged from the moon

C: There’s a bunch. For instance those where I explain certain tools or services because lots of readers are thankful for them, those where I make clear my point on certain aspect of the school system, those that inspire collective trifling , those cited by famous blogs or websites. And you know, I’m a weird blogger at the end of the day. I may discuss about technology as well as about my personal life (actually dramatizing a lot). The best posts are those who ignates lots of comments or even criticism. Those that are mentioned and linked by others. Eventually, those who create a real discussion

Assume that you didn’t know that this interview will be published on Beemood, what would you say about our social network?

P: Still a long way to go

T: Bee..what? I don’t know what you are talking about!

C: Well of course I have my own account on Beemood, because I like testing pretty much every new service out there. I like it as a social network but I think that it still needs to find a way to emerge and differentiate from Twitter. I actually end up not using it so often. I mean I post there through the Twitter feeds, the same thing I do on Jaiku and other similar services. I do that because I have limited time and it’s hard to keep constant update and use every service’s prerogatives. I like chattering and socializing a lot, I bet it’s clear by now. At the moment most of the people I follow - and who follows me - mainly uses Twitter, slightly less commonly Jaiku, and much much less BeeMood, Pownce and Meemi. Even so when I read something interesting outside Twitter I rush there to take part in the conversation. What’s really important is to get to “exchange” something. The media is just instrumental. I like BeeMood and I vow to be there more often

Now assume that you KNEW that the interview will actually be published ?

P: You talked to me a lot when the site was about to be launched, and then on that very day you forgot to inform me! That’s bad!

T: BeeMood? Awesome. My very favourite 2.0 site/blog/service

C: Well that makes everything different. I use it everyday, it’s awesome, fantastic! Kidding! I would answer exactly the same way. What really matters for these social networks where you basically do microblogging is to have a lively, participating community that uses the network to share thoughts, opinions, ideas. That’s why I think Beemood has a huge potential. Unfortunately Twitter was the first comer and when there are similar websites a user may be confused. But when you succeed in creating a lively conversation and have people really participating I can do nothing but enjoy it

What you don’t like in Beemood?
P: The fact you push too hard to look you youthful

T: As soon as I find out something I’ll tell you

C: I don’t know. Nothing in particular

And what do you like the most

P: The fact that it is not simply a clone

T: Well I don’t know: maybe the lively community

C: I like the fact that you can add feeds, post videos and create a Tribe. But using it seldom I can’t give you a thorough evaluation. It looks a pretty good product anyway

Can we ask you for some advice?

P: Target a wider audience

T: Choose better the people you interview

C: Having more tools (but also people) to keep the conversation lively, also inventing different way to use the community. Beemood’s service needs to become viral and somehow widen his users’ community. Most users, like me, don’t feel like posting the same thing in 2 or 3 different places but prefer to stick to the one where’s there’s a larger audience

Let’s talk about the other social networks. Which are the ones you use the most?

P: LinkedIn, Facebook e Twitter
T: All those deemed as “Beta” or “2.0″. The others don’t really interest me
C: Twitter of course (who would have said?) but also Flickr. Very seldom FaceBook which is the very emblem of confusion and redundancy. Sometimes Jaiku, often Tumblr and as to professional networks I prefer Linkedin to Neurona. But of course I have an account everywhere with mail notifications on. So, as I told you, when womething interesting happen I rush to take part in the conversation. Mail notifications and feeds are vital. They are the keys to follow as much as possible without jumping from one site to another.

Out of the web are you more social or antisocial? Do you like taking part in camps, events, congresses or you prefering enjoying your virtual relationship from your sofa?
P: Sometimes social and sometimes a-social. In this period more of a-social

T: Very social. Congresses and camps are the moment when bloggers come to full life and set their tone. I could never miss one

C: Well I’m very social in real life. Web is just an extension of who I am. There’s more people in my phonebook than in my gmail contact list. I actually don’t have just one but two social lives as I live in two different towns, I have friends everywhere in Italy, I’ve always been very active in the social life of the place where I’ve lived. I love to go out for a pizza, a cocktail or invite people home for dinner. So the answer is obvious: of course I like taking part in camps and congresses. I mean it is still good to socialize from your sofa with people you couldn’t meet because of the distance. But that’s not enough 

Which are your favourite TV Series?
P: Damages

T: X3500 Bravia series by Sony, the one that costs as a country house in Sardinia

C: Dr. House, Lost (though I got lost myself at a certain point), NCIS  and things like that. Don’t dig too much into that

Web or mobile?
P: Web

T: Being the mobile year, I really have no choice but mobile

C: Web (but when mobile allows you to do web is still good)

What do you think of Catepol?
P: A woman who can use the web. I wish there were more

T: As an old blogger once said, the problem with Catepol is her inevitability: sooner or later you’re going to meet her. She’s not an ordinary blogger that you can choose to read or not but an entity capable of being everywhere at the same time.On the web as in real life. After a while you start acceppting her. The way she is.

What do you think of Tommaso?
P: Someone asks me how I manage to find enough time for everything. If you had the slightest idea of how busy is Tommaso’s life (especially because of his family) you’d really be astonished

C: I like him. Especially the way he uses Tumblr as a real blog.

What do you think of Pandemia?
T: How lucky this guy has been! He’s just benefited of all the hype going on about global diseases. People would google “pandemia” and find his site. And most of them, not understanding what they where reading would come back times and times again

C: Luca is a smart guy. He’s been able to turn blogging into a real job, which is something I admire.

This entry was posted on Wednesday, 13 February 2008 at 6:32 pm and is filed under mobile, pandemia, tommaso sorchiotti, catepol, feed, facebook, microblogging, blog, flickr, beta. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.