This is why Jason Kottke is turd. (Really?)
He tells people he ‘curates’. That’s like saying people with iPods are DJs. He links to this, with a comment that it is a ‘map of independent bookstores’ which is demonstrably not the case (it is a walking tour of admittedly circumscribed scope, but is as mediocre as his ‘curating’ — it leaves off two essential, old school independents: Revolution Books and Academy, both within an easy walk of St. Mark’s), and his pithy observation that implies it is comprehensive is entirely nonsensical, indicative of the fact that he knows next to nothing about what he is curating, or even that he reads the links he provides.I find his website occasionally useful. But when I think of his eagerness to share information and be FIRST (or close second) at it, I think of the habit of so many people in NYC to try to one-up each other in the Mr.-Know-It-All race. There is only a passing interest in the accuracy or depth of the information being shared… it’s that long-standing cocktail party habit of trying to build character and reputation by compulsively listing everything that you know something about. A jack-of-all-current-events, a master of none. It is one way in which reading the newspaper - or 1,000+ RSS feeds - does not make you exceptionally smart.
If, readers, that has just cast a very long shadow over all the interesting conversations you’ve had in the past 5-10 years, I am sorry.
Choosing cultural artifacts and presenting them to a general public as a collection is effectively, well, curating, just as putting together a specific playlist of songs from your iPod and playing it at a party does, well, effectively make you a dj.
Jason is often first not because he races to be first but because 1. most of the time he is and 2. the audience pointing back at him is big enough that it makes it seem like he’s first. Anyone who spends all day sifting through a lot of feeds increases their chances of being first. Just ask Andy, Rex, the staff at BoingBoing, or even (occasionally) us. That’s just a simple question of time and energy.
That said, I think you’re overestimating the value of First Post! It’s such a cheap thrill that anyone with half a brain who linkblogs regularly stops trying to be FP after about a day.
I’ve been linkblogging for years through the original reBlog, unmediated, and now Tumblr. The value of curating an interesting set of links far outweighs the benefits of just trying to claim first. Jason’s been doing this for a lot longer than I have. I’m sure that he’s come to the same conclusion that being first just isn’t worth it.
Source: ninety9
I co-founded 
