Egomaniac Cigar Bloggers?

[ericdriscoll]

"Do some cigar bloggers have big egos? Jon Huber of Crowned Heads (a
new cigar company that makes the Four Kicks cigar brand) wrote in his
blog that he is "seeing a trend with cigar reviewers..."
http://cigars.about.com/od/cigarblogs/a/Egomaniac-Cigar-Bloggers.htm?nl=1

 

[Speedbump]

This has been a trend in today's cigar world!! Mr huber who is a member here has even contributed to this environment, by sending cigars to bloggers for them to enjoy but not review or speak about. More so bloggers that are active on this site believe that they are a "benefit to the ENTIRE cigar community" there opinions are valued by a lot of people however more cigar smokers should try sticks and develop their own opinion ! but that is how I feel.

 

[jayro75]

"Do some cigar bloggers have big egos? Jon Huber of Crowned Heads (a
new cigar company that makes the Four Kicks cigar brand) wrote in his
blog that he is "seeing a trend with cigar reviewers..."
http://cigars.about.com/od/cigarblogs/a/Egomaniac-Cigar-Bloggers.htm?nl=1

It's been apparent for some time that the bloggers have been pandering their reviews towards those that give them free sticks. Nice to see a manufacturers view of this.

 

[TravelingJ]

He blogged about bloggers, heh. I'm glad he's finally starting to see the bloggers for what they are. We already had another thread discussing what Derek was just saying-how Huber himself has been supporting these jackals and their hype machines.

 

[Speedbump]

He blogged about bloggers, heh. I'm glad he's finally starting to see the bloggers for what they are. We already had another thread discussing what Derek was just saying-how Huber himself has been supporting these jackals and their hype machines.

that thread is what I was speaking about I could just not find the link to it !!

 

[keinreis]

derek hit the nail on the head. I think my sig line tells how I feel about bloggers in general. Don't get me wrong, there is a select few who actually do it for fun, and to give their honest opinion. Then there is a lot that are in it to stroke their ego, and try to be the know it all. Pete even called out a blogger once on his twitter larger then life. Apparently sometimes bloggers get so caught up in being the first with the news, they forget to check their facts.

 

[keinreis]

Ironic as I was posting about pete calling out bloggers, Justin posts, and his sig line is a direct quote from pete's twitter feed I was talking about.

 

[Alwayslit]

Like anything else, you take it with a grain of salt. If you've been smoking long enough you pretty much know what you enjoy.

 

[jayro75]

Apparently sometimes bloggers get so caught up in being the first with the news, they forget to check their facts.

Which is why they are bloggers and not journalists...regardless of how much they fancy themselves as such.

 

[Dread]

Some are great, they do it for fun and are humble about it. Others are definitely egomaniacs that think they are the end all be all of cigar reviews. Honestly I get a kick out of it to an extent. Seeing how serious some of them take it I cant help but laugh.

 

[GoingPostal]

Cigar Bloggers only get into trouble when they start believing they are journalists.

 

[De46vil]

Damn you guys are gonna piss off half of the BOTL community.... Keep going.

 

[thebayratt]

Some are great, they do it for fun and are humble about it. Others are definitely egomaniacs that think they are the end all be all of cigar reviews. Honestly I get a kick out of it to an extent. Seeing how serious some of them take it I cant help but laugh.

Very well put!
I am a blogger and do it for fun and thats all.
I consider myself humble, I don't boast my "bloggership", infact, most of you don't now I do it at all.
If I post any information, its directly from a manufacturer of the cigars, not some BS that I make up.


Jon did this for SOME of the Bloggers.

Some of the bloggers are pompus people who think they know everything, I don't consider myself pompus, if I don't know, I ask or learn. Some "bloggers" do it for the free cigars, fame, etc..
There are some "bloggers" that the true bloggers totally ignore and blacklist them because of thier attitudes and actions.

Jon posted this to wake up a few of them that need to be put in thier place and possibly to shutup some that have been hitting him up for free cigars.

 

[NicM0411]

I read blogs for entertainment. I have picked out a few bloggers that have a smiliar taste profile as mine that I check out, the rest is purely entertainment. The the biggger the ego the more entertaining to read.

 

[nubchin]

I personally do enjoy review bloggers who stick with criticisms and not advertisements.

Never gave credits to bloggers who do advertisements for the bucks, though I try not to deny anyone who tries to make a living, but what kind of living is there to smoke a cigar and praise the manufacturer for money ?

Reviewers must be critics and not praisers, we all can do the praising part our self IMHO.

To proclaim one's self as a reviewer , he or she must forget the money part first, then give a third view alternative for the general consumer, if not he or she is not what they claim to be .

In the past, CC reviews contained politics as well, now a days seems its past .:guitar:

 

[Otaku]

I like this Jon guy. Right to the point, and he hit it right on the nose with a hammer. When I first started smoking a few years back, I used to look to different blogs for information about what was new, or what was next. Now I feel they are all just trying to out douche each other with the way they describe these wild flavors and subtle nuances of this, and hints of that prancing around on their taste buds like magic flavor fairies. GTFOH, its like a battle to see who can be the most pompous arrogant know-it-all on the block. There are some sites that I still check, mostly ones that offer news and such, and not just reviews.

 

[Docbp87]

I do some cigar blogging, post my humble reviews, and get a few hits on my page from time to time. That said, I do it for myself, for fun, as a way of keeping my notes all in one place for my own reference. I happen to love reading other reviews of cigars, and read a lot of the blogs for this reason. I just like seeing the range of opinions. Because of this, I share my opinion for anyone who cares enough to want to take a look at my blurry pictures, and read my acerbic jibber jabber. There are definitely some who take themselves too seriously, but at the same time (aside from inaccuracies being posted as fact... tisk tisk) I guess I don't understand the really strong dislike for bloggers that some have here. At the end of the day it's the fucking internet. If you take it too seriously, from either side of the fence, blogger or blogger hater, you are still being the guy who is taking the internet too seriously! For me at least, smoking cigars is a hobby, something I enjoy (in fact, something I am passionate about), and something that I do because I find it relaxing and pleasurable, and because I have fun smoking cigars, by myself, with friends, with strangers... I think there are of course some bloggers who like to toot their horn, but even this forum has members who are not bloggers that are too big for their britches in the forum world.


Sorry for the wall of text, tl;dr Who cares?

 

[kravnh]

Derek summed the situation up pretty well. We have spoken about this subject many times. Jon has absolutely contributed to the problem, whether he knows it or not. Other manufacturers have as well, by sending samples to the same group of bloggers, some (not all) of whom now consider themselves "in the industry." One blogger once referred to the cigar blogosphere as "vital to the industry." :angerFU: Some of them act like they are more important than the cigar makers!

I now read far fewer cigar blogs than I did just a year ago, and I have unfollowed several of the same guys on Twitter and Facebook. Some blogs are still worth my time; guys who love cigars, and just want to share their experiences.

That's why I like it here. I don't post much, but I check BOTL every day. And the reviews I read here are usually better than the ones that are so "vital" to the cigar industry.

Keith

 

[njstone]

There are some bloggers I really like. Most of the rest I don't pay attention to. I think it has value because these days there are so many new cigars on the market, LEs, etc., so it's nice to find a couple reviewers who share your cigar preferences to give you their opinions. I personally think that the good cigar reviews are helpful for the industry, as are more casual review forums such as the reviews on BOTL.

As to "ego," I think that ANY review-oriented blog/website is going to be egocentric almost by definition. The only reason to publish your opinions is that you think others want to hear them. I've seen some that do come off as pompous, though, and I usually don't come back.

Ever read movie reviews? Food critics? These people often write a negative review just because, or find the smallest dumb thing to criticize because they are CRITICS. It can get pretty ridiculous. That's how the field is, and I wouldn't expect the cigar review community to look much different.

The cigar blogs/websites I like are those who try to be impartial and don't pander, and are also honest "I like the Tatuaje profile, so it's not a surprise that I liked this cigar" for example. I also prefer guys/gals I know smoke plenty of cigars, and have done so for years. I don't really care about the opinions of bloggers who are relatively new to the hobby ... not that "Noob Reivews" don't have a place, but I think people with more refined palates can offer more insight.

I've even thought of doing a cigar blog myself, just for fun. But a solo venture takes a lot of work and I'm too anal to half-do something.

 

[Craig Mac]

It's just like flipping channels on a tv to me. Some yap-yap going on about something I don't give a shit about? I change the channel. Some nights I flip channels constantly it seems...

Same with the internet, I dig through until I see something worth reading. I like a few review sites and I am very fortunate to have friends and co-workers to talk cigars all day with and we can pretty much tell who will like what cigar. The used to call that "word of mouth", something that gets a little lost in this google smart time we live in. Social media plays a huge role in business and the cigar industry is no exception. And like it or not the bloggers play a big role in SEO, it's become a business.