Korean Job Discussion Forums

PatrickGHBusan · Posted: Wed Dec 05, 2012 10:13 am Post subject:

Well the restaurant "review" in the video is bought and paid for but that's not a big deal as this blogger is not the only one doing that sort of thing.

As for the "new wave" of bloggers, vloggers, tweeters, it will come and pass much like another fart in the wind. Thus seems to be the nature of online fame or impact.

toby99 · Posted: Wed Dec 05, 2012 11:32 am Post subject:

PatrickGHBusan · Posted: Wed Dec 05, 2012 12:15 pm Post subject:

dairyairy · Joined: 17 May 2012 Location: South Korea

dairyairy · Joined: 17 May 2012 Location: South Korea

The King of Kwangju · Joined: 10 Feb 2003 Location: New York City

toby99 · Posted: Wed Dec 05, 2012 2:16 pm Post subject:

everything-is-everything · Joined: 06 Jun 2011

Zenpickle · Joined: 06 Jan 2004 Location: Anyang -- Bisan

BTW, new episode is up.

http://www.seoulpodcast.com/seoulpodcast-136-pissed-pissy-beer/

Honestly, I was a bit startled, puzzled, and even a little hurt by some of the stuff said here. I could easily tick off one-by-one how everything mentioned is pure tin foil hat speculation. I'd be willing to go out for a beer. You'd find that we're fairly pleasant people and not much different than any of you.

I still find the government stooge speculation hilarious because my reputation outside of Dave's is being one of the largest critics of how the government promotes Korean food. I'm even coming out with a book in Korean that people who have seen an advanced copy have predicted will get me chopped up and put into a car trunk.

As opposed to what you may think. It's not easy to buy someone off. A trip to New York (which was paid by the Jogye Buddhists, not the guv'mint) doesn't do it. Perks, access, even free stuff doesn't do it. I make sure to tell any organization I'm involved with that nothing guarantees good reviews or press from us other than good food. And even then we do most of our reviews incognito and give disclaimers when it's not so.

As far as credibility, that's a personal choice. We've gone out of our way to maintain editorial credibility while others in the Korean language blogosphere have made quite the stash in easy money doing otherwise. So yeah--as a blog we still have very empty pockets. Just plopped down a few hundred bucks last month to ward off a major hacker attack and harden the security on the site--pretty much half of what the blog makes in an entire year. Wife didn't like that.

But here's the part that you may need to sit down for: you're not our audience.

Overly entitled English teacher expats aren't our bread and butter. They're cheap. They're insular. They're transient. And in my nine years of experience here, they're mostly stupid, unambitious, self-delusional, and socially retarded with a bubble of smug superiority over their host country and those not in their Itaewon Island social circles. Especially the ones who STILL hang out on Dave's.

(Man, all the folks who made Dave's a decent site all left a long time ago. Sad.)

The Wall Street Journal, The New York Times, Lonely Planet, The Travel Channel, The Washington Post, Le Monde, The Guardian, Plate Magazine, Bon Appetit, The L.A. Times, Serious Eats, and many other serious media outlets consider us quite trustworthy and credible, thank you very much. In the food writer and food blogger community, we have a great reputation. Even Pulitzer Prize winning food writer Jonathan Gold has told one of our contributors that he relies on the work we do. I've done TED talks, one of which I did after being asked by TED New York HQ themselves. I also turn down a lot of well-paying opportunities in the local media that would hurt our credibility.

So do you think I lay awake at night worried about what the winners at Dave's think?

Guys, I know it's hard to handle this news, but the barrier of entry here ain't that big. All ya gotta do is try. It's easy to start a podcast. It's easy to start a blog. The fact that you haven't done so but still complain about something that a lot of people not only do for little or no money but actually pay out of their own pocket to do reveals a serious deficit in your character. Maybe we're reminders of your own shortcomings. Make sure there's no mercury in those tin foil hats.

Yeah, it's true. The fact that we're considered the "big bloggers" is that we actually got off our asses and tried. It wasn't that hard. We spent fewer nights getting wasted at the Wa Bar, feeling sorry for ourselves. We didn't spend our time trashing other people's success to cover up our own shortcomings. I bet much of this resentment comes from this feeling of being outsiders of some high school clique. Which is the most pathetic of all because the blogging community here is pretty much like the nerd table in the lunchroom. They're a very open community and only stick with each other because they're tired of making friends who just up and leave after a couple years. They're also a very humble crowd who are just extremely passionate about what they do.

I'm curious. What's your passion?

Also, the more kooky conspiracies you come up with the more free publicity it gives us. So I should tip my hat in thanks. Very Happy

PatrickGHBusan · Posted: Wed Dec 05, 2012 3:30 pm Post subject:

toby99 · Posted: Wed Dec 05, 2012 3:41 pm Post subject:

PatrickGHBusan · Posted: Wed Dec 05, 2012 3:47 pm Post subject:

Some people just take this whole blog thing far too seriously.

Let the guy blog about food. He obviously loves to. Who cares.

He is not a social force for change, he is a food blogger, get off his case. Laughing