Adding value to tech reporting

I’m really trying to figure out how to add some value to my writing over at Social Software. Inhale feeds, exhale posts – as the motto says here, just aint feeling right over there. I don’t want to write just one of many blogs talking about the same new services that 5 or 6 other blogs are talking about, and then many more. Some thoughts I’ve had so far on how to add value to the things I write over there:

  1. Interview the people behind the start ups that other bloggers are writing product reviews about. It’s more time intensive, but I think I’m pretty good at it and it would be relatively unique.
  2. Watch the super geeks closer. Checking out the real fringes of tech blogs, not just the new sources that dominate my feed reader, could be a good way to stay a step ahead of the discussion.
  3. Bring resources to the table. One thing I’ve tried to do a bit is add supporting resources to my posts, like OPML files made up of feeds about the topic I’m posting on.

Those are the ideas that have come to mind so far. We’ll see how it goes.