On "Lifestyle" Media. A few years ago I started getting interested in fashion and when I casually looked at website or magazine sections focused on "Style", I saw that they were grouping restaurants and movies and all that under the "Style" section. I was like, "this is dumb". But now I realize that they were onto something I'm just figuring out…→[More:]

I've been mulling for ages that if I do a topic-based website what should I focus it on? Meanwhile, people have made great websites on things I'm interested in and been very successful while I've just been vacillating. Now that sticks in my craw.

Recently, reading the tweets of some women I follow on twitter, I've had a total epiphany about this. They're specialists in disparate stuff like fashion or food but they'll be tweeting about random stuff like "hey I checked out this new hotel, it looks great!" And exercise. And new music. And some fashion event. Some launch or something. Just, wherever they're at, they're writing about. And where they're "at" happens to be the result of being "person about town looking at happening stuff".

(I just remembered I've written about someone like that before on here (previous thread), who effortlessly moves between food and fashion writing/tweeting/businessing)

(I'm also reminded that I'm on the email list of some jewelry seller who does a similar thing—writes about her latest store items then goes and talks about events and movies and so forth. And another who does something similar with her newsletter about her projects..)

So these topics go together in people's minds, including these writers and me as a reader. And I was thinking the other day that if I made a Daily Twitter (similar to inspirational or quotes tweeters), what should it be about? And it all just clicked together in my head. I should write about whatever I feel like talking about--a great jacket? Let's talk about it. A new song? Let's talk about it. I can make my lifestyle site just talking about whatever the hell I want to talk about on a particular day. Works for GQ and Martha Stewart!

Am I an expert at food, exercise, or nutrition? Heck No. At watches? No. At shoes? No. At hip-hop, rock, or other music? Hardly. At literature, technology, or science? No. Nope. But I'll happily talk about it all, show up to the places, check out what's happening in these fields. The "lifestyle" perspective is that of permanent amateurs, and the field specialists need them to bring the word out to the mainstream and make their ideas, their events, their products successful. Lifestyle media are the permanent voyeurs of the world.