This is the second in a series of articles that look at what has made the top bloggers top bloggers. This article is based on public records, and what exists about them on the internet already.

Robert Scoble has a long history of working with companies to demonstrate, market, sell, and engage the company and people with technology . The Scobleizer blog is an extension and a crucial part of the evangelism that Robert has used throughout his career to bring people closer to the shiny geeky toys, technologies, and fascinating information that he comes across his blog on a daily basis. There is a freshness in his voice, the obvious enthusiasm that he has towards new products that comes forth with many of the blog entries that he writes. The ability to talk about where technology and people intersect has made Robert one of the preeminent technology bloggers in the field.

Robert was one of the first people to use and begin to understand the power of blogs and blogging based on a tip from Dave Winer and Dori Smith . As his efforts to blog and using blogging as a tool to bring customers closer he was eventually noticed by Microsoft, where he worked on Channel 9 at Microsoft, part of the MSDN/TechNet blog grouping. The economist magazine called him a “spokes blogger ” because of the difference that he made bringing the public closer to Microsoft, although not without pain or controversy.

Two of the more prominent controversies that surrounded Robert at Microsoft were the “Clicks for Cash” issue , where Robert looked at how Microsoft was paying people and companies to use their search engine , which has cropped up here and there as Microsoft tried to expand their search engine reach and use. He also took on and talked about some of concerns about a takedown that Microsoft Spaces did with a Chinese Blogger . Robert called Microsoft on the company’s actions , of shutting down a Chinese blogger at the request of the Chinese government . Robert pointed out that Microsoft more or less hurt their reputation over the censorship issue in America. He also pointed out that Microsoft needed to address the issue directly with the American public . However, at the time there were similar events also happening at Yahoo, where the information that Yahoo turned over lead to the arrest and imprisonment of a Chinese blogger . The crisis looked bad for both Microsoft and Yahoo, but when Robert dealt with it directly on his blog, Microsoft made many points in the public eye when Yahoo’s own dealings with the Chinese government became better known.

When Microsoft took no punitive actions, and did not fire Robert Scoble for his comment, that is the defining moment of his legend, that is when he became everyone’s evangelist. He suddenly and nearly overnight became someone who brought a very humanizing side to Microsoft, and showed that dissent between employees and employers could take place without someone being fired . Before this there had been a number of bloggers who had been fired for drawing the ire of their employers. By brining the concern to the public eye, engaging the social community of blogs and bloggers to help digest and discuss the issue, a very real concern came to the forefront. How does a company work with a government that will randomly request that the company take down information or provide information about an account holder? Do they say yes, or can they say no? The greater debate highlighted many of the issues about doing business globally, and helped define much of the conversations that were happening at the time.

Throughout this time, Roberts’s blog remained on its own domain, scobilizer.com and he used that and channel nine to push Microsoft products. He often had video and audio that allowed people to see the very real and very human folks behind Microsoft technology. Based on Roberts then innovative work, Channel 9 is still very successful drawing a large audience daily. Channel 9 has also kept the original style that Robert helped pioneer and define for Channel 9.

The Channel 9 outreach that Robert worked on has proven its marketing and humanizing touch since day one. The outreach worked, and worked well enough that other companies started emulating, or trying to hire Robert directly. Eventually though, as the offers kept coming in, Robert left Microsoft to go work at PodTech June 2006. While rumors flew round the blogosphere that Robert had been fired for his previous stand and the relative embarrassment of the China episode earlier, Robert felt compelled to write a blog entry that attempted to dispel the rumors . The decision to leave Microsoft for PodTech could have been very lucrative if the company had taken off, and lived up to its promise . Before the PodTech folded though, he moved on to Fast Company, who introduced changes into his blog, from a new look and feel, to the addition of advertising to the blog as well. The changes did not go over well with a segment of the audience and the controversy this time was short lived.

Given Roberts ability to state things, he has had an amazing influence on technology, people, and other geek bloggers, serving as both inspiration and source of information about what is happening in the world of technology. He has also done a lot to help legitimize technical blogging as a way to reach out to people, and help bring people closer to a company. The reasons for Roberts’s success are:

1. Believes in what he is doing, and is out spoken about what he is doing

2. Has an ability to be in line first, so you can count on him for first breaking information

3. Outspoken and not afraid to speak his piece, that what you read is something that he really means

4. That he is an expert in his field, and is generally respected for this believes, even when they run contrary to the company’s current actions

There is a steady stream of information on his blog about the things that will happen or is happening now in the world of technology. The belief that he has in what he is doing, and how the technology that he follows can help change the world is something that is an important issue to note about Robert Scoble’s Scobleizer blog. The fresh approach that he has towards each new web service, system, mobile device, or way to connect to other people is novel in the world of blogging. The approach is refreshing in a world of facts about price, size, and weight; he goes into how he uses the product to bring people closer. He does not worry about thousands of followers on twitter , or thousands of followers on Facebook . He is more interested in how those thousands of followers use the technology to grow closer over an issue, a technology, or a new system. Given the strengths that Robert has on technology, blogging, and in general, the rise of new media systems like blogs, blogging, and team/group blogs, his influence will continue to grow.

Tags: robert scoble, evangelist, microsoft, channel 9, podtech, nec, technology, people, biography