I must be missing something about Seesmic. It's like YouTube but minus the volume slider. But it's integrated with TechCrunch's commenting system. Is that really a competitive edge?
Understood; as others mentioned, the hype seems to do with good PR and Loic knowing a ton of the right people.
Then again, who wouldn't want that attention? I'm sure TipJoy certainly would. The only bloggers I've seen with a TipJoy are either YC founders or HN readers -- which isn't a slant against TipJoy, but I'm sure they could benefit form a hype injection.