I love that idea that you need to own your own platform, because otherwise you're building an asset for someone else. I agree that you need to be building your own channel, that you 100% own, but I do think it's important that you “integrate” your channel. That is, you can't do a “build it and they will come” sort of thing. You have to go where the eyeballs are to win attention. There are different phases to a media strategy; when you're a newbie, it makes sense to build your blog while spending a lot of time on twitter, friendfeed, or whatever. When you're a big player like Scoble, I'd say it makes very little sense — though in his specific case, his whole shtick requires that he be an early adopter… so maybe that's an exaggeration. Point is: the more attention you get to your platform, the more you can “live there” … though it makes sense to always be looking for new eyeballs elsewhere.
Your final point makes sense, but I think it overemphasizes the choice — you should be able to do both. Making connections is important. You should talk to, and about, other people. But it's also important to not JUST be a talker — people can see through that. You should have something valuable to offer as well.
It all comes back to the “worth caring about” point in my mind. Put your head down and work your ass off while being a good person, accept the tools that look helpful, and you're 99% of the way there.
