Robert Scoble introduced me to TechMeme over a year ago. Danny Sullivan of SearchEngineLand did an interview with Gabe Rivera, founder of TechMeme. Great interview, especially if you are interested in how TechMeme works. 
Danny Sullivan is THE search engine analyst who has been covering the search business from day one. Coming from Danny this quote is powerful indeed "
“Over the past decade, I’ve seen a lot of search tools that were supposed to transform my life. Few of them have. But Techmeme was one of those.”
TechMeme tracks tech blogs and presents the headlines in a rolling fashion similar to a newspaper, but it constantly updates with new stories. TechMeme is a must read site that I visit several times a day. It is is easiest way to find out what is hot in the tech world, and get insight from some of the top bloggers in the world.
I did an interview with Gabe about a year ago. He is a very unique and talented guy. Here is an excerpt from that interview;
How do you compare Memeorandum to Slashdot, Digg, Reddit, and others?
For readers of Digg (or Reddit, and to some extent, Slashdot), I'd say Memeorandum is:
- More focused (on either "Tech" or "Politics")
- More expert/authority-driven
- Better organized, visually
Of course for a certain type of reader, Digg's quirkiness, developer
orientation, and community are all pluses. Many who aren't as interested in
these things prefer Memeorandum. Many use both sites. It's all good!
For the more ponderous set, I'd add that unlike all of those, Memeorandum
thrives on the web at large -- it doesn't keep its editors and content all
siloed and centralized. Viva la edge, yadda, yadda.
How does Memeorandum decide what is important news? Some stories have no links, others have 10 or more links. How does content slide down the page over the course of a day?
Most-linked/most-discussed new stories are important. Actually, all stories have been linked. Items lack "Discussion" when people link without adding much commentary, since simple pointer posts usually aren't included on Memeorandum. Items fall down the page as they get older, or are displaced by bigger stories.
Since that interview TechMeme has branched out with separate "meme trackers" for politics, sports, and entertainment news.
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On reflection, I think one interview per year feels about right.
BTW, some of the facts I gave you no longer hold. Which is good, because an unchanging news algorithm is a dead news algorithm.
Posted by: Gabe | January 18, 2007 at 12:08 AM