Do you know what’s most interesting about Techmeme? It’s how many people – particularly bloggers – are obsessed with Techmeme and how it operates. Folks, it’s really time to focus your time and energy on something else. Sure, Techmeme is far from perfect and there are many ways to “game” or manipulate it but it’s far from being the only place to get your technology news fix.
Techmeme is a first-rate service, which is why it’s so popular, but if you’re looking for alternatives, check out Y Hacker News, which lets people vote on stories they find interesting. CNet and Wired also great places to get a quick overview of what’s happening. Then, there’s del.ico.us’ popular list, Reddit and Digg. Yes, there is life (and news) behond Techmeme.
If you’re looking for the “Caramilk Secret” behind Techmeme, check out these two videos (here and here) by Robert “I’m reading more than 900 feeds” Scoble.
5 Comments
Right on Mark! Of course I hope one day I will be in the list of “what’s happening” — and I think TechMeme is a great tool, as I noted on Robert’s blog, I wonder how much discussion there would be about the tool, had the leaderboard never been installed. I also am starting to wonder where the idea for the leaderboard came from.
The issue with the digg, delicious and reddit you mention is that those too are populated on popularity mostly and will just continue the cycle of keeping the big, big.
I’m also curious about why Gabe launched the leaderboard. Maybe it’s a shot at Technorati; maybe Gabe wanted to stir things up.
I would bet the idea came from outside.
Hey, when leaderboard launched, I stated why it launched:
http://news.techmeme.com/071001/techmeme-leaderboard
In short:
1. It’s obvious; people have been telling me to do this forever (i.e., I stopped resisting the idea)
2. I knew research firms were reporting on Techmeme anyway
Thanks Gabe!