Comments on: Is Techmeme myopic? http://www.tnl.net/blog/2008/06/02/is-techmeme-myopic/ Turning Data into Knowledge Fri, 10 Feb 2012 02:12:00 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.3.1 By: Tristan Louis http://www.tnl.net/blog/2008/06/02/is-techmeme-myopic/comment-page-1/#comment-27001 Tristan Louis Wed, 04 Jun 2008 04:10:46 +0000 http://www.tnl.net/blog/?p=528#comment-27001 Tish: an interesting observation. What do you think make that obsessiveness unique to the tech community? I'd venture that it also exist in politics and would exist in most other areas but I don't have the data to prove it either way... Tish: an interesting observation. What do you think make that obsessiveness unique to the tech community? I’d venture that it also exist in politics and would exist in most other areas but I don’t have the data to prove it either way…

]]> By: gregory http://www.tnl.net/blog/2008/06/02/is-techmeme-myopic/comment-page-1/#comment-27000 gregory Wed, 04 Jun 2008 02:00:58 +0000 http://www.tnl.net/blog/?p=528#comment-27000 gabe, if you read this ... i have been noticing i never look at your advertiser news storys, the one'e highlighted in gray, because of the highlight, which seems like a disservice to them .... i imagine you don't want to confuse ad with editorial, but maybe a different color? gabe, if you read this … i have been noticing i never look at your advertiser news storys, the one’e highlighted in gray, because of the highlight, which seems like a disservice to them .… i imagine you don’t want to confuse ad with editorial, but maybe a different color?

]]> By: Tish Grier http://www.tnl.net/blog/2008/06/02/is-techmeme-myopic/comment-page-1/#comment-26999 Tish Grier Wed, 04 Jun 2008 01:25:22 +0000 http://www.tnl.net/blog/?p=528#comment-26999 Tristan: from the community and site related work I'm doing with Placeblogger.com, I'd have to say that it is only sectors of the blogsophere--not the blogosphere as a whole--that is myopic. Tech bloggers, similar to political bloggers, are a particularly obsessive bunch. But, then again, their obsessiveness creates attention which then creates community, which may be cause for part of the obsessiveness (not the content.) Other theories for the obsessiveness of some tech bloggers might be psychological fallout from the dot com era; or, as for Om, etc, obsessiveness could have something to do with the difficulty in reaching that critical mass of click throughs that translates into decent income. Outside of Techmeme, or other specialty blogging groups, I think you may be hard pressed to find the same level of extended obsessiveness over minutia. Tristan: from the community and site related work I’m doing with Placeblogger.com, I’d have to say that it is only sectors of the blogsophere–not the blogosphere as a whole–that is myopic. Tech bloggers, similar to political bloggers, are a particularly obsessive bunch. But, then again, their obsessiveness creates attention which then creates community, which may be cause for part of the obsessiveness (not the content.) Other theories for the obsessiveness of some tech bloggers might be psychological fallout from the dot com era; or, as for Om, etc, obsessiveness could have something to do with the difficulty in reaching that critical mass of click throughs that translates into decent income. Outside of Techmeme, or other specialty blogging groups, I think you may be hard pressed to find the same level of extended obsessiveness over minutia.

]]> By: Link Sharing: 6/3/08 » Webomatica - Technology and Entertainment Digest http://www.tnl.net/blog/2008/06/02/is-techmeme-myopic/comment-page-1/#comment-26997 Link Sharing: 6/3/08 » Webomatica - Technology and Entertainment Digest Wed, 04 Jun 2008 00:13:00 +0000 http://www.tnl.net/blog/?p=528#comment-26997 [...] Social Media Is Timely, Get Over It: Alexander van Elsas encourages us tech bloggers to step out of the constant info-flow and relax. Related: There is always something new on Techmeme. [...] […] Social Media Is Timely, Get Over It: Alexander van Elsas encourages us tech bloggers to step out of the constant info-flow and relax. Related: There is always something new on Techmeme. […]

]]> By: Tristan Louis http://www.tnl.net/blog/2008/06/02/is-techmeme-myopic/comment-page-1/#comment-26995 Tristan Louis Tue, 03 Jun 2008 21:34:28 +0000 http://www.tnl.net/blog/?p=528#comment-26995 BTW, everyone, there's more conversation relating to this <a href="http://friendfeed.com/gaberivera/aa3db457/i-commented-on-is-techmeme-myopic-post-here" rel="nofollow">on FriendFeed</a> (shame I can't find a way to integrate all of them) Gabe: True, the question is the level of noise. I'd love to see suggestions for how we could help improve relevancy. I fully appreciate the value of the volume but I think TechMeme really shines when there's a major event and it organizes the whole conversation around that event as a package. I dont' know but there may be a need for higher thresholds for stuff to make it there so we can get a full understanding of an event (for example, I can think of the day Microsoft announced its intent to acquire Yahoo, no other news site provided as complete a package of news and analysis as techmeme did). I'd just love to have the page work that way ALL the time... BTW, everyone, there’s more conversation relating to this on FriendFeed (shame I can’t find a way to integrate all of them)

Gabe: True, the question is the level of noise. I’d love to see suggestions for how we could help improve relevancy. I fully appreciate the value of the volume but I think TechMeme really shines when there’s a major event and it organizes the whole conversation around that event as a package. I dont’ know but there may be a need for higher thresholds for stuff to make it there so we can get a full understanding of an event (for example, I can think of the day Microsoft announced its intent to acquire Yahoo, no other news site provided as complete a package of news and analysis as techmeme did). I’d just love to have the page work that way ALL the time…

]]> By: David Dalka http://www.tnl.net/blog/2008/06/02/is-techmeme-myopic/comment-page-1/#comment-26994 David Dalka Tue, 03 Jun 2008 20:48:06 +0000 http://www.tnl.net/blog/?p=528#comment-26994 Say what you will about some things like certain voices are a bit louder than others (and might be due for a haircut) or there isn't enough thought leader posts - Techmeme is still the one place I can go and in less than 60 seconds get a view of Tech news of the day if I've been under a rock or in a hard place. I appreciate the service greatly. Keep up the good work Gabe! Say what you will about some things like certain voices are a bit louder than others (and might be due for a haircut) or there isn’t enough thought leader posts — Techmeme is still the one place I can go and in less than 60 seconds get a view of Tech news of the day if I’ve been under a rock or in a hard place.

I appreciate the service greatly. Keep up the good work Gabe!

]]> By: Aggregators Are Around Us, Will Proliferate http://www.tnl.net/blog/2008/06/02/is-techmeme-myopic/comment-page-1/#comment-26993 Aggregators Are Around Us, Will Proliferate Tue, 03 Jun 2008 20:26:45 +0000 http://www.tnl.net/blog/?p=528#comment-26993 [...] course Techmeme has its problems. Tristan Louis wrote about Techmeme myopia - Techmeme highlights stories that are being discussed right now, but it cannot distinguish between [...] […] course Techmeme has its problems. Tristan Louis wrote about Techmeme myopia — Techmeme highlights stories that are being discussed right now, but it cannot distinguish between […]

]]> By: Kyle Mathews http://www.tnl.net/blog/2008/06/02/is-techmeme-myopic/comment-page-1/#comment-26991 Kyle Mathews Tue, 03 Jun 2008 19:20:59 +0000 http://www.tnl.net/blog/?p=528#comment-26991 Re: "I’ve long hoped for a version of TechMeme that would provide me with a customized view that providing a similar user interface for my own personal feeds." This is coming. I'm a Google Summer of Code student building an open-source memetracker. Follow the progress here: http://groups.drupal.org/memetracker And read my original proposal here: http://kyle.mathews2000.com/blog/2008/04/04/drupal-memetracker-module-my-google-summer-of-code-application One other thought. I for one would love a slower moving techmeme that provided perhaps a 3-4 day view of tech news and that trimmed out the less important discussion/related posts. The larger timeslot from which news is drawn would ensure the memes covered are less "myopic" and provide a useful view to those visit techmeme less obsessively than some of us. Re: “I’ve long hoped for a version of TechMeme that would provide me with a customized view that providing a similar user interface for my own personal feeds.”

This is coming. I’m a Google Summer of Code student building an open-source memetracker. Follow the progress here:
http://groups.drupal.org/memetracker

And read my original proposal here:
http://kyle.mathews2000.com/blog/2008/04/04/drupal-memetracker-module-my-google-summer-of-code-application

One other thought. I for one would love a slower moving techmeme that provided perhaps a 3–4 day view of tech news and that trimmed out the less important discussion/related posts. The larger timeslot from which news is drawn would ensure the memes covered are less “myopic” and provide a useful view to those visit techmeme less obsessively than some of us.

]]> By: Ivan Andersson http://www.tnl.net/blog/2008/06/02/is-techmeme-myopic/comment-page-1/#comment-26987 Ivan Andersson Tue, 03 Jun 2008 19:12:12 +0000 http://www.tnl.net/blog/?p=528#comment-26987 Great stuff. I’m also a fan of Techmeme and its news flow. But your results only confirmed what I earlier only have felt. The flow is many times as a lot of curls on the surface. All information combined though, it probably contribute to the bigger picture of things. Great stuff. I’m also a fan of Techmeme and its news flow. But your results only confirmed what I earlier only have felt. The flow is many times as a lot of curls on the surface. All information combined though, it probably contribute to the bigger picture of things.

]]> By: Gabe http://www.tnl.net/blog/2008/06/02/is-techmeme-myopic/comment-page-1/#comment-26986 Gabe Tue, 03 Jun 2008 19:07:59 +0000 http://www.tnl.net/blog/?p=528#comment-26986 Tristan: well, I think uncertainty and the difficulty of future prediction is central. Many headlines you view as noise or minutiae today may prove to herald or at least contextualize an important future outcome. Like it or not, arriving at signal will always involve swimming in noise. Tristan: well, I think uncertainty and the difficulty of future prediction is central. Many headlines you view as noise or minutiae today may prove to herald or at least contextualize an important future outcome.

Like it or not, arriving at signal will always involve swimming in noise.

]]> By: Tristan Louis http://www.tnl.net/blog/2008/06/02/is-techmeme-myopic/comment-page-1/#comment-26983 Tristan Louis Tue, 03 Jun 2008 18:27:39 +0000 http://www.tnl.net/blog/?p=528#comment-26983 Gabe: you may be highlighting an interesting phenomenon in terms of the news business that has has less to do with predicting the future that providing context. A lot of what concerns me, in the data I'm seeing (and granted, it was only a cursory look) is that there is a lot of noise but precious little signal. One would assume that, since techmeme is based on what people are discussing, the level of signal would be higher. I'm not sure whether it is a techmeme issue or a blogosphere issue: are we preoccupying ourselves with useless minutiae instead of trying to provide context/background/understanding to what is currently being covered. I'm not sure what the answer is, to be honest but my gut tells me that this dataset points to something deeper than what I've managed to get to. Paul (and gregory): I love the cloud analogy. It makes a lot of sense. I'm actually thankful for Gabe proving the historical data BECAUSE it allows to take a quick glance. I guess I should get cracking on some code that would pull headlines for every day over a year to get more perspective. If any reader is interested in getting me the data set, I'll slog through it and will try to analyze it. Gabe: you may be highlighting an interesting phenomenon in terms of the news business that has has less to do with predicting the future that providing context. A lot of what concerns me, in the data I’m seeing (and granted, it was only a cursory look) is that there is a lot of noise but precious little signal. One would assume that, since techmeme is based on what people are discussing, the level of signal would be higher. I’m not sure whether it is a techmeme issue or a blogosphere issue: are we preoccupying ourselves with useless minutiae instead of trying to provide context/background/understanding to what is currently being covered. I’m not sure what the answer is, to be honest but my gut tells me that this dataset points to something deeper than what I’ve managed to get to.

Paul (and gregory): I love the cloud analogy. It makes a lot of sense. I’m actually thankful for Gabe proving the historical data BECAUSE it allows to take a quick glance. I guess I should get cracking on some code that would pull headlines for every day over a year to get more perspective. If any reader is interested in getting me the data set, I’ll slog through it and will try to analyze it.

]]> By: paul http://www.tnl.net/blog/2008/06/02/is-techmeme-myopic/comment-page-1/#comment-26982 paul Tue, 03 Jun 2008 18:18:56 +0000 http://www.tnl.net/blog/?p=528#comment-26982 the passing cloud analogy is a good point. You are looking at a data stream with an enormous amount of noise, and hoping that a handful of samplings will give you meaningful data. I doubt it. You need a mechanism to sample far more frequently and search for patterns. Your little exercise is anecdotal at best, misleading at worst. the passing cloud analogy is a good point. You are looking at a data stream with an enormous amount of noise, and hoping that a handful of samplings will give you meaningful data. I doubt it. You need a mechanism to sample far more frequently and search for patterns. Your little exercise is anecdotal at best, misleading at worst.

]]> By: Gabe http://www.tnl.net/blog/2008/06/02/is-techmeme-myopic/comment-page-1/#comment-26981 Gabe Tue, 03 Jun 2008 18:11:50 +0000 http://www.tnl.net/blog/?p=528#comment-26981 First observation: I think in the past people have said the same about news in general, and Techmeme, while special and novel in a number of ways, is still a news site. Anyway, the core problem here is that people can't predict that future. Even so, if you consider the most important events over the past couple of years, you'll see headlines related to those events scattered across Techmeme before they happen. So for the forward-looking, the value may not be in the typical headline, but it's still there. I dunno how typical I was, but on September 10, 2001, thanks to "news", I was already fairly up to speed on issues surrounding al-Qaeda, the Taliban, Afghanistan, etc. Any newspaper edition prior to 9/11 viewed in isolation would appear to be a poor background for the events to come. And yet taken as a whole, the coverage from preceding years did at least lay out the issues. First observation: I think in the past people have said the same about news in general, and Techmeme, while special and novel in a number of ways, is still a news site.

Anyway, the core problem here is that people can’t predict that future. Even so, if you consider the most important events over the past couple of years, you’ll see headlines related to those events scattered across Techmeme before they happen. So for the forward-looking, the value may not be in the typical headline, but it’s still there.

I dunno how typical I was, but on September 10, 2001, thanks to “news”, I was already fairly up to speed on issues surrounding al-Qaeda, the Taliban, Afghanistan, etc. Any newspaper edition prior to 9/11 viewed in isolation would appear to be a poor background for the events to come. And yet taken as a whole, the coverage from preceding years did at least lay out the issues.

]]> By: gregory http://www.tnl.net/blog/2008/06/02/is-techmeme-myopic/comment-page-1/#comment-26980 gregory Tue, 03 Jun 2008 16:25:10 +0000 http://www.tnl.net/blog/?p=528#comment-26980 it is not that it deals with the trivial, but with the transitory same data if you did an analysis of cloud patterns at the same dates ... things change, that is called the river of life ... what is important, is the river itself about myopia hmm, big picture, everything is one, small picture, every individual is totally myopic, in comparison to the whole it is not that it deals with the trivial, but with the transitory

same data if you did an analysis of cloud patterns at the same dates … things change, that is called the river of life … what is important, is the river itself

about myopia hmm, big picture, everything is one, small picture, every individual is totally myopic, in comparison to the whole

]]> By: Top Stupid Question Of 2008 « Mike Cane 2008 http://www.tnl.net/blog/2008/06/02/is-techmeme-myopic/comment-page-1/#comment-26979 Top Stupid Question Of 2008 « Mike Cane 2008 Tue, 03 Jun 2008 15:51:15 +0000 http://www.tnl.net/blog/?p=528#comment-26979 [...] Top Stupid Question Of 2008 Is Techmeme myopic? [...] […] Top Stupid Question Of 2008 Is Techmeme myopic? […]

]]> By: Tristan Louis http://www.tnl.net/blog/2008/06/02/is-techmeme-myopic/comment-page-1/#comment-26977 Tristan Louis Tue, 03 Jun 2008 13:05:33 +0000 http://www.tnl.net/blog/?p=528#comment-26977 hyperorg.comThe wider question (and one for which I don't know how to get the data) is actually whether the blogopshere is myopic. I used techmeme as a proxy here because Gabe is nice enough to provide us with historical snapshots. I could probably do the same against memeorandum and find that the conversation in the political blogosphere is no better. What I'm trying to highlight is that many of the people in the Web 2.0 crowd are driving themselves crazy (think Om Malik, Marc Orchant) with constant updates and amounts of work that are just unsustainable in the long run. And the question is... for what? Are we covering the big trends or just obsessing about navel gazing? Sadly, it looks like it may be the latter. I was recently reading <a href="http://www.hyperorg.com/backissues/joho-may30-08.html#care" rel="nofollow">an amazing article on JOHO</a> and I suspect that it subconciously tugged me to do the research for the piece above :) hyperorg.comThe wider question (and one for which I don’t know how to get the data) is actually whether the blogopshere is myopic. I used techmeme as a proxy here because Gabe is nice enough to provide us with historical snapshots. I could probably do the same against memeorandum and find that the conversation in the political blogosphere is no better.

What I’m trying to highlight is that many of the people in the Web 2.0 crowd are driving themselves crazy (think Om Malik, Marc Orchant) with constant updates and amounts of work that are just unsustainable in the long run. And the question is… for what? Are we covering the big trends or just obsessing about navel gazing? Sadly, it looks like it may be the latter.

I was recently reading an amazing article on JOHO and I suspect that it subconciously tugged me to do the research for the piece above :)

]]> By: Tish Grier http://www.tnl.net/blog/2008/06/02/is-techmeme-myopic/comment-page-1/#comment-26976 Tish Grier Tue, 03 Jun 2008 12:51:38 +0000 http://www.tnl.net/blog/?p=528#comment-26976 Fascinating stuff, Tristan! Personally, I view Techmeme as something of tech bloggers' watercooler, where all types gather around to kibitz about this or that in the tech world. Now, what goes on in the tech world *may* end up impacting the--for lack of a better term--non-tech world, such as privacy issues re Google's StreetView, but some of it ends up being nothing more than geek-related concerns. Still, stories may not make it out of Techmeme because even the tech world doesn't see them as big issues (such as privacy concerns re Google's StreetView.) I was chasing Techmeme for awhile, and enjoyed the traffic boost when I ended up in the "related links." May even have got a few new readers out of it. But after awhile it got to be rather boring and tiring. I like tech news, but I also like marketing news and stuff about journalism. Oh, yeah, and life :-) Fascinating stuff, Tristan! Personally, I view Techmeme as something of tech bloggers’ watercooler, where all types gather around to kibitz about this or that in the tech world. Now, what goes on in the tech world *may* end up impacting the–for lack of a better term–non-tech world, such as privacy issues re Google’s StreetView, but some of it ends up being nothing more than geek-related concerns. Still, stories may not make it out of Techmeme because even the tech world doesn’t see them as big issues (such as privacy concerns re Google’s StreetView.)

I was chasing Techmeme for awhile, and enjoyed the traffic boost when I ended up in the “related links.” May even have got a few new readers out of it. But after awhile it got to be rather boring and tiring. I like tech news, but I also like marketing news and stuff about journalism. Oh, yeah, and life :-)

]]> By: Is Techmeme myopic? « David Strom’s Web Informant http://www.tnl.net/blog/2008/06/02/is-techmeme-myopic/comment-page-1/#comment-26974 Is Techmeme myopic? « David Strom’s Web Informant Tue, 03 Jun 2008 10:47:58 +0000 http://www.tnl.net/blog/?p=528#comment-26974 [...] by strom on June 3, 2008 Fellow blogger/seer Tristan Louis asks and answers this question in his latest post here. He goes to the video tape and shows us the stories that were most popular ranging over the past [...] […] by strom on June 3, 2008 Fellow blogger/seer Tristan Louis asks and answers this question in his latest post here. He goes to the video tape and shows us the stories that were most popular ranging over the past […]

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