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January 24, 2007

Scripting.com Blocks TechMeme

Michael Arrington

37 comments »

TechMeme’s blog news search engine is gaining popularity and becoming increasingly influential. Perhaps too influential.

Dave Winer, who writes the popular and venerable blog Scripting.com, has requested that TechMeme stop indexing his site. TechMeme automatically determines news headlines on its site by analyzing linking patterns among influential blogs (”influential” being defined by TechMeme’s founder, Gabe Rivera). Winer doesn’t like the fact that when he links to a story it gives that story extra juice on TechMeme.

It’s rare for a blogger to take action to reduce her/his own influence, but that is exactly what Winer has done. It’s just an experiment for now, he says. Something tells me we won’t see droves of bloggers rushing to take similar action.

  • Sphere It

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  1. Marshall Kirkpatrick

    January 24th, 2007 at 2:34 pm

    This makes me laugh in light of the “I’m blogging Digg” meme floating around last week - those discussions were mind blowing. Dave’s move makes sense though, in part - it will be interesting to learn more about how Techmeme works in light of this move and it’s something that only a mega A lister like Dave could do. I pay a lot of attention to Techmeme, I check it all day long, and I gotta say that what Dave wrote in this post of his wasn’t super clear to me. But three cheers for experimentation! My personal favorite is trying to get more women indexed on Techeme (email me if you are interested marshall@marshallk.com )

    I was just talking to someone yesterday who said they had to spend a few hours “recovering from being on Techmeme for about an hour” - I remember the first time I got indexed there - it was awesome. So Dave may think he’s getting superfluously listed there - but there are many, many people for whom it’s a huge rush. In that sense it’s a great way to discover new bloggers.

  2. Marshall Kirkpatrick

    January 24th, 2007 at 2:35 pm

    Sorry, I meant the “I’m blocking Digg” meme last week. Commenting while at work, bad idea :)

  3. BlogReader

    January 24th, 2007 at 2:42 pm

    I don’t get it, Dave posts:
    I’m a regular reader of TechMeme, and I plan to continue to read it.

    So I take it he still supports someone echoing another’s words (to use his phrase) just not when it is done to him?

  4. Garth

    January 24th, 2007 at 2:43 pm

    I still think google’s algorithm is still tops in this area, as it seems to show a broader cross section of items.

    All of the “Meme trackers” and digg seem to be like slashdot, really focused on items that are only of value to a small percentage of those interested in tech (Linux, Mac).

    The echo is deafening, I can understand not wanting such a laser focus on your every post.

  5. Ted

    January 24th, 2007 at 2:45 pm

    As usual, Dave Winer’s goal is to get attention for himself, and, as usual, it’s working.

  6. Alaska Miller

    January 24th, 2007 at 2:48 pm

    Wah wah wah DAVE WINER IS A SUPERFICIAL ATTENTION WHORE Wah Wah Wah

  7. Alex Rudloff

    January 24th, 2007 at 2:49 pm

    From Dave’s post on Scripting News…

    “And it gives people more of an incentive to read this site, or subscribe to it, an incentive you may not have felt before, since so many of my links were turning into TechMeme items”

    Seems like it’s not so much to reduce his influence, but a means of attracting/keeping readers on his site?

  8. Mungara

    January 24th, 2007 at 2:50 pm

    I really think techmeme is a great way to read about what is happening in the blogospehere and I read it very regularly. I could not clearly understand Dave’s concerns with indexing. I am not really sure what negative impact it would have on Dave’s site … I must be missing something here.

  9. The "J" Word

    January 24th, 2007 at 3:16 pm

    The following is the passage in Dave Winer’s “I’m breaking up with TechMeme, for now” blog post that sums up his intent:

    “And it gives people more of an incentive to read this site, or subscribe to it, an incentive you may not have felt before, since so many of my links were turning into TechMeme items. Also it may appeared that I was just replaying TechMeme items here.”

    Basically, he is throwing a bit of “jealousy tantrum”, which he is perfectly entitled to do as a normal human being.

    What he means is that 1) he wishes people would bookmark his site and visit his site more often, and 2) he is annoyed that what he blogs about (and links to) appears on TechMeme almost instantly as if TechMeme “discovers” the topic first.

  10. Sean

    January 24th, 2007 at 3:22 pm

    This reminds me of Sony.com kindly requesting in their FAQ that you NOT link to their web site. From http://www.sony.com/faq.shtml

    Q: I would like to provide a link to Sony.com from my web site (or vice versa). Who do I ask for permission?

    A: We do not link to third party websites from Sony.com. It is also not encouraged for any website to link to Sony.com.

    Eh?

  11. Julia

    January 24th, 2007 at 3:22 pm

    “It’s rare for a blogger to take action to reduce her/his own influence, but that is exactly what Winer has done. It’s just an experiment for now, he says. Something tells me we won’t see droves of bloggers rushing to take similar action.”

    You want to know a simple reason why? Maybe because every blogger isn’t looking to looking to increasing his influence in the blogosphere like the rest of you guys.

    I like Techmeme, but I hate bloggers that make posts just to gain popularity on “Today’s hot topic(TM)”

    You do it all of the time, take for example after the MacWorld keynote. You made sure to have a post regarding the iPhone here. Why? I’d imagine web traffic. I will argue that the iPhone isn’t the scope of this blog, buy hey, it’s not mine.

  12. ginchy

    January 24th, 2007 at 3:55 pm

    From reading Winer’s comment, I got the impression he felt like he was doing a lot of TechMeme’s heavy lifting for them, and not getting enough in return to make it worth his while. It’s the aggregator conundrum. If everyone wants to be an aggregator, then what will be left to aggregate?

    I’ll tell you what: porn. There’s an endless supply of the stuff. Makes the internet go ’round, don’t you know.

  13. Robert Dewey

    January 24th, 2007 at 4:16 pm

    I haven’t read Dave’s blog in months… My comments were sometimes moderated (read: deleted), and the discussions were *strongly* political (I can’t emphasize that enough). Again, it’s been months since I’ve visited his blog so I don’t know what the content is like now, but I refuse to type the URL into my navigation bar for fear of politics.

    Sorry Dave, I get enough politics (everyday) at home, on the news, and most forums I visit - I really don’t need it in my “entertainment”. ;-) :-)

  14. Andy

    January 24th, 2007 at 4:27 pm

    Did someone hack into Garmin’s website? http://www.garmin.com

  15. dLook

    January 24th, 2007 at 4:55 pm

    If Dave’s comments were aimed at getting you to post the Techmeme site on the Techcrunch front page (conspiracy theory) then it worked.

    Personally I cant see any other motive.

    http://dLook.com.au

  16. Peter

    January 24th, 2007 at 6:00 pm

    not sure why mr. Winer didn’t just come out and say what he meant instead of cloaking his reasoning in sloppy, ambiguous language, but a couple of folks seem to have gotten the point - he’s saying he’s losing traffic - or not gaining it as fast as he would like/expect - something along those lines.

    it reminds me of a Chomsky quote - which i’ll remake on the fly:

    “If you want to stop being popular in the blogosphere,
    there’s a really easy way - stop participating in it.”

    on garmin: that stupid map monster thing looks like a terrible superbowl ad they’re doing:
    http://garmin.blogs.com/my_web......html#more

  17. Josh

    January 24th, 2007 at 7:39 pm

    To me, this is all transparent.

    When you tell someone not to look at you, that person’s natural inclination is to look.

    Its a publicity stunt in disguise.

  18. Ronald Lewis

    January 24th, 2007 at 8:46 pm

    I am so *&^%$%# tired of these “A-list” bloggers with their noses trapped in the Stratosphere. When will you all learn that blogging is about community? You cannot stay in your own little worlds forever.

    Kudos to Tino Buntic for starting his “2000 bloggers” list — this is starting to spread like a wildfire, and it includes a diverse list of bloggers. This is an example of community, and other bloggers are taking note, and sharing the list:

    http://tinobuntic.blogspot.com.....ggers.html

  19. Julia

    January 24th, 2007 at 9:17 pm

    Ronald, I am with you my friend. Thanks for the list, i’m glad I came back.

  20. Matthew

    January 24th, 2007 at 11:19 pm

    Interesting. How can this be a big news on techcrunch? Maybe it is a big impact thing:)

  21. Paul Montgomery

    January 24th, 2007 at 11:56 pm

    A link should be made between this story and the Wikipedia nofollow controversy, I think.

  22. Danny

    January 25th, 2007 at 2:31 am

    An item on TechMeme is usually a cluster of different views on an idea. Thus somone’s contribution is seen as one of many - and presumably there may be a dilution of linkage. There is rarely One True Originator of an item, and there’s no way for a person to “moderate out” viewpoints with which they disagree.

    Clearly adds up to an anathema to anyone who strongly believes in their own importance. But it’s the way of the web.

  23. Paul Montgomery

    January 25th, 2007 at 3:12 am

    Dave has updated his stance to say he actually wants the effects of rel=nofollow.

  24. Danny

    January 25th, 2007 at 4:42 am

    …so, that would mean TechMeme took note of other people’s links to his blog, but not links from his blog to other people’s. Share the love, eh.

  25. Kula bácsi

    January 25th, 2007 at 5:52 am

    Who is this David Whiner?

  26. A real software man

    January 25th, 2007 at 5:58 am

    I don’t like Scripting.com and I had this feeling for a few years. Why? Because I think Scripting.com should be, well, about.. scripting. Just like Developer.com is about development, etc.

    A really good news would be if David Winner sold the Scripting.com domain to somebody who wanted to write about scripting, and continued his blog on another domain. That would be generous of him, and the right thing to do.

  27. Adrian Keys

    January 25th, 2007 at 7:28 am

    Really a strange request but whoever David Whiner is, given this strange 2.0 world maybe he knows something we don’t know.

  28. Ed

    January 25th, 2007 at 8:10 am

    If you don’t know who Dave Winer is, then you didn’t follow the birth of podcasting or RSS. I appreciate Dave’s contributions. But, this is exactly why I stopped listening to his podcasts and reading his blog. Anyhow, he had promised he would stop blogging, so why bitch about this now?

    http://www.scripting.com/2006/.....opBlogging

  29. Ed Reif

    January 25th, 2007 at 12:16 pm

    The Virus has mutated-
    Hay be part of the new(er) media experience— in my new mashup, http://hotelanyware.blogspot.c.....meets.html

    Think American Idol meets Survivor with The Apprentice. Who gets voted off the island? Thumbs Up or Thumbs Down? Hired or fired? Do you Digg it? Use reality tv groundrules, and VOTE!

    Hotel @nyware is paying the 2000 bloggers off in social currency. This is an open source call out there to vet out the 2000 to Hotel @nyware’s new Z list of 150.

  30. Dave Winer

    January 25th, 2007 at 4:25 pm

    FYI, the number of hits on my site has not changed measurably since turning off TechMeme. And unlike Mike, it was never a source of much flow for Scripting News. I was shocked when I saw how much traffic it was generating for TC.

    And it’s given me a better sense of why I blog — to remember links for myself, it’s a form of bookmarking, and to share ideas with people who have minds and use them. Sorry, but so much of what is on TM is mindless bullshit these days. I’ve been looking for an appropriate place to say that, and it seems this may be it, given how much mindless bullshit there is here. :-)

    See the smiley! That means I like you. :-)

  31. Dave Winer

    January 25th, 2007 at 4:25 pm

    :-)

  32. Michael Arrington

    January 25th, 2007 at 4:37 pm

    :-(

    our bullshit is NOT mindless, Dave.

  33. Paul Montgomery

    January 25th, 2007 at 11:11 pm

    It’s true! Mike puts a lot of thought into his bullshit. :)

  34. Dave Winer

    January 26th, 2007 at 8:39 am

    I stand corrected!

  35. [kbox]

    January 26th, 2007 at 11:14 am

    Dave Winer? Whiner more like.

  36. David Mackey

    February 17th, 2007 at 12:55 pm

    Interesting decision. Would like to know more on what the experiment is for.

  37. Daniel

    February 23rd, 2007 at 7:06 am

    My name is Mr Daniel Jones.I am a freelance researcher.I would be very interested in offering a part-time paying job in which you could earn alot.I just resigned my job as a research scientist for IFR(Institute of Food Research) but i still work as a freelance consultant for the instistute which gives me very much time to do my own work which is basically being a freelance researcher who could be employed by research institutes to do research projects anywhere in the world.

    PAYING PART TIME JOB OFFER IF INTERESTED CONTACT US:

    djonesifr@yahoo.co.uk

    Mr Daniel Jones.

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