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Memeorandum is a black box
There’s no question that Gabe of Memeorandum.com has created a tremendous resource (there’s an interview with him at Don Dodge’s blog) but I must admit it baffles me sometimes. I considered not writing this post at all because it will probably sound like I’m just whining about not being on the top of tech.memeorandum.com with the A-listers, but I’ve followed the site for quite a while now, and the reason some posts rise or fall in the ranking of topics — and some stay longer while others disappear — eludes me. And it kind of bugs me a little bit. And no, I’m not writing this post just to try and get to the top by mentioning Gabe :-)
I know that the algorithm behind the site is top secret, so there’s not much point in asking about it. But today is a good example of how mysterious the system is — I’ve been on memeorandum.com many times, either linked to other posts or sometimes as a major topic. I was even at the top of the site briefly one day (although it was a weekend, so that might have increased my chances). But today I wrote a post about IE7, commenting on some of the criticisms and joining in the conversation, but that post never appeared anywhere on tech.memeorandum.com — nor did one that I wrote the day before about network neutrality.
Neither one appeared despite the fact that I wrote them around the same time as several other people whose posts were linked to or formed major memeorandum.com topic headings, including Scott Karp of Publishing 2.0 and my friends Mark Evans and Rob Hyndman. Is there something I’m doing wrong, Gabe? Wordpress pings technorati automatically, and a bunch of other sites. Is it that I’m linking too much to different people, or not linking enough? I have to know. Not that I care about that kind of thing, of course. It’s just bugging me. (Dave Taylor doesn’t like memeorandum because he says it adds “an amplifier to the echo chamber” of the blogosphere).
Update:
This post is now near the top of the section about Gabe, and showed up only a few minutes after I posted it, which actually makes me more confused instead of less.
Update 2:
Gabe emailed me and said that both of the posts I mentioned had actually been linked to on the site at different times, and sent me links to cached versions of the pages. I guess I must have missed when they were on the site and then they fell off the radar quickly and so I never saw them. The strange thing is, some posts (like the one above) show up right away, and the ones Gabe checked on didn’t show up for hours. Maybe I’m trying too hard to figure this whole thing out — I should probably just go read a book, or alphabetize my CDs or something useful :-)
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Like you I have been on Memeorandum several times, and I never completely understand why...or why not. Here is a perfect example. A few days ago I posted an interview with Craig Newmark, founder of Craigslist. http://dondodge.typepad.com/the_next_big_thing/...
He is a well known guy and craigslist is one of the most trafficked sites on the web. The interview never made it on Memeorandum. Today I posted an interview with Gabe Rivera of Memeorandum and it made it quickly. http://dondodge.typepad.com/the_next_big_thing/...
The difference? Links from A-List bloggers.
Actually, I think the Memeorandum algorithm recognizes both links in (from popular bloggers) and links out (to popular stories). You need one or the other to get noticed on Memeorandum. In reality that is a pretty good way to measure what people are interested in reading.
So, even though my interview with Craig Newmark was excellent, it didn't gain enough attention to get noticed. That is life.
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I sort of wish there was a way of bringing undiscovered or little-known sites and links to light -- not just mine, but others too -- kind of like the "interestingness" category at Flickr. I know that's probably difficult, if not impossible, but it's one of the things I like about the web the most.
Anyway, thanks for stopping by. I like those interview features you do, by the way.
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i'm totallly with you on the mystery of memeorandum. there are discussions about net neutrality where i have posted passionately and extensively but not appeared on the site. then i'll link to a businessweek story, for example, and - presto - i'm on the list.
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