I came across this recently. A list of blogs in which FasterFuture emerges as No1 in the UK (No 11) globally.
|It always interests me; the lists this blog ends up on. What is pleasing is that there is never one type.
On this occasion it's a list of the '100 Top PR Blogs' derived from those in the Adage Power 150 ranking (which lists advertising/marketing/pr/marcomms types of blogs). As an aside, looks to me like Neville Hobson's blog is missing from the list - and that certainly sits higher than FasterFuture in the Adage rankings.
And it's currently listed in the top 5000 of all blogs (there are some 300m globally) by the up-and-down-o-meter that is Technorati. Interestingly I saw FasterFuture appear in Technorati's top 100 small business blogs at one point, not so long ago, too.
Marketing? Advertising? PR? Publishing? Business?
Yep, FasterFuture is about all of that.
In a converging world where (as David Bausola so nicely puts it) Mess is Lore, I'm happy not to fit comfortably in any centrally contrived niche :-)
Stumbled on the latest update to Technorati today (the site that ranks blogs and their authority) and was somewhat shocked to discover FasterFuture's 'authority' had jumped by around 1000% to 423.
Its rank in the blogosphere has leaped by a similar order (13,896 of all blogs - where I recall it languishing around where you could pretty much could add a zero to that.
I had put a slow decline (the authority was once 120 and the ranking 70K ish) over the last year or so down to me blogging less and tweeting more.
The big change now is that Technorati is only gathering its data over the last couple of weeks or so - not the last six months as was it's methodology.
Which means if you've got a decent rank and authority - and want to maintain it - you'd best blog often as much as you blog well. It's helpful to those of us seeking individuals with particular interests AND authority, too - because the results are much closer to real time (as Stowe points out on /Message)
Technorati needed to cut its costs, this method not only does that (less intensive number crunching to do) but it also encourages a reverse in the decline in blogging - something very much inline with Technorati's needs, too.
And since blogs remain the single least silo'd way in which we express metadata and connect one to another in communities of purpose (the only silos in blogging are being online - or not - and language) I'd have to give that my blessing.
Well, that and the nice high ranking FasterFuture has acquired.
UPDATE: Oct 19, 2009 I'm going to keep track of this: Since time of first writing the rise has continued. And then some.
Today's stats show fasterfuture as 8312 highest rank blog on't planet (though I note this is of 825,402 indexed, as opposed to the 300m thought to exist). Guess these are those worthy of indexing in the past few weeks, as opposed to those created ever), Authority has risen to 464 (for context it would need an authority of 760-odd to make the top 100).
Update: Oct 27, 2009:
Today the authority is 485 and the rank is ???,??? - honestly, couldn't find a way to get that number today. I notice though that a little green badge has been apended: 'Top 100 (small business)'. It is of course nice to be in the top 100 of anything - but I'm a little baffled as to why the Technorati algorithm selected this blog for that category?
Update: Oct 29, 2009.
Today we have an authority of 506 and a ranking in the top 5000 (4965) - and that's after a fall! Gulp. The small business Top 100 badge still lives on some views on Technorati, too.
Update November 3, 2009:
Despite the red down arrow (which indicates we've been even higher since I last checked) FasterFuture is now has a ranking of 4214 and an authority of 522.
As this blog teeters on the brink of a 100 ranking on Technorati (it was 99 last time I looked... hoping the trend is up!) I'm thinking of suitable ways to celebrate this with you. Every link here and every visit has contributed to that ranking - so it's fair and right that you share in this small success.
The best way I can think of is to compile one huge list of links-out to those who have linked here. Technorati tracks some of this, google some more. But some (eg) I just may miss.
And at the top of the list I want to place the blogs and sites that include fasterfuture on their blogroll or list of recommended links in any way.
I want to make sure I haven't missed you and get the opportunity to return the favour in my own 'recommended blogs' list (see left column).
I work on the theory that if you're interested, you're likely to be interesting.
So if that's you, don't be shy, please add a link in the comments below.
And if you've linked here in any other way, share this, too.
Many thanks.
Just wanted to take a moment to thank everyone who has visited, contributed to, linked to or shared this blog and its ideas and conversations in any way. We've done a lot together, and particularly in the last month. Visitor numbers were up over 150% year-on-year (not the greatest measure, I know) and Technorati has just ranked us at 77,358 among blogs globally - the first time I've spotted fasterfuture in the top 100K!. So congrats to us all, the community of purpose that is fasterfuture. Blogs may start from one place but they are taken to many, and the thoughts are shaped by many, the value is shared among many. If fasterfuture is seeing some positive growth - then it is yours to revel in.
I've been doing a lot of thinking about ratings and reputation recently, about their importance in sustaining communities, particularly co-creating ones.
I come to conclusions such as: Review systems which attach no value to reputation are doomed. Reviews by people for whom the loss of reputation means nothing are likely to have less value to your average internet user. And reviews with less value = less incentive to contribute and less opportunities to inspire a purchase.
I believe it's all a question of what is at stake for the contributor of UGC. If there's little this may explain why it's a) not valued by contributors and therefore not growing like you expected it to, b) not inspiring a bucket-load of trust-related purchases to pay your bills.
So why do people so freely contribute to things like tripadvisor (10million+ reviews so far!). You can't even build a reputation for yourself on there (at least not one measured by community score).
It's likely people contribute because they have previously derived some value from a review before they booked their tip and, therefore, felt in some way obligated to return the favour. And there's clearly enough people who feel this obligation to overcome the freeloaders who just come, take their fill, and never contribute. Except of course the 'freeloaders' are contributing, by notching up page impressions and clicking on ads.
I still feel a model without a reputation system, and one which has a value attached, will eventually fail.
One reason is that there's another reason people are contributing reviews right now: Because they can.
It's not so very long ago that the only people who could publish were the owners of the means of publishing production. Now we're all publishers. And the novelty has yet to wear off. We get to see our work 'published', we get a little bit of fame, a little bit of influence.
Indeed it's only in recent times that models, such as TripAdvisor, have emerged which place user reviews at the heart of their proposition. Even more novel!
But as we become increasingly used to being able to publish our views and reviews perhaps this ability to out the bad and praise the good, and our valuation of our little-bit-of-fame, will need bolstering by getting something in return for our efforts.
It might be as simple as you-only-get-to-read-reviews-if-you-contribute-one. It might be a revenue share on items sold off the back of your review efforts.
Eventually we want a payback. And when you want something in return we need proof you deserve it... hence the need for reputation.
Ratings and reputation should vary depending on the context. For example a stag party might rate Malta a dull location. A couple seeking a romantic break would rate it higher. Your value of the review provided by the stag party will vary depending on how similar your needs are to theirs. Their reputation as raters of stag party venues may be high - of romantic locations, low.
Speaking of which, slightly at a tangent; Technorati's reputation system fails to understand how reputation should vary. It's a bit of a popularity contest rather than a selector of the best fit with what YOU need.
This blog's reputation is 55 today. Its value to people seeking blogs about horse racing ought to be close to 0. It's value to people interested in its themes might be much higher. All the rating tells you is that it's of a certain global value - but not what the value should be to YOU.
That value to you remains in the gift of the network of trust all blogs are capable of generating. If Technorati could segment ratings based on your specific interests, you might find the scores more useful.
The rate of change is so rapid it's difficult for one person to keep up to speed. Let's pool our thoughts, share our reactions and, who knows, even reach some shared conclusions worth arriving at?
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