Techmeme: A Flawed System

Apr 08 2008 Comments

Yes, I’m pissed and maybe I shouldn’t be, but I that’s not up for judgement. This is a pretty ugly rant and I want to apologize to those who expected better from me and taught me to write better than this. Still, I’m only human and my blood is boiling.

Angry As of 4:41p.m. EST, Twubble (Review) is the second hottest topic on Techmeme. The site that’s leading the pack of Twubble articles, in my opinion, shouldn’t be leading the pack. Cyndy Aleo-Carreira of Profy.com posted about Twubble exactly 2 days ago.  In web terms, that’s weeks ahead of everyone else! That’s who should be leading the pack. Yet, her article is no where to be found on Techmeme, not even as a related story even though she was the first person to break the news!

Why am I pissed? Because she broke the damn news about the web app and she’s getting no credit and not even on a highly regarded site such as Techmeme! If it were you, hell if it were me, I’d be emailing the crap out of Gabe Rivera to rectify the situation! Everyone wants their credit where credit is due! EVERYONE!

This is one of the reasons why I don’t visit sites like Techmeme. The only reason I have ever visited Techmeme is because someone told me to go have a look at something on it. I look towards people who actually GO to the source and credit the source for my news. Systems like Techmeme are flawed so ridiculously it’s laughable and highly irritating.

SheGeeks is listed as one of the related discussions. Yet, I credited Cyndy as the source for finding out about Twubble. It’s in the first line of my review! I pinged her article! I twittered it when it first came out! I did everything besides wave a flashing sign to let you know that I’m not the source of this and neither are any of the others that I linked to. Cyndy broke the news! I just forwarded it to my audience with my own personal commentary about the service.

This is not an attack on Twubble. This is not an attack on FaceReviews (the leader of the Twubble topic on Techmeme). This is not an attack on Gabe Rivera.

This is an attack on Techmeme and the flaws of a system that doesn’t give credit where credit is due. I guess we can’t have it all and clearly giving credit where credit is due doesn’t apply to the big guys.

*breathes* Ok. I feel better now.


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  • SEO
    How many of us actually gives credit to people for something that is interesting, new, etc. Well, there are times where i also forget about giving credits to the pictures i used online.
  • Techmeme is not exactly that bad. I feel it's rather cool with the item finder.
  • Matt Shaulis
    This is a theory:

    Blame all the bloggers who linked to a story besides hers. That's how TechMeme works (partially, not to simplify your work Gabe... i just happen to firmly believe that's a piece of the puzzle.)... So it's really the blogosphere's fault for linking to a source other than hers in their own write-ups, perhaps.
  • Thanks Corvida for the vitriol. ;)

    @jongos What constitutes a "reputable" source? I know that Profy gets scanned by Techmeme, because we've been listed as discussion links. As a writer, I shrug it off, but as a person, it's difficult to consistently be relegated to the D-List when you broke the story two days before the source that gets the headline, and ergo, the eyeballs.
  • Profy is definitely scanned and I even remember two of our posts were quoted as actually sources. Though I think in this case it is because Cyndy was days ahead anyone else with her coverage but it does not make this case less disappointing.

    Corvida, thank you for this post, it is really encouraging to see a blogger really passionate about such imperfections, even when it is not directly related to her own work.
  • My pleasure! Louis Gray touched on it when Mashable didn't give him credit
    and I just saw no reason why Techmeme should've been excused. I also put it
    out there to see if Gabe would try to manually add Profy to the related
    discussions even if he couldn't change who was headlining the articles
    surrounding Twubble, but I see he didn't do that either, or maybe it wasn't
    possible. Still...it sucks and I wouldn't wish something like that on
    anyone, since EVERYONE could use a little traffic these days
  • websites that count on traffic from Techmeme to succeed will most likely fail. Sure, everyone could use a little traffic, but that's not how the world works. The most useful sites (as deemed by the wisdom of the crowds) over time, do find an audience.

    Louis Gray will succeed where many of his own personal A-List bloggers will likely fail because he is actually providing very useful content and I don't recall ever seeing him whine about traffic, or finances in any public fashion. There is a lesson to be learned from that approach, at least if you want to be taken seriously by any sizable population.

    Corvida, you're welcome to disagree, but I don't think Louis' experience with Mashable are a fair comparison to TechMeme at all. In one instance, someone used Louis' content without really sourcing him, and then did it again even after he'd addressed it! In the other, an automated service did not pick up what was apparently the very first blog to write about a topic. I'm a lot more forgiving of computer error than human error (especially human error that happened more than once!).

    But if you have info that proves Gabe's automation is as somehow as nefarious as a cylon or a Terminator...I will probably change my mind. Whoever breaks that story probably won't have to worry about a link from TechMeme in order to pull in huge traffic. :-)
  • Hey! My ears are burning. In the past, I have posted comments on robot services being imperfect, which is part of why I've been so interested in things like RSSMeme and ReadBurner, which are "democratic" versions with clear methodology. That said, I think TechMeme is a fantastic product with real relevance. I thought so when I didn't ever get on the site, and now, as I've made more-regular appearances. And I have met Gabe. He's a great guy and well-intentioned.
  • Care to tell me why your ears are burning?
  • I've never known Louis to whine at all nor did I say he did. Louis made a point about giving credit where credit is due, and I'm simply doing the same. It's about credit and there's a lot to take in when you think of crediting someone on the web because credit goes very far in this community. It's not about traffic, but let's not push it to the side because it does factor in more than most would like to think.

    I don't think Techmeme nefarious at all. It has it's value to some and none to others. However, it's more than obvious that it's biased and for all the credit that it gets, that's the last thing I would've thought about the site AND this community.
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