Reason #297 that TechMeme sucks: no Mars

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michael arrington,robert scoble,FriendFeed,twitter

No Mars on TechMeme tonight. Really.

But some stupid one-word Twitter post made it on? Really.

So, excuse me if I say FriendFeed!

UPDATE: Just arrived from Mars, first color image! And another one. Awesome.

UPDATE2: Wired Science has a great blog post on the Mars stuff today.

Published by Robert Scoble

I help entrepreneurs build their technology business' story, help with getting ready for investors, with other launch plans, and many other strategic things that can help your new startup. Call to talk: +1-425-205-1921 (text first).

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44 thoughts on “Reason #297 that TechMeme sucks: no Mars”

  7. Scoble — Mars isn’t in the purview of TechMeme, so I won’t slam Gabe for that unless you, Louis Gray or Vint Cerf write a post about how the images are coming back to us via TCP/IP (and I’m not even sure they are!). I will slam Gabe for the pathetic nature of Techmeme that allows for one word posts to show up. Not having Mars is not Gabe’s shame, but including one word posts by his favorite site automatically is.

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  8. Scoble — Mars isn’t in the purview of TechMeme, so I won’t slam Gabe for that unless you, Louis Gray or Vint Cerf write a post about how the images are coming back to us via TCP/IP (and I’m not even sure they are!). I will slam Gabe for the pathetic nature of Techmeme that allows for one word posts to show up. Not having Mars is not Gabe’s shame, but including one word posts by his favorite site automatically is.

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  9. Robert: in Gabe’s defense it’s very hard to get a one-word post up on TechMeme. Tonight Arrington got tons of people to share that post on Google Reader. Tons of people to Tweet about it. Tons of people to comment (more than 200 comments already). And quite a few influential bloggers to link to it. Each of these things signals to TechMeme that an item is important.

    This was an awesome example of how an item gets onto Techmeme with a little help by Arrington in all of the above. The real problem is that the “legitimate” news doesn’t have someone really doing this kind of work on its behalf, so it quickly disappears from Techmeme, if it makes it there at all.

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  10. Robert: in Gabe’s defense it’s very hard to get a one-word post up on TechMeme. Tonight Arrington got tons of people to share that post on Google Reader. Tons of people to Tweet about it. Tons of people to comment (more than 200 comments already). And quite a few influential bloggers to link to it. Each of these things signals to TechMeme that an item is important.

    This was an awesome example of how an item gets onto Techmeme with a little help by Arrington in all of the above. The real problem is that the “legitimate” news doesn’t have someone really doing this kind of work on its behalf, so it quickly disappears from Techmeme, if it makes it there at all.

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  13. “The real problem is that the “legitimate” news doesn’t have someone really doing this kind of work on its behalf, so it quickly disappears from Techmeme, if it makes it there at all.”

    you mean the “Wisdom of the Crowds” ? one of the shibboleths of web 2.0 may actually be wrong ? or is techmeme just checking the wrong crowds ? No – there was plenty of @marsphoenix coverage (and links) this AM (sydney time) on twitter and friendfeed …..

    techmeme is rigged against anything except the echo chamber

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  14. “The real problem is that the “legitimate” news doesn’t have someone really doing this kind of work on its behalf, so it quickly disappears from Techmeme, if it makes it there at all.”

    you mean the “Wisdom of the Crowds” ? one of the shibboleths of web 2.0 may actually be wrong ? or is techmeme just checking the wrong crowds ? No – there was plenty of @marsphoenix coverage (and links) this AM (sydney time) on twitter and friendfeed …..

    techmeme is rigged against anything except the echo chamber

    Like

  17. It’s techmeme, not slashdot. If it’s such a chore, don’t read it and move on.

    It’s an example of mob rule. And apparently the mob cares little for space exploration, certainly less than “Twitter!”.

    Yes, the landing is very cool. Yes it’s being echoed on virtually every news site. Does it really, honestly, matter if one single website decides not to join the fray?

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  18. It’s techmeme, not slashdot. If it’s such a chore, don’t read it and move on.

    It’s an example of mob rule. And apparently the mob cares little for space exploration, certainly less than “Twitter!”.

    Yes, the landing is very cool. Yes it’s being echoed on virtually every news site. Does it really, honestly, matter if one single website decides not to join the fray?

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  19. Robert, sadly none of that actually is a defense of Gabe/TechMeme, it’s more of a primer on why Techmeme is not as good as it could/should be. It’s easy to automate to make sure a one word post doesn’t get on TechMeme, I suspect he’ll add some algorithms around post length as Google News did long ago.

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  20. Robert, sadly none of that actually is a defense of Gabe/TechMeme, it’s more of a primer on why Techmeme is not as good as it could/should be. It’s easy to automate to make sure a one word post doesn’t get on TechMeme, I suspect he’ll add some algorithms around post length as Google News did long ago.

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  21. Seems to me that you contributed mightily to that one word post tonight from Arrington. Are you part of the solution or part of the problem? That said, I have enjoyed your posts.

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  22. Seems to me that you contributed mightily to that one word post tonight from Arrington. Are you part of the solution or part of the problem? That said, I have enjoyed your posts.

    Like

  27. Another reason to walk away from all the socializing websites except for the ones you truly use. Just because everyone else goes there doesn’t mean you have to. Make content count. Don’t just make content.

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  28. Another reason to walk away from all the socializing websites except for the ones you truly use. Just because everyone else goes there doesn’t mean you have to. Make content count. Don’t just make content.

    Like

  29. Pingback: DjuiceBlog Entertainment » Blog Archive » NASA’s Mars Phoenix Twitter Keeps Space Buffs Informed

  30. @Scottw I agree. I think this is tough though when you’re trying to engage an audience in a conversation. The lines between produced content, opinion, and conversation become blurred.

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  31. @Scottw I agree. I think this is tough though when you’re trying to engage an audience in a conversation. The lines between produced content, opinion, and conversation become blurred.

    Like

  32. Pingback: Twitter Outages May Cause Social Network to Go Dark : The District of Corruption Show

  33. When we first gazed at the moon through powerful telescopes, the moon appeared to be full of dirt and rocks. However, we were not convinced so we sent astronauts there. They brought back samples for scientists to analyze and it was confirmed that indeed, this was just dirt and rocks. However, we were not convinced so we went to the moon another dozen times or so just to really be sure it was real dirt and real rocks.

    When we first gazed at Mars through powerful telescopes it appeared to be a mysterious planet. Our early flybys of this planet revealed a terrain full of dirt and rocks. However, we were not convinced so we sent Rover there. The little robotic vehicle traversed the topography sending back pictures and data and guess what? – more dirt and rocks. However, we were not convinced so we sent Phoenix there. It landed safely and started analyzing the soil and sending beautifully detailed images of a Martian landscape full of … dirt and rocks.

    But wait, this is different. The Phoenix landed in the North Pole area in the hopes of discovering life. Its little sensors microscopically scrutinized the soil and made an amazing discovery. Mars is still full of dirt and rocks. But wait, this is different. The dirt has a pattern to it.

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  34. When we first gazed at the moon through powerful telescopes, the moon appeared to be full of dirt and rocks. However, we were not convinced so we sent astronauts there. They brought back samples for scientists to analyze and it was confirmed that indeed, this was just dirt and rocks. However, we were not convinced so we went to the moon another dozen times or so just to really be sure it was real dirt and real rocks.

    When we first gazed at Mars through powerful telescopes it appeared to be a mysterious planet. Our early flybys of this planet revealed a terrain full of dirt and rocks. However, we were not convinced so we sent Rover there. The little robotic vehicle traversed the topography sending back pictures and data and guess what? – more dirt and rocks. However, we were not convinced so we sent Phoenix there. It landed safely and started analyzing the soil and sending beautifully detailed images of a Martian landscape full of … dirt and rocks.

    But wait, this is different. The Phoenix landed in the North Pole area in the hopes of discovering life. Its little sensors microscopically scrutinized the soil and made an amazing discovery. Mars is still full of dirt and rocks. But wait, this is different. The dirt has a pattern to it.

    Like

  35. Just dirt and rocks ? I think they just found Ice – which means water.

    What does this mean for us back here on earth ? Well it means they can continue draining the Great Lakes and burning fossil fuels – until we completely destroy the earth…. and then whatever humans are left can jump on board the Mars Express with a few plants and animals like Noah and start all over again.

    Yee Haaaaahh !

    Like

  36. Just dirt and rocks ? I think they just found Ice – which means water.

    What does this mean for us back here on earth ? Well it means they can continue draining the Great Lakes and burning fossil fuels – until we completely destroy the earth…. and then whatever humans are left can jump on board the Mars Express with a few plants and animals like Noah and start all over again.

    Yee Haaaaahh !

    Like

  37. When the West first went to the plains of Arabia, it appeared to be a mysterious land, empty of people and vegetation. So we sent explorers through it. They came back saying this land was hot and full of sand and with no trees. But we were not convinced, so we sent surveyors into it, and they came back saying this was still implacable sun and sand. But we were still not convinced, so we sent geologists in it, to make sure it was only sand. And now, our economy is running on the juice coming out from the sand.

    If at first you fail, try again.

    Like

  38. When the West first went to the plains of Arabia, it appeared to be a mysterious land, empty of people and vegetation. So we sent explorers through it. They came back saying this land was hot and full of sand and with no trees. But we were not convinced, so we sent surveyors into it, and they came back saying this was still implacable sun and sand. But we were still not convinced, so we sent geologists in it, to make sure it was only sand. And now, our economy is running on the juice coming out from the sand.

    If at first you fail, try again.

    Like

  39. Rebecca,

    I really hope you are not that dense. Imagine if Christopher Columbus decided not to sail because every other ship has discovered the same thing – water and more water. Hundreds and hundreds of ships went out looking for something else, but guess what, they came back with water. What’s the use of going out AGAIN – more water.

    It’s thinking like that that gets us ultimately nowhere – we would still be stuck in the stone age if everyone thought that way.

    Not to mention the thousands upon thousands of advances in technology, science, medicine, etc, that have come out of our ability to explore.

    It’s certainly a little more than “dirt and rocks”.

    Like

  40. Rebecca,

    I really hope you are not that dense. Imagine if Christopher Columbus decided not to sail because every other ship has discovered the same thing – water and more water. Hundreds and hundreds of ships went out looking for something else, but guess what, they came back with water. What’s the use of going out AGAIN – more water.

    It’s thinking like that that gets us ultimately nowhere – we would still be stuck in the stone age if everyone thought that way.

    Not to mention the thousands upon thousands of advances in technology, science, medicine, etc, that have come out of our ability to explore.

    It’s certainly a little more than “dirt and rocks”.

    Like

  41. Hi Rebecca,
    So what’s your point?
    Are you upset with the process? With the Science? With people who are curious? Or is it all just too much for you to comprehend?
    L

    Like

  42. Hi Rebecca,
    So what’s your point?
    Are you upset with the process? With the Science? With people who are curious? Or is it all just too much for you to comprehend?
    L

    Like

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  44. If you are tired of facebook or twitter but want a way to connect with artists and musicians then you should check out http://www.putiton.comIf you are tired of facebook or twitter but still want to connect with your friends then pick up the phone…

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