WTF is up with Technocrapi?

So, blogsearch engine Technorati down 2 mornings in a row with "Scheduled Maintenance". I haven't had my new posts displayed in 2 days now, despite repeated pings - most disappointed, I thought the Flickr Slickr, Usrs Sickr headline was inspired and I wanted it out there dammit, not buried 7 pages deep when it finally pung !

However, in this Time Of My Troubles, Technotime was clearly found to set up a new and annoying (1) feature called WTF (no, it means Where's the Fire*.....) that intrudes on my search delight, with some other A-hole getting front billing to give his/her paltry opinion of what I've spent my time and energy writing yet another lucid and witty post about.....in other words they have overlaid a digg type system on top of the search, but its different content in it, rather than what is in the blog posts.

Here's the measly justification from Technocrapi CEO Dave Sifry

When you see a top search with an orange flame next to it, it means at least one person from the community has written their view as to why that topic is hot - right now. The community is also invited to either write their own explanation or vote on the WTFs they view as most helpful. Based on a combination of number of votes and timeliness, the top WTFs by search topic appear on the top of the results page.

So one person (how chosen?(2)) gets to write "why" this is hot and gets top billing above all us scribblers who have slaved over our hot lattes with our blognum opuses(opii?), and then this WTF metasystem rides above the Search for all our blog posts? This isn't what search, (or blogging) is about, and it isn't even good social media PR either (and thats according to the Edelmaniacs .

More seriously, its not even good Social Networking - Social Networking is about using the wisdom of crowds, letting the best solutions rise to the top - yes, it is gamed, but gaming it yourself is pushing it an iota too far - there isn't even a semblance of fairness, or representation, or democracy etc etc, and its not even any good(3) - why can't they choose the best blog post, or the most linked, or even the best headline (mine! mine! mine!).

Its in danger of killing the golden geese - why bother blog if you can just write Techno Op-ed?(4).

These are very important things to get users' Trust...I did predict that 2007 would be the year that Social Media would be scraped and pillaged to justify the fantastic prices people paid for it in 2006 (or for those unsold to get bought), at the expense of Trust - and probably any Integrity - but I think Technorati is playing With The Fire here. Up till now I for one have preferred Technocrapi to Google (its independent and I like to see links as I don't believe "gamed most linked" is the best way to define content quality), but this play invalidates their differentiator without any real user benefit.

And I am not the only one who thinks so, it would appear...read here, or here, or even here (5)

So, to Technorati - big hint - Do what you do do well, boys, that will stand you in far better stead than trying to digg another hole.(6)

Postscript - it is very interesting to read the (mainly very negative) blog posts about WTF and contrast them with the (all astoundingly positive) WTF blurbs). Now, which medium will you Trust?

* It also means World Taekwondo Federation, hence the relevant Ads

Some Updates now that its working properly......

(1) Just read the blogs!

(2) Its up and working properly now again, my pings have pung and I have tried a Blurb about WTF .....simple process, so that is good. Lets see how the voting works.

(3) Its working now, so access is possible - but my key point here is the relationship - read the Blurbs and the Blogs for WTF itself and you will see the total difference in opinions that are expressed - it is two totally different worlds (talking about the first 8 or so blurbs vs the blog sturm und drang).

(4) This is, I think the main issue - by having a social network of blurbs that talks about the blogs in their social network, the danger is that the site is trying to do 2 conflicting things - and I for one do not believe they have got the Search going properly yet.

(5) Its hit techmeme now

(6) For example, Broadstuff is a 28 link blog - ie a "blog with some authority" in Technorati speak - yet it only shows up as a "blog with any authority" in searching for this topic...are some links more equal than other