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I believe Plurk is a Twitter-killer, even if Twitter was anywhere near consistently fully functional. The reason for that is the ability to have conversations on Plurk. It really is a very amiable place to visit from time to time.
As I commented on the post - Excellent post, Michael. It’s logically unarguable. However provided Google employees do not try to use logic to defend the Google position, then the situation is clear. Google has rules which serve its own interests. We as interested parties decide to go along with those or not as we wish. Google employees must decide whether they go along with company policy or resign. For them, it’s a question of intellectual honesty.
Good thinking, Danny. I particularly agree on bringing the Ask people across. They've done some interesting things there but IAC hasn't focused on the right horses in its stable.
On that question of the exclamation point, I have always felt it typified the way company names are often chosen. Yahoo was already taken as a trademark for a barbecue sauce, so someone came up with the brilliant idea of adding an ! to their choice. They then could trademark this. They did not remember that it would be a problem in a URL. I do not think they are going to drop it anytime soon. After all it now has a special significance in doing a Yahoo search.
Story: Hey Google, Eat My Shorts!
The Art of Conversation is dying. It needs all the help it can get, including encouragement by DoFollow-ing worthwhile contributions. We can't let Google's problems hijack our talking to each other. :)
Story: Google's New Fav Icon
Well I don't like it. It hasn't filtered through to the subdomains such as Blogsearch (blogsearch.google.com) yet. Perhaps they'll withdraw it when they see the reaction.
Good point, DarkMatter. That's true of any social medium. Sphinn is the obvious proof of what you're saying.
One advantage that Twitter has is that it's very immediate. Indeed given its current problems, you can often not see the history. My mental picture of Twitter is of sitting on a train and watching what flashes by the window. Provided you are following someone, then there is a chance that you may see their question. As we all know you will succeed most in social media if you're sociable. This is a way of giving back. As the Bible says, cast your bread upon the waters. ...
.. and sometimes you need a hammer and sometimes you need a Phillips screwdriver. :)
I'm still wondering what Matt Cutts and his group do about websites where they don’t think Google should 'blindly trust those links'. Do they throw them out of the index as they presumably do for spam websites or is there some more gradual approach. Is that where they apply a minus X points penalty? Given an intention to be a little more open, it would be interesting to hear what the rules are.
Thanks for spotting this, Dave. It's one way of trying to get chunks of the flood you can get your arms around. Perhaps it has legs.
Making very occasional mistakes and then saying you're sorry often does more for your reputation than never making mistakes at all. We all relate to being human. :)
One of your best posts, Bill, which is saying a lot. Your final sentence should be up on every business owner's wall:
Put a human face on that delivery, and build positive relationships with those people with whom you interact.
Yes, yes, Google is already on so many slippery slopes in the way it handles information. If it now wants to get into the editorial business as well, I see even more trouble ahead. The other problem is that most Americans don't understand British humor. Oh dear!
On another point, just noticed Nick from your comment the two Desphinn 'comments'. You also can't vote down Desphinn comments, which I would have done. :(
I guess each of us goes with our own experience, dalka. Check the comments on the blog post to see another view on tag importance. Perhaps more people than you realize are seeing this as another way of getting more visible.
I'm a DoFollower using the basic plugin. This means checking each post that Akismet doesn't automatically mark as spam to see whether I think it falls 'on the right side of the line'. If there is useful comment for subsequent readers, even if minimal, and the URL isn't to an undesirable website, then I'll probably approve the comment.This works for me.
A very good post, Kim. Of course it only works if you've generated around you by your actions others who care enough to point out what perhaps should be done in a different way. With some people, you can't tell them that because you'll end up in a chicane. As Peter Drucker said, help is defined by the recipient.
Well said, Gab. Of course the kicker in all this is that there are many powerful groups who make a profit on the PPC side of the business. It's far easier to monetize and prove value on that slice.
The metrics on the organic side require much more effort. After all Google has no interest in proving that organic search delivers better ROI than Adwords.
Thanks for spotting this and sphinning it, Kimberly. I really got fired up on tags early this week when I saw a SE Roundtable tag item rank really well in a SERP for Cre8asite this week.
I think tagging is a real advance in helping visitors get to the meat they're looking for. I think tag clouds are really helpful.
It's early days with Second Brain but it looks very user-friendly and seems to get the job done.
I can now tweat my neighbourhood. Twitter has just become very much more interesting. :)
I'm with you on this one, Ammon. The content of any discipline is measured by how it works out in practice. Usability often has a somewhat thin view, but at most it deals with the user experience. Clearly users must be satisfied with their interaction with the website. However, the company must achieve its selling goals through the website. None of the disciplines can be forgotten in how that is achieved.
A most fascinating subject and a well written post. You might even say a 'Hot Topic'. :)
I must admit, Eric, that I have trained my spam filter so that by now most link requests go automatically to spam. I don't have the time to read through so many empty messages. Perhaps I've set the setting too high but that's what works for me.
On the other hand, I do read messages where it appears that we're talking about some kind of almost-meme where both websites can benefit from the relationship. That does justify a little thinking time.
Story: Twitter is Dead … Long Live Plurk (Or some other stupid named micro blogging platform)