Solo Technology

MyBlogLog had a big news day today. Lots of press about being acquired by Yahoo! for a (allegedly) very large chunk of change. Now, as a rule of thumb I tend not to get caught up in the whole “who bought what/who when” type stuff — I already lived through one bubble. Barely. But all the press on this one inspired me to give it a longer look than I did when I was last on the site a few months ago.

For those who visit my site, look over there at the bottom of the right sidebar for some new “widgets”. One will show what other MyBlogLog users have stopped by and the other will show most popular links. As of this writing they’re both empty, but I’m hoping over time to see pictures and links (the links will always be one day behind unless/until I pay).

What’s the purpose of MyBlogLog? From the About page:

You probably know a ton about your favorite bloggers - what they think about the subjects they write about, maybe some of their work and life history… you may even know what toothpaste they use. But how much do you know about all the other people who read their blogs? And how much do they know about you?

For all this talk of a global conversation throughout the blogosphere, there’s a lot to be desired. It’s a two-tiered system, with bloggers talking amongst each other and the majority of the readers looking on from the fringes. You may get to call out something from the sidelines by leaving a comment, but things could be so much better. For everyone.

What’s that leading up to? Communities! By seeing who is reading what, the hope is that a bunch of inter-related communities will spring up (hosted at MBL) and help further social aspects. A new way to connect with folks with similar interests.

As a side benefit, I get some new stats on the site as well. Referrers, post views and the like; but also a list of other sites community members have visited and belong to as well.

In theory, it could be interesting. I’ve toyed with the idea of adding a forum to the site to get some discussion going, but this method feels a lot more flexible and “open.” Folks can stop by my community link and leave a message or even join up (hint/nudge). What’s joining up get you? Well, I don’t completely know yet… but at a minimum you get your nifty little icon associated on my community page. Perhaps even some sparkling conversation.

Give it a shot?

5 Responses to “Playing with MyBlogLog”

1. Rich G. on November 18th, 2006 6:24 am
   

   You’ve gone and solo-tech’d mybloglog and it won’t work now. I hope you’re happy.
   solo-teching, the new slashdotting?
   Respect your own powers man!

2. Chris on November 18th, 2006 7:42 am
   

   ph33r the power of the long tail!

3. Scott Rafer on November 18th, 2006 8:32 am
   

   Thanks a lot for joining up. Let us know what we can do to make it more valuable. We’ve gotten asked about adding forums to our service. Would that be the right thing from your perspective?

4. Rich G. on November 18th, 2006 9:27 am
   

   *grin* would getting the page up be a helpful tip to add to the service? *grin*
   j/k… sorta… congrats on the success. Looking forward to being able to see what the page looks like, oh, and signing up too lol.

5. Chris on November 18th, 2006 9:46 am
   

   Scott - a fora of some sort would be interesting. Something lightweight and simple though (perhaps model after Vanilla or bbPress?)

   Rich - I’ve been on the mybloglog site a fair amount today, seems up from this angle… Maybe I borked my community link? Try http://www.mybloglog.com/buzz/community/SoloTech/

Leave a Reply