Memetrackers

Definition

Memetrackers monitor the discussion of ideas ("meme's") on the blogs.

Difference between Memetrackers and Memediggers

"a memetracker is a service that finds the most talked-about news and ideas by analysing the linking behaviour of blogs. It’s based on implicit actions. Memediggers, meanwhile, use explicit human-powered voting systems to deliver the most popular, relevant or interesting items. Since they require human action, these sites normally have a verb associated with them: Digg It, Shout It and so on." (http://mashable.com/2006/03/12/memediggers/)

Examples of Memetrackers

Review by Pete Cashmore at http://mashable.com/2006/02/03/the-rise-of-the-memetrackers/

"Has Memeorandum got competition? Over the last few months, a number of services have sprung up to help us find the most talked-about news of the moment. Time for a check-up on the state of the memeosphere…

Memeorandum - If you’re into tech or US politics, Memeorandum is unbeatable. It delivers the top news from the blogosphere and mainstream news sources with the added benefit of threaded discussions. Its only weakness is a lack of breadth - it would be nice to explore topics beyond tech and politics, or to drill down into more specifics.

Megite - After seeing it promoted with spammy blog comments like this one, I expected to dislike Megite. In actual fact, its results seem fairly good - at the time of writing, the tech section is displaying broadly the same stories as tech.memeorandum. Megite also covers a broader range of topics, including business, sports and entertainment. Just like its more established cousin, discussions are threaded. Not a bad effort at all.

Chuquet - I’ve spoken to the creator of Chuquet a couple of times about this, so I’m not going to labour the point that Chuquet is ugly, ugly, ugly. Laurence Timms has been developing the service since November 2004, and the results certainly show depth. Beyond the obvious design and usability issues, I think Chuquet shows some potential. The addition of tagging is certainly interesting, but I’d say this is really a work in progress right now. Oh, and it’s pronounced “shoo-kay, apparently. (I still prefer “chuck-it.)

Blogniscient - Despite being the prettiest of the group, Blogniscient is relatively hard to use. Not only is a lot of the page wasted on a huge header, but the results are squeezed into a narrow central column. Still, its result set is acceptable (a little dated, perhaps?) and it offers a somewhat limited cluster view. Sports, entertainment and business are offered in addition to the usual tech and politics sections. The “Top Blogs section is also a nice addition. Blogniscient provides a broader overview of the blogosphere and offers a UI design that won’t scare small children. Still, impatient early adopters (me!) might find it of limited use.

Overall, I think Memeorandum still maintains its edge when it comes to tech and politics, but the wider choice of topics offered by the other services is certainly welcome." (http://mashable.com/2006/02/03/the-rise-of-the-memetrackers/)

Examples of Memediggers

See Memediggers or the review by Pete Cashmore at Mashable, at http://mashable.com/2006/03/12/memediggers/