GigaOm über ein Interview mit Gabe Rivera, dem Macher des Memetrackers Techmeme, das nicht nur das Vorbild für das deutsche Rivva war sondern von Anfang an, also seit Jahren, die mit Abstand wichtigste Informationsquelle für US-Technews für mich darstellt, was, nur um diesen Satz noch etwas weiter zu verschachteln, für sich selbst bereits eine enorme Leistung im schnelllebigen(™) Web ist:
“A lot of people who think they can go all the way with the automated approach fail to realize a news story has become obsolete,” said Rivera, explaining that an article can be quickly superseded even if it receives a million links or tweets.
This is why Rivera now relies on human editors to shepherd the headlines that bubble up and swat down the inappropriate ones. He argues any serious tech or political news provider will always have to do the same.
Rivera is also not enthused about social-based news platforms — sites like LinkedIn Today or Flipboard that assemble news stories based on what your friends are sharing on social media. Asked if Techmeme will offer a social-based news feed, Rivera said don’t count on it.
“People like to go to the New York Times and look at what’s on the front page because they have a lot of trust in what editors decide and they know other people read it. We want to do the same thing,” he said. “There’s value in being divorced from your friends … I’d rather see what’s on the front of the New York Times.”
Eine Vermischung von Menschen und Algorithmen könnte auch das bereits gute Rivva noch sehr viel besser machen.
Automatische Aggregatoren wie Flipboard haben eine andere, ebenso wichtige Aufgabe: Die reine, 'unverfälschte' Sichtbarmachung der Signale in den eigenen Kreisen der gängigen Social Networks.
Techmeme nimmt sein Geld erfolgreich mit Werbung ein:
As for the business of Techmeme, Rivera says the site relies on three forms of advertising, all of which could be considered “native advertising” — the mantra now being preached in publishing circles. Specifically, Techmeme makes money from sponsored posts, job listings and event posts.