Yes, I know Astro is out. Seriously.
The echo chamber that is http://feeds.adobe.com/ is seriously out of control. This morning Google Reader told me there were 110 unread items from that site. Having already seen the announcement about Astro (AXNA is not my only source of news, shocker!), I knew most of the items would be on that topic. As it turns out, 35 of those 110 items (thirty freakin’ five!) were simply repeated headlines, bullet points and OMFGWTFITSOUTKTHXBAI!!!!! posts. Note I am not counting Adobe employees and people who actually provided some original discussion and/or questions in this number.
Really people, if you have nothing to add then why post? Do you really think you have readers that don’t also read the major sources, like Adobe Labs itself and the various Adobe employee blogs? I just don’t get it.
This rant brought to you by day #3 of intolerable neck pain and my naturally sarcastic nature.
PS - Flash Player 10 Beta is out!!!!! Seriously.
on May 15th, 2008 at 12:15 pm
Welcome to Web 2.0
on May 15th, 2008 at 1:09 pm
Amen.
on May 15th, 2008 at 5:25 pm
Agreed. But do you see a way we can improve things?
The downside of an aggregator is that it becomes an attraction for those who seek more attention. If there aren’t feedback mechanisms to penalize words which weren’t worth the reading, then self-promoters will gradually drive out those who are in it for the news value. We’ve seen it happen with Digg, Techmeme, many sites.
But social feedback mechanisms are tricky. On political blogs, for instance, there will be incentive to mod-down competitors, or inconvenient questioners. And those modded-down will naturally want to push back.
I’m sure there’s a solution, but I don’t see it clearly yet. Ideas…?
tx, jd/adobe
on May 15th, 2008 at 5:41 pm
Damn right.
So, Flash Player 10 is out, huh? Nice, let me blog about this!
on May 15th, 2008 at 11:11 pm
Hi John,
Most of the sites didn’t seem to be simple hit-seeking opportunists, but actual bloggers who generally focus on the Adobe ecosystem. For people in that category I think they just need to exercise some self restraint and good judgment. We all like traffic to our sites but I feel like you have to draw the line somewhere.
For the cases that are merely traffic whores, I think maybe a more thorough approval process for getting on the aggregation list could help. I don’t know specifically how sites are evaluated today, and I am sure that is a low priority task within Adobe but I think it could help.
Ben
on May 16th, 2008 at 4:29 am
can’t agree I’m afraid.
that’s the point of using an aggregator, and the reason i tend not to.
many peoples blogs are aimed at small communities with very specific subjects and it’s only at times of major announcements that this problem occurs.
I think it’s a slight over reaction to think that 35 posts talking about such an import release is excessive.
i suppose there were just a lot of excited people out there.
glen williams
tinylion uk
on May 16th, 2008 at 12:17 pm
Fair enough Glenn but if a site is aimed at a small community what is it doing in an aggregator?