Alltop- Encouraging the Mainstream

Just want to quickly share one learning from a small batch of user interviews we did last summer. The interviews were for a small business (think mom ‘n pop) management portal, and one component of the portal was an Alltop-like page – though nowhere near as elegant.

The short of it – people generally “got it,” but they were all looking for news content which related to them. The challenge we saw was the audience recognizing the sources’ credibility (e.g., NYT, inc.com, etc.), but that the content provided didn’t match up with their needs. The flip side was also true – the headlines of the “unknown” content providers aligned with their content wants, but the credibility issue wasn’t eliminated.

I’m not posting my name here because of the same reason many people likely haven’t commented–they don’t want to offend the powers that be and lose their opportunity to get on AllTop.

I’m a fan of the concept of AllTop and think it’s an effective means of getting information out.

However, there are questions that need to be asked:

* What happens when a very popular site that seems impartial in its nature has an informal and highly subjective publishing process?
* What policing is there that the best content will be on the site (whatever that is)?
* And, of course, what’s it like to be one of the sites that feels they should be there but isn’t selected? Something about AllTop feels even more biased than not getting on other sites that are more community driven. It can really hurt.

I’m not posting my name here because of the same reason many people likely haven’t commented–they don’t want to offend the powers that be and lose their opportunity to get on AllTop.

I’m a fan of the concept of AllTop and think it’s an effective means of getting information out.

However, there are questions that need to be asked:

* What happens when a very popular site that seems impartial in its nature has an informal and highly subjective publishing process?
* What policing is there that the best content will be on the site (whatever that is)?
* And, of course, what’s it like to be one of the sites that feels they should be there but isn’t selected? Something about AllTop feels even more biased than not getting on other sites that are more community driven. It can really hurt.

I’m someone who uses a feed reader on my desktop, iPod Touch, and Blackberry….I subscribe to hundreds of feeds and still have room for Alltop in my daily reading. There are often times where I don’t feel like going through all my feeds and just want a quick synopsis of what’s going on and Alltop is perfect for that.

Chris, thanks for your emphasis on Alltop’s utility for the 98% of the world that doesn’t know and doesn’t much care how to find an RSS feed or sign up for one.

When I talk about social media/Web 2.0 with folks like that, they know very little about any of it besides blogs, and they often ask how to “find the good stuff” quickly. They do not want a tutorial on Bloglines vs Google Reader.

I used to send them to Technorati, but now I send them to Google Blog Search and Alltop. With two travel blogs on Alltop, I’m biased towards the site, but I do like its ease of use and catholic approach to selecting blogs across topic areas.

Chris, thanks for your emphasis on Alltop’s utility for the 98% of the world that doesn’t know and doesn’t much care how to find an RSS feed or sign up for one.

When I talk about social media/Web 2.0 with folks like that, they know very little about any of it besides blogs, and they often ask how to “find the good stuff” quickly. They do not want a tutorial on Bloglines vs Google Reader.

I used to send them to Technorati, but now I send them to Google Blog Search and Alltop. With two travel blogs on Alltop, I’m biased towards the site, but I do like its ease of use and catholic approach to selecting blogs across topic areas.

Plain and simple — this is something my Mom would get. And not just because I squeezed in there a couple times. :)

I think as it grows and evolves, it will move past some of the concerns people have about it, or they’ll go on using what works for them.

First time I saw Alltop, I knew it was going to be an interesting site. Aggregating the best sites for categories, what can be better for a person looking for food commentary. I showed food.alltop.com to one of my food aficionado friends (one who rarely uses the internet except for email and chat), and she’s using it as her homepage now.

The market is obviously out there and there is so much potential to reach a larger audience. Now if they made local alltops like seattle.alltop.com, now that would be interesting.

First time I saw Alltop, I knew it was going to be an interesting site. Aggregating the best sites for categories, what can be better for a person looking for food commentary. I showed food.alltop.com to one of my food aficionado friends (one who rarely uses the internet except for email and chat), and she’s using it as her homepage now.

The market is obviously out there and there is so much potential to reach a larger audience. Now if they made local alltops like seattle.alltop.com, now that would be interesting.

I’m a huge fan of Alltop, because it’s a bit like curated RSS feeds for people that don’t understand RSS. I’ve already turned quite a few people on to Alltop, and am hoping it acts like a gateway drug to more interaction on the web: http://is.gd/1VO

good stuff, great as a news rss aggregator. compare and contrast news from multiple sources…my favorite so far is “world news”

good stuff, great as a news rss aggregator. compare and contrast news from multiple sources…my favorite so far is “world news”

I’m another fan of Alltop, and I’m very appreciative of Guy including 2 of my sites. As you said Chris, I’ve used the site to help get friends and family members tapped into blogs within their areas of interest. They’ll never use a feedreader, but they are using Alltop.

I’ve been mining the categories for my own purposes too. In particular, I think it is an excellent place to do headline research. I don’t want to subscribe to hundreds of blogs, but I like to skim hundreds of headlines looking for ones that jump out at me. I’ve discovered a few new blogs this way, and I’ve used this approach to sharing excellent content on social media.

I’m excited to hear that Alltop is working with Lijit for a search function. I use Lijit on one of my sites, and I love it!

I give Alltop an A+!

Love how Alltop functions. I use Bloglines and other feed readers, but that doesn’t stop me from checking Alltop as it’s a big collection of my favorite sites and I prefer the simple, minimalist layout.

Love how Alltop functions. I use Bloglines and other feed readers, but that doesn’t stop me from checking Alltop as it’s a big collection of my favorite sites and I prefer the simple, minimalist layout.

AllTop is great. Period. Anytime a co-worker approaches me asking for a sampling of blogs on or related to a specific category of interest, AllTop is a great first resource/jumping off point for the discovery of that verticals social media leaders.

Aside for the aggregate value, it’s VERY well designed, intuitive and at times addictive. Overall, great site.

Thanks Chris. I would not have found Alltop without you.

It’s a great site. My only complaint? It has kind of a stupid name.

Thanks Chris. I would not have found Alltop without you.

It’s a great site. My only complaint? It has kind of a stupid name.

When I last visited the site, it struck me as rather limited in scope of sources provided. Additionally, I felt the “news” sources had a decided liberal bias. I will check it again to be certain that I am correct but that’s what I recollect until then.

“You might contact Guy and ask to be listed in that category.”

Thanks for the suggestion Chris. I did and he did.

As for using Alltop myself for main feeds, I doubt it. I’ll check in every once in awhile because it’s useful to see what they believe are the top for each category, but other than that, I need a personalised list (and I’m still searching for the ‘perfect’ reader).

My mother (70) and mother-in-law (89) on the other hand, will most likely love it.

I set both up with Macs years ago, but due to their ages (the Internet is still ‘magic’), they’ve been passed up by the speed of technology.

Alltop should be an easy way to keep them up on subjects of interest.

“You might contact Guy and ask to be listed in that category.”

Thanks for the suggestion Chris. I did and he did.

As for using Alltop myself for main feeds, I doubt it. I’ll check in every once in awhile because it’s useful to see what they believe are the top for each category, but other than that, I need a personalised list (and I’m still searching for the ‘perfect’ reader).

My mother (70) and mother-in-law (89) on the other hand, will most likely love it.

I set both up with Macs years ago, but due to their ages (the Internet is still ‘magic’), they’ve been passed up by the speed of technology.

Alltop should be an easy way to keep them up on subjects of interest.