Buzz for BuzzFeed
Posted on January 3, 2007
Memetrackers like Techmeme, Megite and Chuquet are great tools for finding some of the most discussed and most interesting current stories. They are often far more useful than the somewhat disorganized mass of links found on memediggers like Digg.com. BuzzFeed is a new memetracker tool that focuses on items with buzz. The company behind BuzzFeed is Contagious Media, LLC. This is the same company behind the Contagious Media Showdown -- if you remember that event from 2005. The Huffington Post, which also hosts the Contagioius Festival, recently started featuring BuzzFeed content on its homepage. BuzzFeed's about page says they track 50,000 blogs and also accept tips from readers.
1. Buzz DetectionBuzzFeed is a little different than the other memetrackers because they add some text of their own to the entries. Some stories currently featured include Saddam's execution, Robin Hood Restaurants and Pat Roberston's fearmongering. It looks like it will be another great tool for finding interesting content in 2007.
We automatically detect new buzz by crawling 50,000 of the very best web sites, blogs, and news sources. Then our technology crunches the raw data from these sites to identify new buzz that's just starting to spread. We developed the technology to find new things just when they start accelerating in popularity and provoking interesting conversations. Our technology is also supplemented by a network of human taste-makers and tips submitted by BuzzFeed readers. These savvy humans can spot subtle trends our robots might miss.2. Editorial Commentary
The moment we detect new buzz, it appears in a special terminal interface used by our editors. The terminal is a sophisticated interface that shows trend data from multiple sources. Our editors are experts at using the terminal to publish a quick summary that highlights the newest and most interesting buzz on the front page of BuzzFeed.com. The editorial process transforms a messy jumble of buzz data and submissions into a quick, fun summary of the hottest new buzz.3. Buzz Tracking
Finally we track the buzz as it spreads through word-of-mouth and blogs. Our trend pages link to the most interesting commentary, videos, news articles, and debate - so you can track a movie, band, person, or idea as it grows in popularity. For each item on BuzzFeed, you can watch the number of links grow as we link to more people fueling the buzz on their own sites and blogs. When something we are tracking gets especially popular, we bring it back to the front page of the site to show how far it has spread since it was first detected.