Technorati and BlogPulse
Welcome to the blogosphere.
In case you’re new to blogging and it’s impact on information gathering, here’s a little background.
We’re all pretty used to the traditional search engines such as MSN, Yahoo, and Google. In fact, Google has become so mainstream that the phrase “googled it” is now part of our everyday lexicon and has come to refer to the act of internet searching. “I couldn’t find the name of the restaurant so I just googled it.”
The search engines basically scour the internet looking for webpages to add to their databases which then undergo various ranking algorithms to determine which pages appear higher or lower on the search listings.
Now we come to blogs. Blogs, or short for “weblogs,” are websites that feature online postings on various topics. Some blogs are set up for open discussion and allow for anyone to post or comment. Other blogs are one-way accounts, simply one person’s observations, comments, rants, raves about anything and everything.
What makes blogs powerful are two-fold.
First, blogs often feature first-hand accounts of events that are happening in real time. Individual bloggers become impromptu field reporters detailing the major and often more subtle details of earthquakes, tsunamis, terrorist attacks, political uprisings and the like.
Secondly, blogs are often gathering places for very specialized information. There are blogs on data encryption, for example, that feature postings from experts in the field who often provide the latest research and insights to the subject matter.
Note that this type of specialized information is not just for the pointed-headed mathmeticians. There are blogs on every subject matter you can think of — investing, poker playing, jazz music, car repair, bug collecting. The vast majority of blogs are about…well…nothing. Many blogs — this one included — are just the ramblings of borderline insane individuals who blather on in an attempt to fight back the juggernaut of ennui.
Technorati and BlogPulse are two popular websites that track the happenings in the world of blogs — the blogosphere as it is typically called.
Both sites have features that allow you to set up tracking terms and anytime a posting to a blog is made with that search term you will be able to track the information. In this way, both Technorati an BlogPulse allow you to monitor information and conversations pretty much in real time. This is different from traditional search engines which can take weeks and months for the information to appear on their search engine listings.
Click here for more information on Technorati and BlogPulse.