Thing #14

Searches on Technorati

My keyword search for the words "School Library Learning 2.0" returned 406 posts. Most were not related to the subject matter and were not informative. Next, I entered a keyword search for the exact phrase "School Library Learning 2.0" and it returned 24 posts. Several of the posts focused on Thing #14 and showed others' experiences working with the search tool. A tag search returned 8 posts tagged with the words "School Library Learning 2.0". Of these, only one was relevant to the actual topic.

I entered a keyword search of the blog directory, which returned 375 blog posts about "School Library Learning 2.0". Most of the posts concerned general topics associated with the terms school, library, and learning. A few of the posts were related to the phrase "School Library Learning 2.0". These posts concerned experiences of others as they completed Thing #1, Thing #2, and so forth.

Popular blog, searches, and tags

My review of the Blogs revealed that news, technology, and curiosities are considered most popular to Technorati.com users. Ariana Huffington's website, The Huffington Post was the most popular news blog. I thought this surprising because other internet news outlets did not rate as favorably in Technorati.com. However, these outlets are far more popular with the general public. For example, news web sites such as DrudgeReport.com, FoxNews.com, and CNN.com garner high ratings based on the internet traffic they generate, while The Huffington Post rates much lower.

My review of the Searches revealed a slightly different list of subjects considered popular by the Technorati.com user community. Searches were focused on the environment, news, celebrities, and technology. A review of the posts under "Environment" revealed a collection of blogs associated with iPhones, computer hardware, light pollution, Dell's financial performance, endangered gorillas, and so forth. These results demonstrate the same inconsistency exhibited by the tag search (see 1 above).

A review of the Tags indicated that news, politics, technology, video, and music were the most popular. These results were similar to those for Blogs and Searches.

Blog Post

I think that Technorati.com provides a handy search engine that is focused on the blogosphere. The user interface is somewhat intuitive, requiring a certain amount of effort to get used to it. The most important aspect of getting used to it concerns searches. Technorati.com offers an enormous amount of information, and I found myself buried in no time. Learning to wade through all of this information requires practice. Based on my experiences with the different searches, keyword searches were the most useful and flexible.Different search phrases (all of the words, exact phrase, and so forth) were useful. Tag searches were probably the least useful. At first blush, tags appear useful in categorizing information. However, tags are used according to the whim of the user. Consequently, they are inconsistent and can prove misleading. For example, I could define a tag named "Favorites" and use it for my favorite songs. Another person could define "Favorites" to include their pets. Yet another person could create an entirely different definition. So, consistency is needed if tags are to prove useful.

Ultimately, I think blogs are most useful when collaborating with a group. They provide a medium where you can share thoughts, experiences, files, and so forth. Most are reasonably secure and free of charge (an important consideration when working with limited budgets). With a little practice, the group can benefit from online collaboration.