Blog popularity indexes like Daypop and Blogdex showed that The Raging Cow story was one of the top-linked items last week.
If you haven’t been paying attention, the Raging Cow campaign was created by a marketing company attempting to influence bloggers to blog their endorsements for a new soft drink.
At first glance, the marketing company was probably ecstatic about the amount of publicity generated by the campaign. With a closer look, many of the blog posts derided and mocked this attempt to generate “astroturf” support in a grassroots medium.
The problem is that the indexes rank stories according to the number of links they attract. They can’t tell whether the links mean that bloggers LIKE the story or HATE the story.
There’s a lively discussion about adding a hyperlink attribute that would express an opinion about the linked content — love it or hate it, thumbs-up or thumbs-down.
Links here, here, and here.
Of course, some of us don’t need weighted or opinion links as long as there are long subdomains…. http://sodapopwhore.blogspot.com/
FORTUNE’S PARTY TIPS #14
Tired of finding that other people are helping themselves to your good
liquor at BYOB parties? Take along a candle, which you insert and
light after you’ve opened the bottle. No one ever expects anything
drinkable to be in a bottle which has a candle stuck in its neck.