I love Techmeme, I really do. But, it’s an aggregator, and as such it doesn’t really recognize fake news from real news, or negative reactions from positive ones. It aggregates: sometimes it aggregates interesting articles, and sometimes it aggregates crap.
It’s clearly visible from the example of Fake Steve Jobs, who seems to randomly post unsubstantiated rumors just to generate buzz. His post about PodTech going out of business (and Robert Scoble ditching it) caused a lot of reactions, and although Scoble - PodTech’s flagship podcaster - denied this information, Fake Steve is still enjoying the benefits of Techmeme traffic.
Now, you can’t really blame these blogs for linking - be their reactions positive or negative - to the source. After all, I’m doing it right now. And you can’t blame Techmeme for aggregating it. But it still feels like anyone can just post rumors (the rumor about PodTech, some say, is bound to become true sooner or later because the company is not doing too well), say they’ve heard it from a “reliable source” and get traffic.
Now, FSJ is writing about Facebook receiving another $500 million from two New York hedge funds. It’s big news, and blogs are all over it, and, of course, it’s all over Techmeme. Is FSJ writing this cause he really knows something about Facebook that no one else doesn’t, or is he just abusing Techmeme’s mechanics? Time will tell.
Like people don’t lie all the time? That Scoble denied the rumor doesn’t make it any less credible. Lyon’s is a journalist at Forbes, Scoble clearly has assets in play and a party line to toe. Seems like it makes it about even.
As one who got linked on Techmeme to the Fake Jobs post I can tell you matter of factly it wasn’t for the possible traffic it might bring.
I made a genuine comment of concern about Robert and his wife if the rumor was true and asked a genuine question of what would he do if it was true.
If I hadn’t had those thoughts I wouldn’t have written anything about it as I had doubts about the whole “factual” origins of the story to begin with.
@Steven: perhaps you got my intentions wrong. I don’t mean that it’s wrong to comment on a story. But the fact is that the bigger the rumor is, more people talk about it. So, anyone can just spew out rumors without anything to back them up and get linked to, subsequently getting Techmeme love. It’s just odd to see half of Techmeme taken over by Fake Steve’s rumors.