Social networking experiment using Technorati API

April 27th, 2007 • Related • Filed Under

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I have today finished a mini-project that I started after having a minor brainwave. I had seen a lot of blogs recently being used to swap favorites, most notably of which was the experiment by DOSH DOSH. This required its users to add Dosh to their favorites, then post a comment saying they had done so, and then Dosh would return the favor. Dosh managed to push himself a long way up the Technorati favorites chart (which he rightly deserves for coming up with the experiment).

But I feel that all the others probably did not fair quite so well (by no fault of Dosh Dosh), but the reason for this is that there were no controls on who added who, and even if someone spent ages adding everyone on the list, there was no guarantee that they would get the same back. I had a minor brainwave which was to think up a system to put this into a simple to use website that would guarantee fairness between favorite sharing.

So favorite.me was born! This allows the swapping of favorites in a controlled environment. You pick another registered user and add him as a favorite, he then comes back to the site, sees that he has had another favorite added (or more than one) he then verifies on the Technorati site that he did get the favorite added, then he confirms back on favorite.me that he did receive it. Once a favorite has been confirmed the user who gave it gets an extra ranking point.

Ranking
The ranking point then goes towards that users position on the leader table. The leader table is sorted on how many points a user has received minus how many times he has been favorited himself. By being higher on the leader table means you are more likely to receive more favorites which in turns then moves that users down the table, giving everyone a fare chance of getting extra favorites. (thats the theory anyway!)

I have also put in search abilities so you can find friends and search the titles of other blogs so that you can be more specific than just the random adding that Dosh Dosh leads too. I have written this purely as a social experiment and I hope everyone gets involved.

If you already have a blog that is listed on Technorati please head on over to www.favorite.me.uk and give it a go.

There Are 10 Responses So Far. »

  1. Comment by jfb3 on 29 April 2007:

    Doesn’t all this “Ohhhh, please make me a favorite and I’ll make you a favorite!!!!” seem all too much MySpace-ish, and so very 4th grade. (I’ll like you if you’ll like me, and we’ll not like anyone who doesn’t like us back, so there!)

  2. Comment by Alan on 30 April 2007:

    You have been favorited. :)
    http://technorati.com/faves?add=http://hackedgadgets.com

  3. Pingback by Dealing with Some Criticisms on the Technorati Favorites Exchange Experiment on 30 April 2007:

    […] April 2007 - Nick Halstead decided to start Favorite.me a website, which regulates the exchange of Technorati favorites within a controlled […]

  4. Comment by rxbbx on 30 April 2007:

    Looks good.. i only have some troubles with those cookies. Would be nice to have a profile. What to do if you empty cookies every time when you close your browser. I also have some troubles with making blogs favorites. Can’t get into technorati.

    Regards

  5. Comment by Nick on 30 April 2007:

    I have already put some work into a proper profile for every user instead of relying on cookies. I entered into this purely as an experiment and the cookie method was quick and easy (plus people can sign up really quick) but it certainly needs fixing.

    The problem with adding favorites is down to Technorati being slow and the OPML lookup to perform the verification seems to fail a lot.

  6. Comment by David on 1 May 2007:

    Yeah, this cookie problem. I shut my PC down, came back and now? I delete all my cookies, by shutting down my Firefox.
    Nice Idea, but next time, release a project, when it’s finished. wihtout login-system, it’s just rubbish. a little login system isn’t that much work

  7. Pingback by » Dealing with Some Criticisms on the Technorati Favorites Exchange Experiment on 18 May 2007:

    […] April 2007 – Nick Halstead decided to start Favorite.me a website, which regulates the exchange of Technorati favorites within a controlled […]

  8. Pingback by Dosh Daemon » Technorati Favorites = Increases Rankings? Digital Phocus on 3 July 2007:

    […] The Programming and Management Blog Social networking experiment so that you can be more specific than just the random adding that Dosh Dosh leads too. I have written this purely as a social experiment and I hope everyone gets involved. If you already have a blog […]

  9. Pingback by Dosh Daemon » Dosh on 3 July 2007:

    […] The Programming and Management Blog Social networking experiment so that you can be more specific than just the random adding that Dosh Dosh leads too. I have written this purely as a social experiment and I hope everyone gets involved. If you already have a blog […]

  10. Comment by jill on 26 August 2007:

    I too tried this with http://makemepopular.blogspot.com
    It seems great minds think alike. jill.. http://cre8asite.blogspot.com

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