Technorati has been screwed up for a while. If I used swear words on this blog, I would say this using a different word that begins with F in place of the word screwed.
I hate to say it –
but Technorati, I feel like our relationship is deteriorating, and I think it is time we faced it. The only trouble is, there is nobody like you out there. And it seems some advertisers believe in you. I have lost faith in you myself. I think you’re cheating on me. Seeing other blogs. Sleeping around like a cheap sheet in a dodgy motel. Lying to me! Please, get yourself together before it is too late for us.
Favourite Nightmare –
Currently there is no way for me to add any new favourites. I have over 200, and apparently this means I am a demon from hell and should not be allowed to have any more favourites. Or something like that. And I am not alone with this problem.
What Does This Mean?
Hopefully it will mean a better Technorati for all of us, but there is a LOT of work to do before that happens. Many people have been experiencing problems with pings. A lot of people feel they cannot use Technorati to read blogs anymore because it is very unreliable.
Some people have given up on it completely because it was increasing their page load times on a regular basis – and that is fair enough, too. People have often reported having trouble getting any kind of technical support, though this may have been fixed recently.
When Will It Be Fixed?
I guess the biggest question is – how long are we all expected to just hang in there while they try to sort things out?
Your Blog Is Important –
It is important to you, and important to your readers. It does not seem to be so important to Technorati. My advice to anyone reading this? Don’t become reliant on Technorati for anything.
Don’t Use It To Read Blogs –
Some of the blogs in my favourites list say they have not been updated in over 100 days or so, and yet those bloggers are still blogging, still writing, and I am getting their posts in Google Reader.
No feed reader is perfect but you should expect feeds to show up within 30 minutes to 6 hours if you’re using feedburner. 100 days is a different century in net time. Use Google Reader or Bloglines or some other feed reader to get your blog fixes. Don’t rely on Technorati for this. You will be disappointed if you do.
Google Search Is Better –
I’ll also take off the search box because I found it quite unreliable. I have found a way to put a Google Search Box on my blog instead. You can do the same because Sephy tells you how to install a Google Search Box onto your blog. I highly recommend that you do it – this will make it easier for your readers to find what they are looking for.
I Feel Sad –
For all the staff who work there and believe in what they are doing. I don’t know what is going wrong there. I don’t want to know what is going wrong there. I want someone to fix it. I want Technorati to be working at the full potential I think it is capable of, and I think all bloggers would agree with that.
But –
We have blogs to run as well, and we cannot afford to sit back and be patient while widgets don’t work, while we can’t add people to our favourites, while this service is used as a way to rate bloggers yet at the same time it is giving incorrect ratings to blogs that don’t exist!
Previous Tuesday Think Tanks –
Do NOT Rely On Your Site Meter
Track Your Visitors with Google Analytics
14 Reasons Readers Unsubscribe From Your Blog
Tuesday Think Tank: All About RSS
Demystifying Blogger Template Editing
Blog Design – Open Your Eyes
Say No! to Nofollow
Spam, Spiders And Do Follow, Oh My!
Stumble It –
If you liked this post, be sure to give it a stumble. :)
Check Sephy Out –
Sephy has a companion post to this, which you can read here – The Ups (and Downs) of Technorati – this covers blog authority, rank and reactions and how they change as well as some other useful stuff.
Make A Request –
This week’s Tuesday Think Tank came as the result of a request from Julie, who had some questions about Technorati and why her ranking has been changing recently. If you have something you want to have covered in a future Tuesday Think Tank, we always are willing to take suggestions; all you need to do is send an email to either myself or to Sephy, and we will tackle your topic on a future Tuesday. :)
Over To You –
How do you feel about Technorati? Are you ready to break up and move on with your life? Will you stick it out a little longer? Are you going to remove some of their widgets? What have you been using it for, is that still working or have you had to look for other options?
Do you have a blog topic you’d like to know more about? Simply mention it in the comments.
I haven’t been having so much trouble with Technorati, but I have noticed many of my favorites not showing any current posts. I’m very glad you wrote this post, it brought me a better understanding of the behind the scenes at Technorati.
Wow you liked my little icon, I’m extremely flattered.
I’ve been really busy recently and have not been giving my networking and other blog reading enough time so did not really notice any problems with Technorati (apart from the ping thing).
I think I may be getting less traffic from it these days though!
Hm, I so rarely visit Technorati or track my stats/traffic from it, so I’m clueless. I’m on there, somewhere, but it never did anything for me, at least in the way of fun, so I never pursued it.
Actually, breaking up wasn’t very hard to do at all.
I’m happy with Google Reader. Thanks for the rec.
And much happier without all the Technorati frustration and nonsense.
In addition to all the favorite and lack of favorite update problems you describe, I suffered the rank problem that prompted you and Sephy to write these great posts…thanks!
I have lost 100 authority points and watching that number tumble was confusing and disheartening as I watched my traffic and comments increase.
So buh bye Technorati. Happy days are here again.
Julie
Using My Words
Lynne – It is very interesting to read a few blogs that talk about the behind the scenes at these net companies. ;)
Forest – Your icon is stunning and much better than any of the ones Technorati made. Well done! I wanted to check and see if anyone faved me, I had 19 people who had faved me when I posted this. However, Technorati won’t load pages right now. It does load some quite annoying flashing ads, though.
Kirsten – Unfortunately some of the pay to post and link ad sites use Technorati rankings to assess your blog. Sad but true. However that is not the only reason it is mildly important to me. I hate to see something with such promise in the toilet bowl, struggling not to be flushed. ;(
Thanks for the comments all! ;)
Snoskred
Thanks for the feedback, we realize that the implementation of favorites hasn’t lived up to its potential. We’re working on a number of outward facing enhancements with search, the recently release topics feature and favorites as well as working on a lot of “back office” issues with our crawling infrastructure and the data center. Yes, a lot of changes are afoot but I’m optimistic that where a lot of mistakes have been made in the past, we’re making a lot of the right changes now and ask that you stay tuned.
By the way, the favorites icon you made is great, I’ll pass it on :)
-Ian
Technorati
Ian – Forest Parks made the icon, there’s a link to his blog in the article. ;)
Thanks for responding. I know you guys are having a rough time of it and I am hopeful things will improve soon. I am hanging in there but only just, and like I say I have had to remove a couple of things due to their not working quite right.
Cheers,
Snoskred
I’ve never used Technorati, no, not even once. I’ve never really “gotten” it. I’ve always kept quiet about this, since it seems to betray that I’m a “hick” blogger who doesn’t know how to really play. :)