Technorati + Authority

Technorati has updated the way they display blog ranking by swapping "authority" in place of sites linking back to your blog.

Also looks like some of the numbers are changing as well—they must be tweaking their measurement methods.  Here's the issue on the table.  I don't think this is newbie friendly.  For someone who is trying to figure out the world of Technorati and what perceived influence translates to— the words authority and rank numbers don't really mean anything.

I'm not sure if this is a good user experience—especially for first time users.  There is an opportunity to simplify and clarify here.  The number of sites linking back is a concrete idea in the context of "easy to understand".  Ranking numbers and concepts like authority are more abstract ideas.  The same rules apply to Technorati as they do for any brand—provide a good experience, don't make your users work so hard to get what they want/need and desire.  Speak in their language, not yours.

I started looking at Technorati just over a year ago—so it's still somewhat fresh in my memory.  I still remember the concepts of sites linking back being one of the few measurements I could initially wrap my head around.  If today were my first day visiting the site, I would be mystified.  Not a great first impression for any brand.  Even a 2.0 one.

Of course, I could be wrong.  Anyone else have thoughts on this?

Tip of the hat to Ben Yoskovitz for the heads up.

Comments

[vaspers the grate]

This is why technical writing is in such demand.

I recently tried to explain, via email, to a non-tech savvy client, how to take tracks from a CD (of her original music), import to iTunes, convert tracks to mp3s, put mp3s on Desktop, then send mp3s to people via email, and put on hosting sites, etc.

It's not as easy as it sounds. Try something like that sometime: without missing a single step.

Most tech explanations leave out steps, don't start at the true beginning, assume users "will already know" certain things.

Test your tech copy by asking a clueless computer user, one who only uses email and eBay, for example, if they understand it. See if they can do it, according to your instructions.

[DA]

Vaspers,

I think that's an interesting analogy. The point being we can't assume anything. This is why empathy in design (and business) is becoming so important.

[Deborah]

Hi there,

Thanks for sharing this, it's been helpful.

I stumbled across your site on another where you were you were listed as doing Technorati favs exchange, but couldn't find your post for it.

So I've added you to my favs :)

I would greatly appreciate if you would fav me as well.

The link to my fav is
http://technorati.com/faves?sub=addfavbtnadd=http://www.fastlanetransport.ca/blog

Cheers!

[Sean ODriscoll]

I had a similar reaction returing to technorati yesterday. I guess I find that the term "authority" is simply not intuitive. # of links/blogs is interesting, but maybe not fascinating in how it translates to what I think of when I say "authority" - but people define this word very subjectively, whereas we all can easily understand what links means. In the end, I don't think this impacts how I use technorati, but feels like change for the sake of change without incremental value and to your point, not a good one for newbies.

Sean
www.communitygrouptherapy.com

[The Dead Artist]

I'm finding it difficult to understand this new model too.

[Steve]

What the heck is "authority"???? Makes no sense. I find that content design always lags "physical" design.

[Scott McArthur]

I'm still struggling to understand trackback - I have tried to use it but have no idea what I'm supposed to do with it. I just mention my sources on my blog - is that the same thing? As for the new format - I will muddle through until it sinks in!

[alyssa]

David, I agree - it is not user friendly. I'm going to have to call in the MIT PhD squad to decipher it.

[DA]

Steve,

I like the point that you bring up. Content needs to be designed. As do the labels and nomenclature we use to communicate ideas. Technorati creates their own vernacular and loses some of us in the process.

Scott,

Don't feel bad, I struggled with trackbacks to it the beginning. I don't use them much these days, but it seems like it's a way to both give someone a heads up that you've referred to their post as well as a way to be "seen" on their own blog.

Lyss,
Please send the MIT PhD squad over to my house when you are done with them. :)

[Roger von Oech]

If the "Technorati" folks were concerned with "user-friendliness," they would not have chosen the "Technorati" name to begin with.

I think the distinction between "Links" and "Authority" is small potatoes.

Since Google is God, we should do it their way. That means, Logic + Emotion is a "6" (your page rank in Google's view of your importance). Hee-Haw is a 6. I'm a 6 as well. Metacool is a 7. Google is a 10.

[DA]

"If the "Technorati" folks were concerned with "user-friendliness," they would not have chosen the "Technorati" name to begin with."

But Roger, if this is indeed a deliberate strategy—is it the right one as Technorati becomes increasingly popular? Is it really small potatoes? I don't think it is—Technorati wants "passionate users" to borrow Kathy's phrase—just like everyone else. In order to create passionate users, we need to understand what the heck you're talking about.

[CK]

Good question. Authority seems such a silly word. I don't have authority (or lack thereof), I just join in the discussion and work to give and get value.

[Kevin Hillstrom]

It would be interesting to see what our thoughts would be if Technorati started out, from the beginning, using the term 'Authority'. If we grew up with the term, would we view it differently?

[Mike Rohde]

I found it a little confusing as well because it's not completely clear where "authority' comes from or how it rates in the larger blogosphere.

For instance, I checked my own blog and it got a 95 for authority, yet when I looked on the Technorati Top 100 by authority, someone else holds spot 95.

So at first glance, without reading the technical background of authority rankings, I gather that there are 2 separate authority rankings — one for my site locally (I guess my site compared against my own site) and one that's global (compared to all other sites).

This disconnect further mystifies me as to how and where Technorati are deriving "authority" rankings. I think a global authority rank is more logical to offer as a reference.

I agree with David — links in and out are pretty clear, why try and come up with an abstract ranking number to signify something that's clear already? :-)

[Mack Collier]

David I've noticed that Technorati seems to tailor its services more toward the experienced/A-Lister bloggers, rather than the novice. I guess I can understand this in a way because they are wanting the blog with the big traffic to link-to and mention them, but they are making it difficult to grasp for newbies. Adding an 'Authority ranking' is a perfect example of what I am talking about. All that does is count links, it has squat to do with my authority, my readers decide what is.

[AgentSully]

Glad I found your post, because I wasn't sure what was going on the last time I checked my blog stats there. I thought I was missing something. It did occur to me that they changed their format, but it was un-user-friendly enough that I just moved on instead of trying to analyze it at the moment.

Bottom line, I agree that they should use language that is more clear.

It's not good when companies want to sacrifice clarity for the sake of sounding fancy.

Now how do we get all these opinions to Technorati?

[David Reich]

I find it interesting that technorati made these changes without really explaining why and what they mean. They made some vague allusion to more changes and more explanation to come, but gave no hint as to when. Glad to see I'm not the only one who doesn't know what "authority" means. Until they explain it, the numbers have no meaning and no import to me.

[Steven Chien]

Completely echo your thoughts on that one DA.

I was walking around the Apple Store the other day and noticed the displays above the Genius Bar providing down-to-earth, easy-to-understand definitions of technical terms. The finest piece of technical writing I have ever seen as they cut straight to the HUMAN benefit without tripping over the techie knitty gritty or making a newbie feel stupid. Sad thing is that I can count the number of companies that consistently mirror Apple's technical writing skills on one hand.

[Lisa]

I think the way technorati was handling rank before was more relevant. And it was definitely easier to understand. I think Google's method of page rank makes more sense now.

[Lisa]

Sorry. Didn't mean to post multiple times. Kept hitting the back button to get to your homepage and didn't realize it was posting my comment over and over.