Memeorandum Makeover
Gabe Rivera has done a massive redesign of the blog aggregator Memeorandum.
Most blog links have indeed been reduced to just the name of the blog by default. Why? This makes the page easier to scan, and it permits extra emphasis for more noteworthy blog posts and articles. Roughly speaking, if a blog post hasn’t been linked by anyone, it’s unlikely to appear excerpted by default. But if a post does provoke some discussion, it may be featured as a headline on the page.
It’ll take some getting used to and will likely annoy many bloggers who use it primarily to get a list of who’s linking to what. Whether it’s easier to scan, only time will tell; I’ll have to relearn how to use it first.
The new design, though, does cure a lot of the problems that Gabe noted a few weeks ago. Most notably, having numerous threads for related articles–especially multiple variants of the same AP or NYT article–was indeed “lame.”
Well, let me put it this way: it’s now easier to scan the page as a whole for interesting headlines. True, scanning the blog remarks on a particular article of interest is slightly slower…you need to “expand” the excerpts or click on the links. But, as you’ve suggested, this might be more of an insiderish blogger thing. I’m trying to make the best experience for the average reader. Hope this gets a little closer, even as it might bug some people…
Gabe,
Agreed–it depends on who the target audience is. If the primary function is to scan for new articles–that is, you’re competing with GoogleNews and YahooNews–then the new design is preferable. If the primary function is to see what the blogs are saying, then the old one may be better.
The new grouping of near-identical MSM stories is a big improvement, though, for both audiences.