A while back I wrote about the emerging problem of having too much content being produced so quickly, but not organized quickly enough or properly enough. The blogging phenomenon was the answer to the question of content management, but provided little or no answer for knowledge management. Sure, blog search engines such as Technorati, along with blogging communities provided some of the answer.
I mentioned that an answer to this problem can come in the form of "… smaller and more specialized sites/engines which cover a specific topic, organizing and presenting relevant information in a way that is geared towards a specific audience."
In comes Swicki, A new idea that is exactly about that- Providing dedicated search engines for people to build and train around topics that are relevant to their sites/communities- is gradually picking up pace.
I mentioned that an answer to this problem can come in the form of "… smaller and more specialized sites/engines which cover a specific topic, organizing and presenting relevant information in a way that is geared towards a specific audience."
In comes Swicki, A new idea that is exactly about that- Providing dedicated search engines for people to build and train around topics that are relevant to their sites/communities- is gradually picking up pace.
"A swicki is a natural extension of personal publishing on the web. Just as you can create a webpage, blog, or podcast, now you can publish a community powered search engine, tailored to produce only the targeted search results that you and your community want!
A swicki shows a buzz cloud of what is hot in your community and makes it easy to find the best content, news and info on the web."
Not only that, but Eurekster is also planning to introduce a revenu making model for Swicki users. An innovative tool AND a revenue model for the company and it's users. how great is that?!
It's interesting to see how large companies always miss coming up with these small innovations. And the larger they get the less innovative and risk taking they become. I see this as an opportunity missed by Google. It is so obvious that such a service should have been provided by them, just as they provided dedicated site search for millions of sites.
It really makes sense to assume that the giant search engines will never be able to cover the web's entire wealth of information, not even Google. And even if they do cover it, they will never be able to organize it all the way people want. Swikis might just be the answer to that problem.
However, I think the real test is to see if such small search engines will ever survive on their own or will they always have to be coupled with a web site, being it a blog, a blog network or a blogging community that focuses on one or several specific topics?
It's interesting to see how large companies always miss coming up with these small innovations. And the larger they get the less innovative and risk taking they become. I see this as an opportunity missed by Google. It is so obvious that such a service should have been provided by them, just as they provided dedicated site search for millions of sites.
It really makes sense to assume that the giant search engines will never be able to cover the web's entire wealth of information, not even Google. And even if they do cover it, they will never be able to organize it all the way people want. Swikis might just be the answer to that problem.
However, I think the real test is to see if such small search engines will ever survive on their own or will they always have to be coupled with a web site, being it a blog, a blog network or a blogging community that focuses on one or several specific topics?
Add a Comment
<<Home