Comments on: Sphinn & The Hidden Value of Social News Bookmarking Immersion

By: Marty Weintraub

Marty Weintraub — Tue, 08 Apr 2008 17:37:51 +0000

@Mike: That’s very interesting perspective, thank you.

By: Mike Blumenthal

Mike Blumenthal — Tue, 08 Apr 2008 17:22:41 +0000

The results you have could be also be an effect rather than a cause of your headline writing.

Perhaps as a society we have entered an age where even meaningful content needs to provide a certain thrill to be watched/read/seen. I don’t norally watch commercial TV so when I saw Discover Channel where even a discussion of artifacts in Egypt become somewhat sensationalized I occured to me that the tactic that you use are everywhere.

Curious what % of sphinners that vote for your summary actually go and read the full article.

Mike

By: Marty Weintraub

Marty Weintraub — Tue, 08 Apr 2008 13:34:04 +0000

@Jenn: He He, sheep always make good headlines :).

By: Jenn Osborne

Jenn Osborne — Tue, 08 Apr 2008 09:01:58 +0000

Unfortunately there is always more content that I want to read on Sphinn than I”ll ever have time for. A well crafted headline does help the reader make decisions about which posts to read because we can’t read them all.

My post “Social Media - are we all just a bunch of Sheep?” was originally “Social Media and the Online Propensity Towards Group Think”

LOL! do you think anyone would have read it???

By: Marty Weintraub

Marty Weintraub — Tue, 08 Apr 2008 03:42:01 +0000

@James: That’s my point exactly. Social news sharpens your instincts. Thanks for stopping by.

By: James Duthie

James Duthie — Tue, 08 Apr 2008 03:37:43 +0000

My question is… how on earth do you manage to achieve that before Jeff, Shana or Maki beat you to the punch? What percentage of submissions do you miss because you’re attempting to optimise the headline & description?

By: Mark Dykeman

Mark Dykeman — Mon, 07 Apr 2008 22:32:00 +0000

Thanks for the link!

By: Marty Weintraub

Marty Weintraub — Mon, 07 Apr 2008 21:46:45 +0000

Thanks Matt,
I’m glad we’re friends and I’ve learned from you. My techniques have matured (softened some) over time and I owe a bit to the robust exchanges we’ve shared. Tamar was another big helper with spot-on critique I needed, heard, and heeded.

Sometimes I don’t like my OWN Sphinn style but in any profession one learns to do what works where it works…with an open mind, a comittment to integrity, willingness to learn, and honest heart.

Ironicly you would find my tactics and style much different on some other sites aimClear frequents. I do what works, as it’s my job to promote our agency and clients.

BTW it make me smile when a friend I’ve succesfully baited to engage “can’t stand” the very work that started the conversation.

Finally, thank you for the kind words.

By: Matt McGee

Matt McGee — Mon, 07 Apr 2008 20:57:13 +0000

Mike asks a good question, and I admire your reply to it, Marty.

I’ve told you before that I can’t stand the way you write your headlines and descriptions on Sphinn. I object to the idea of sending “headline bait” out to a bunch of headline baiters. I don’t like the ALL CAPS and all the other stuff you do for drama; it becomes melodrama to me.

But there’s no questioning your success on Sphinn, and I appreciate that I’m in the minority here. And as you say, better to use Sphinn as an example in this kind of article than to reveal your persona on one of the other social sites.

By: Barry Welford

Barry Welford — Mon, 07 Apr 2008 18:39:33 +0000

.. and of course in parallel with this there is a similar effort required re Google’s spiders.