Scribnia – Review the Reviewers

It was only a matter of time before somebody turned the tables on all the writers and bloggers on the Internet.  We spend our time reviewing products and services and spouting off opinions on everything from politics to technology.  So now, with the beta launch of Scribnia, there is an organized way for Internet readers to comment on their favorite (and dare I say it, least favorite) Internet based authors.

There are countless writers available online in the blogosphere and on newspaper websites.  In many cases you can write comments on their blogs, yet there has been no organized way to learn about their biases, background, and abilities. That’s where Scribnia comes in as they will allow Internet readers to rate Internet writers.  You can rave about your favorite author and rant about writers who you think are biased, unreliable, or boring.

The database on Scribnia is pretty small right now, but you can add any type of author to Scribnia as long as they are both published online and associated with a publication.  A publication can range from Blogging Tips to the Washington Post.  Essentially they are eliminating freelance writers who don’t have their own website and don’t regularly write for one publication.  At the same time they are also eliminating authors who write books or screenplays.  But clearly, given the growth of the blogosphere, they are including far more authors than they are excluding.  An author is shown as “unapproved author” until a Scribnia administrator approves them for inclusion in the directory.

Once you rate a few authors, you can use Scribnia’s context ratings to find more authors you might like.  For example, if you write several positive reviews on authors who write about Macintosh technology, Scribnia will be able to recommend someone who may become your next favorite author.  Given the small database size, the recommendation engine only works so-so right now.

If you are a blogger you can add a Scribnia widget to your blog to both show off your Scribnia rank to your readers and solicit more reviews.  Possibly you’ll even be able to grow as a writer by seeing what they people like and dislike about your posts.

Scribnia is a powerful idea – but right now the site itself is not that powerful.  As with any social media site, the real power will come only when the number of participants and the number of reviews grow to critical mass.

Written by David Silversmith from Info Musing
Posted on June 9th, 2009 and filed under Blogging
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