It's All About Meta-Data

I like reading the New York Times while eating breakfast. I'd consider getting it on paper if 1) someone would be willing to drive all the way up my driveway and bring it to my kitchen door; 2) it didn't cost anything; and 3) someone would come and take it away when I'm done with it. Given the impossibility of these 3 requests I will continue to be grateful for the free online version. I wonder how long it will continue to be free. Can advertising support it? I doubt it. Seems to me the Times is just trying to build market-share or get people hooked before they start charging. [It's working.] Several other large newspapers also provide free access.

Anyway, that's not the point of this entry; what I want to talk about is the "Top 25 Emailed Articles [in past 24 hours]." This is one of my favorite things on the web. It's all about meta-data. Just like amazon.com ranks books by sales, newspapers are ranking articles by how many readers choose to email those articles to other people. I'm guessing that writers at the Times smirk in jubilation if their work makes it onto the top 25 list. I know I would. The Times is way too big to surf through on a daily basis. It's fairly daunting in paper too; that's why the top 25 list is so cool-- you're saved the work of surfing all over the paper to find the most interesting articles, simply click the link to the top 25 and find out what the rest of the world considered interesting enough to email to friends and colleagues.

Do you notice how the advertising on the Times site is so much more visually interesting than the articles? Maybe advertising will actually support the free online paper for awhile. On the other hand, what happens when multimedia news content starts to get as visually appealing as the ads?