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Topix.net Gets Interactive

Posted By Darren Rowse 13th of December 2005 Blogging Tools and Services 0 Comments

I was looking through my Bloglines feeds earlier today and checked out a Topix.net keyword search feed. As I did I noticed that they’d changed their logo on the feed so I clicked through to their site to find that they’ve done a redesign. The old crusty looking blue is gone and its now a lot more open and orange (almost looks like ProBlogger colors). Check it out at Topix.net.

Another change that I noticed (or maybe they had it previously but I didn’t see it) is a ‘Blogs’ link in their top menu that says it indexes the ‘top stories being discussed in weblogs’. Looks like a useful page to keep the finger on the pulse of the wider blogging community.

While I was there I also noticed that they’ve added comments sections to stories which makes them a lot more blog-like. For instance this post on Iraqi Americans voting in Iraq’s elections now can be commented upon on Topix.

It’s an interesting move that indicates that Topix is definitely moving in a new direction – away from purely being about news to something more interactive. This comes on top of their recent move to index not only newspapers but also blogs.

The question I find myself asking though is how will bloggers feel about another site running a comments section on their stories? Take for instance this post over at Neil Kennedy’s Weblog which has a comments section for readers to use but which now also has opportunity for comments to be left at the page that links to him at Topix.

Perhaps it’s no different to another link blog linking up and having the opportunity to leave comments about the link to the blog but it does seem a little odd to me for some reason. I’m not sure where my concern comes from and perhaps after a good night’s sleep it will go away – but I’m interested on other’s thoughts on the changes at topix.net

What do you think?

update: Of course I should have gone straight to Steve Rubel when I noticed the changes as his company does do some work with Topix. Steve gives a bit more information on the Topix Changes.
udpate II: SiliconBeat also writes about the changes (they also declare that they are cousins with Topix as they’re owned by the same company). They talk about how the changes are about building community on the site. This is definately new ground for a news aggregator.

About Darren Rowse
Darren Rowse is the founder and editor of ProBlogger Blog Tips and Digital Photography School. Learn more about him here and connect with him on Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn.
Comments
  1. This is an interesting topic, and I haven’t yet had time to look at Topix in depth. Just to mention I’ve been looking at the whole link “problem” recently. For anyone who’s interested, here’s a first principles post on Google Future Watch : Links and Citations

  2. I have a google adsence question. When do payments usually go out. Say for November you would expect to see payment when?
    Thanks, just trying to get an idea of how long it takes.

  3. Topix.net has replaced Google News as my primary source for finding stories on specific topics. It is less filtered than GNews so I’m able to pick up some more Press Releases and Human Interest stories that don’t get to me from my Google News.

  4. “The old crusty looking blue is gone”

    yup, it is =)

    here’s something fun that I dont think anyone’s mentioned yet …
    do a search for “hella topix” in the top search bar

    hope you guys like to new ui

    -Arin

  5. Looks a lot like a blog cross with a news site, nice look, great improvement.

  6. I don’t like the popup previews…I left their home page open in the background for an hour or so when I got busy doing something else and they overtook the window. I couldn’t get them to go away so I stopped trying.

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