OPML: WTF?
Techmeme (TechCrunch's robot friend) got extra-confusing yesterday with all the talk about OPML. Blog-syndication boss Dave Winer opened his blog-sharing project, Share Your OPML, to much fanfare from the technorati.
It's basically another way to show people what blogs you read, and not a super-sexy way at that. But to one crowd, it's the new hotness: the has-beens of blogging's B-list.
While the average blogger doesn't give a damn about OPML, techie scenesters like Microsoft's Robert Scoble, marketer David Parmet, and PR pundit Steve Rubel are all over it like the newest TechCrunch party.
So why do they care? Well, speaking of TechCrunch, writer Michael Arrington reveals these guys' motives. "There's a top 100 list of the most popular feeds which could become the definitive top 100 list once there is a statistically relevant number of users." Yep, for now, the OPML promoters are capping Winer's Top 100 list in a tidy positive-feedback loop. And as you know from bad rock concerts, a positive-feedback loop ends in a screeching, high-pitched whine.
Top 100 Feeds [Share Your OPML]
Share Your OPML [TechCrunch]