CTD on MySpace News beta

About 20 minutes ago started an explosion of incoming referral addresses from news.myspace.com hitting my post on ScobleCam at the Web 2.0 Expo. It appears that they’ve inserted my blog into one they’re following in the “Technology>InternetTech” category and this one is moving up in the voting.

While it delights me my blog is getting hit and I’m sure to see a corresponding spike in ongoing readership, I’m puzzled about something and maybe someone out there has already done the analysis.

What puzzles me is blog ranking and the algorithms that drive TechMeme, Tailrank, Topix, Megite and now MySpace News…and why mine is often called out on Megite and Tailrank as a key post but only as a follow-on post (as one of many in the conversation under some higher ranking blogger) in TechMeme.

My interest isn’t in how to artificially alter or accelerate my rank and thus my readership…it’s growing just fine on its own. My goal isn’t ranking but rather being a material and important voice in the blogosphere surrounding all the issues we’re all driving forward on. Perhaps the two aren’t mutually exclusive but are mutually reinforcing and I probably should be chasing rank and readership? But how do these sites each determine how to rank, whom to rank, and what’s important? Where is the full disclosure so we readers can ensure that someone paying for rank isn’t artificially high up?

In any event, it seems like many sites emerging — like Megite, Tailrank and now MySpace News — are driving deeper into the blogosphere to uncover content worthy of adding to their categories. I had a sense that if I just kept driving forward on my mission and purpose — Guidance, Insight and Ideas in a Time of Accelerating Change — that people who might be interested would eventually find me.

I’ve had the huge, gignormous spikes in readership after doing Apple fanboy-like posts or some other ones with more mass appeal. Experiencing this has given me a feel for how I could game the system — if I was so inclined — to get readers, but I had a model that you might find a bizarre reference for a blogging, midlife white guy with a propeller on his beanie: Oprah Winfrey.

When Jerry Springer, Jenny Jones and other near-porn-like (or National Enquirer-like) shows were garnering eyeballs like crazy, she had a choice: join ’em or take the high road and focus on the really important stuff. She did, kept going, people seeking authenticity and meaning found her, the others downtrended dramatically and the good stuff remained.

Being found by people authentically seeking is reward enough and moves my own agenda forward as well as makes my contributions seem worthwhile. Though I’ll remain curious about rankings and how these blogosphere trackers bring posts forward for mass market consumption, I’m determined to continue on my path adding value to the conversation wherever I can and thus learning more in these conversations than I could ever hope to contribute.

So if you have any knowledge about rankings or pointers to it, let me know. Also be heartened that there is A LOT of good stuff out there and it’s growing.