Comments on: Awesome New Thoof Videos

By: uncle sha

uncle sha — Tue, 02 Oct 2007 02:05:35 +0000

I’ve signed up with Thoof in-fact but never did use it after registering

I don’t know why, its functionality is as good, maybe the bland look just put me off

I think we’re spoiled for choice is such news thoof/digg/dugg kinda portal. digg has major chuck of user as its one of the pioneers. maybe thats why i’m sticking with digg, even with it’s ‘issues’ and ‘selling out’

By: Ian Clarke

Ian Clarke — Tue, 02 Oct 2007 01:19:51 +0000

I will discuss the possibility of a “no more from this source” option with our team.

In the meantime, just a few hours ago we deployed a change which should improve both the diversity and the overall quality of the stories shown to new users. I’d appreciate your feedback.

By: Tom Barr

Tom Barr — Tue, 02 Oct 2007 01:10:54 +0000

Thanks for the explanation Ian, I will give it some more time. I set up an account and did a little more exploring. How about adding a not interesting option for a source – the Hollywood trash source is not interesting to me. Thanks for taking feedback.

By: Ian Clarke

Ian Clarke — Mon, 01 Oct 2007 19:00:03 +0000

Hey all, I’m Ian, CEO of Thoof, and a friend of John’s. Thanks for the feedback.

To Tom Barr, we are aware that we do have more celebrity articles than we would like. Part of the issue is that people do seem to like these articles, so Thoof rationally deduces that they are good articles. Rest assured that if you use Thoof for a bit, and don’t click on any celebrity articles, it should rapidly learn that you don’t like them.

Thoof is a work in progress though, we know its not perfect yet, but we are constantly refining every aspect of the site, and your feedback really helps us to do that.

By: Lisa Marie Mary

Lisa Marie Mary — Mon, 01 Oct 2007 17:02:08 +0000

I really like Thoof – I’ve posted about it a couple of times already, and after seeing these hysterical videos – I think I’ll have to post about them again!

By: BradDet

BradDet — Mon, 01 Oct 2007 16:26:59 +0000

Nice Videos !

I love the analogies to the Mac/PC videos. We have one up here in Canada for our polical parties. They are “PC/Liberal”.

Perhaps it just be, but I would tend to thing of Digg as a bit “Mac-ish” already though. [intended as a compliment].

By: Urbanist

Urbanist — Mon, 01 Oct 2007 07:46:59 +0000

With minimal experience on-site so far I can certainly say this: they are 100% on the right track. They have identified the core problems that will eventually cripple Digg and are precisely working to solve those and evolve beyond the typical Web 2.0 (overused, yes I know) social media sites. They may not have it ‘solved’ yet, but the web is always a work in progress – I think Thoof will come into its own, like any site, more and more as people use it.

By: John P.

John P. — Mon, 01 Oct 2007 07:10:45 +0000

Tom, Hmmm. I think that could be attributed to 3 things:

Timing. You may have hit the site after some crappy submissions and if you weren't logged in it might show you some uninteresting stuff.
You weren't logged in: After you log in and use the site a little it learns what you do and don't like. If you read one that you don't like, make sure to tell it "Not interesting" so it learns.
It's a new service. As more and more content is submitted to Thoof, there will be more interesting things that match your preferences. And as more users show up, it will learn about the quality of articles from the volumes of users.

So, while your results may have been a little less than optimal, they should improve if you stick with it. The question remains to be seen if people will do that though. Either way, Ian will certainly read this post and see your feedback. John

By: Tom Barr

Tom Barr — Mon, 01 Oct 2007 06:50:35 +0000

The videos are great but I was a bit underwhelmed with first use of the site. The array of articles on the home page was pretty lame, stuff about celebrities and other time wasters….and I don’t need help waisting time. ;)

By: Brandon

Brandon — Mon, 01 Oct 2007 02:52:38 +0000

First time I’ve heard of thoof

Thanks John, I’ll check it out..
Maybe I can get in early :D

By: Windyridge

Windyridge — Mon, 01 Oct 2007 02:44:25 +0000

This was an excellent article. I find the other social networking/reviewer sites can get cumbersome. Thoof may be the wave of the future for this kind of thing.