Over the past few months, the outcry for ways to measure public sentiment online has grown exponentially. As more and more companies scramble to take the reins, we realize that these products are not only incredibly expensive, but they are also very inaccurate.
I am co-creator of upprdwnr, a tool that measures public sentiment on twitter. Think of us as the first iteration of a Twitter “like” button. All users have to do is simply add an #uppr or #dwnr hastag to their tweets, and our site measures that with the rest of the world.
As others try to find the pixie dust to accurately measure what people are saying, we ask users to use the hashtags that makes their voice louder than ever.
@RolandoPeralta
quite interesting tool! thanks a lot for bring it to the table
@sandro_salsi
Loved it. I even sent a short message to my twitter followers about it. Thanks for sharing. It will probably going to take a little while before it catches on…
@mytakeonyou
Facebook Like is now a cult object, so naturally a Twitter alternative is a must. But the upprdwnr execution is rather weak. Just two tags. Remember to use them then remember to search them and if you search on upprdwnr site, you’ll get the big picture.
I can see two problems. It forces people to opt in, even if it is only a pair of hashtags, which means only a small percentage of total opinions would be tracked. Also people can use those tags for other purposes. Better to use a more unique tag. Another thing is that if you ARE forcing them to opt in then why not use more detail. So #updn03 means that I am rating the #topic at 3/10. Again the scale may not get traction, some would interpret it as a 5 scale, some a 10 scale.
It is definitely a good idea but needs much more committment. You need to create a browser plugin+website with oauth so that the rating is not just standardized but also aggregated. If I have the browser plugin installed, then on any page, I can say something and rate it with a char limit of 100, the browser plugin then tags my message, provides a short URL, in the remaining 40 char then authenicates, posts the tweet and returns a confirmation. I can then go to my account on the uprdwnr website to see aggregated results and also my Twitter influence from those tweets. If things start looking up and funding is available, take the plunge and come up with a Twitter Client too.
@mytakeonyou
Aggregation would also allow trends so these can be fed back into the browser as interesting pages to visit.
@mytakeonyou
Facebook Like is now a cult object, so naturally a Twitter alternative is a must. But the upprdwnr execution is rather weak. Just two tags. Remember to use them then remember to search them and if you search on upprdwnr site, you’ll get the big picture.
I can see two problems. It forces people to opt in, even if it is only a pair of hashtags, which means only a small percentage of total opinions would be tracked. Also people can use those tags for other purposes. Better to use a more unique tag. Another thing is that if you ARE forcing them to opt in then why not use more detail. So #updn03 means that I am rating the #topic at 3/10. Again the scale may not get traction, some would interpret it as a 5 scale, some a 10 scale.
It is definitely a good idea but needs much more committment. You need to create a browser plugin+website with oauth so that the rating is not just standardized but also aggregated. If I have the browser plugin installed, then on any page, I can say something and rate it with a char limit of 100, the browser plugin then tags my message, provides a short URL, in the remaining 40 char then authenicates, posts the tweet and returns a confirmation. I can then go to my account on the uprdwnr website to see aggregated results and also my Twitter influence from those tweets. If things start looking up and funding is available, take the plunge and come up with a Twitter Client too.
Aggregation would also allow trends so these can be fed back into the browser as interesting pages to visit.
@jaredmacke
@mytakeonyou – thanks for posting your thoughts on upprdwnr. I’m another one of the co-creators of the site. The information in this article is a couple months old, and we’ve made a few updates that I think take the first steps toward some of your ideas.
I’d love to know what you think, and if this in any way sparks more ideas.
First, we’ve posted a Firefox plugin that not only lets you #uppr and #dwnr pages as you visit them, but also adds uppr/dwnr buttons to tweets when viewed on Twitter.com (http://blog.upprdwnr.com/?p=46). That second feature essentially lets you “Like” and “Dislike”
what people tweet (http://blog.upprdwnr.com/?p=42).
We’re also working on a Wordpress plugin (http://blog.upprdwnr.com/?p=35) and general button to add to a page (http://blog.upprdwnr.com/?p=38). That last feature, by the way, pools results with those you see in the browser toolbar, the WP plugin, and on upprdwnr.com.
Other updates have included non-English language support (UTF-8) and performance improvements to upprdwnr.com. Again – would welcome any feedback.
@RolandoPeralta, @sandro_salsi – thank you for the kind words!
@upprdwnr
@mytakeonyou – thanks for posting your thoughts on upprdwnr. I’m another one of the co-creators of the service. The information in this article is a couple months old, and we’ve made a few updates that I think take the first steps toward some of your ideas.
I’d love to know what you think, and if this in any way sparks more ideas.
First, we’ve posted a Firefox plugin that not only lets you #uppr and #dwnr pages as you visit them, but also adds uppr/dwnr buttons to tweets when viewed on Twitter.com (http://blog.upprdwnr.com/?p=46). That second feature essentially lets you “Like” and “Dislike”
what people tweet (http://blog.upprdwnr.com/?p=42).
We’re also working on a Wordpress plugin (http://blog.upprdwnr.com/?p=35) and general button to add to a page (http://blog.upprdwnr.com/?p=38). That last feature, by the way, pools results with those you see in the browser toolbar, the WP plugin, and on upprdwnr.com.
Other updates have included non-English language support (UTF-8) and performance improvements to upprdwnr.com. Again – would welcome any feedback.
@RolandoPeralta, @sandro_salsi – thank you for the kind words!