There is an interesting new toy out on the internet provided by Alerts.com. This one is worth checking out, because it can seriously reduce the signal to noise ratio that we all love to whine about on our regular message systems like Twitter or Friend Feed.
This tool helps you actually filter out stuff you just do not want to see. Even from bloggers and friends that you follow and love. In one word, or short phrase, thank goodness I was told about this today.
Sites that provide a RSS feed can allow a person to configure alerts for a particular blog based on key words. So if I go off on a tangent about McCain like I did here, you won’t’ see it, but if I am talking about Seattle startups, you will see it in your e-mail box.
You can find the alert box right under the RSS feed subscription box.
Alerts.com is a Bellevue startup that is just getting started, so it is worth looking at. Most of us who are blogging are unhappy about the signal to noise ratio when it comes to systems like friend feed, or twitter. We get a lot of cross posting, we get a lot of just personal life stuff from those we follow, and this might work out better. Even if our inboxes are flooded, at least we can tune down what we get from our favorite sites to a daily or even weekly basis if someone is talking about something they are interested in on line.
You can compare this service with Google Alerts, but this is cooler, because your subscribers can latch right on into your web site to get to the sign up, and it gives them more creativity to schedule alerts on a subject. With Google alerts they happen randomly, with Alerts.com you go to a set schedule. Depending on what you are looking for in an alert, the schedule might just work better.
Meme of the day bloggers and in-depth interview bloggers will love this tool. It lets the blogosphere do its standard feeding frenzy over a subject, then you can waltz in later with a great in-depth interview if you are set to weekly alerts. Alternatively, you can join the feeding frenzy by hooking this puppy into techmeme and getting an hourly update. There are many choices here on how to use the technology.
Overall, this one is cool, and worth checking out. Sign up for Techwag alerts based on what you want to see by looking under the RSS subscription feed.
Tags: alerts.com, Bellevue, new startup, cool, technology, unique, boffo, worth checking out
