The Editor's Desktop: How "Our...

Recently, many of you have asked about that box on the home page called the "Editors' Picks." You know how you go into a Barnes & Noble and there is a wall of "Staff Picks"? They do not reflect a single genre and are not always new releases. Well, the "Editors' Picks" box on the Gather home page aspires to offer the diverse voices of the Gather community to the Gather community.

You've probably figured out that this is managed by the folks on the Gather Editorial Team. This week, I'd like to tell you more about how the slots get filled each day, and welcome feedback about your ideas on the content you would like to see in the "Editors' Picks" box when you come to Gather.

Why we do it. On countless sites, it is up to the audience to find the gems of content. They may be dependent on breaking news, recent history of content, or purely by automated rankings. On blog sites in particular, that task is made more difficult by the set-up of the site: the best post may be a few days old, but gets pushed down the page due to the linear presentation. On Gather, there are great authors, an archive of interesting posts, and stimulating discussion occurring. But for those who come to Gather for a quick fix of what is interesting, we offer our picks as a way to guide members to quality content they might have missed.

How we choose the postings. Like Barnes & Noble "Staff Picks," there is some amount of creativity and some amount of analysis that goes into the "Editors' Picks." The three things we take into account are:

    1) Is it popular and well rated by you, the Gather community?

    2) Is it well written (not perfect, but well presented)?

    3) Does it stimulate debate, or is it entertaining (or both!)?

While we have and will increasingly highlight what the community ranks as most read, rated, and commented on, we keep in mind the writers behind the stats of Top Authors, and Top Articles further down the home page. There is a desire for some of those Gather members with less time on their hands to find out what is interesting on the site.

What it means to members. Of course, getting featured by the Gather Editorial Team is great for a contributor on the site. The articles that we have posted have garnered great votes, great comments, and of course get more views because of their visibility. The authors get a boost by being on the home page in such a visible spot, and those with quality content get more attention for their other articles too. With new functionalities in the near future, we will be able to tell you exactly what impact getting featured has.

Keep in mind that this is a creative process. A new author may have hit a topic just right, and we want to showcase that before it becomes popular. Or someone is on the scene of a major news event, and we want to have the breaking news up on the home page. An author may be doing something unique and controversial, or a new content partner may have a great item that we think is a "must read." And remember to peer lower down on the home page for all of our rankings; most read, most viewed, and most commented on. This gives you a way to look through the community's eyes to find great Gather content.

David Cooperstein is Editor-in-Chief of Gather.com. His other comments can be found at david.gather.com. He and his colleague Jennifer Hodge pick the pieces that show up in "Our Editors' Picks," especially with the help of you, the Gather community.