Zite: Only the Good Stuff

It’s always been an incredibly difficult task to simplify my web life. Ideas, articles, blogs, tweets, and other information enter my mind at breakneck speed online, and it is hard to process all the information to get to what I really want: the cream of the crop, the really interesting articles that speak to my passions.

That’s why I am a big fan of Worio, a former PR client of mine. I believe Worio heralds the next generation of smart web products. It gets to know you over time and suggests content from the web that map directly to your interests. I’m excited that I can finally talk about Worio’s latest product, Zite, which launched today. Even though I no longer work with them professionally, I still use the service and have been testing Zite in beta for a few months now. In essence, Zite is like a curated version of Google Reader. It applies its intelligent algorithm to the social media pipeline – blogs, delicious, Twitter – to determine what content aligns most closely with your interests. Articles from my favorite blogs find their way into my Zite stream on a consistent basis, and I have found so many random gems through the site that otherwise would have remained hidden among the wasteland of crap on the web.

If you’ve been reading my posts on food, you’ll know I’m always on the lookout for a good recipe. Here’s an example of how Zite works really well to find fresh web content. I need cooking inspiration from someone other than Mark Bittman (what can I say, the guy knows how to make an awesome meal!). Pretty soon he is going to think I am a crazy recipe stalker, and I don’t want that. As the weather warms up, I’m craving crisp, flavorful salads, and a quick browse on Zite offers a wealth of first-rate content:

I can’t wait to try the butter bean, tuna and celery salad from DivineCaroline. Or the strawberry, kiwi and spinach salad from All Recipes. It took me less than 30 seconds to find two awesome new recipes I’m excited to use, and that’s an incredibly valuable resource to have in my arsenal of life simplifiers.

The more I work on simplifying my life, the more I rely on the recommendations of good friends, a few select blogs that produce awesome content, and services like Zite to be my eyes and ears on the web. I have 15 beta invites to Zite if you’d like to try it out. Click here to sign up!

March 23, 2010 by marie | 3 Comments