5 Questions with Thoora.com
One of our objectives here at Sync is introduce you to new and interesting websites, and we especially like when there’s a Canadian connection. In this “5 Questions” feature we chat with Mark Evans, director of communications with the Toronto-based Thoora.com.
Sync chatted with Thoora.com‘s Mark Evans about what makes this new website tick.
Sync: Hi Mark, thanks for your time. What is Thoora, exactly?
Mark Evans: Thoora is a new and unique service that helps people discover the news attracting the most attention within social and traditional media. In real-time, Thoora identifies the most interesting stories by exploring the entire blogosphere, Twitter and nearly 5,000 traditional media sources to determine the stories attracting the most blog posts, comments, tweets, and news coverage. Thoora’s approach to collecting and displaying the most interesting stories is based on what’s implicitly happening within social and traditional media — blog posts, comments, Twitter updates and news articles — rather than voting or link analysis. We take into account millions of voices rather than relying on a small group of editors or A-List bloggers to determine the most important stories.
Sync: How is this different than other news services, such as Google Fast Flip?
Evans: Thoora is different because it taps into three “clouds” to determine the biggest news of the day — the entire blogosphere (including comments), Twitter and traditional media. Unlike Digg, there’s no voting involved; unlike Google, it’s more than just traditional media, and unlike Techmeme, there’s no curation.
Sync: How would a Canadian interested in, say, technology, be able to take advantage of this? And can you give us an example of how it works?
Evans: Thoora features a large number of categories and sub-categories so people can find the news that meets their interests or needs. For a Canadian interested in technology, there’s a science/technology that provides a broad view on what’s happening. And yes, you can do searches for any keywords, too. If you did a search on iPhone tips, for example, you would see a list of the blogs posts and news articles that attracted the most attention. There would also be a chart showing blog and news activity over a period of time, as well as the most recent updates on Twitter.
Sync: How does Thoora work, exactly? Please explain the technology behind the site in plain English.
Evans: In plain English, Thoora scours the blogosphere, Twitter and the traditional media to determine the news attracting the most buzz. It then pulls the strongest signals from each “cloud,” and clusters them together to determine the biggest or most talked about stories of the day. In simple terms, Thoora provides users with a single place to see what’s happening as opposed to having to visit blogs and Twitter and traditional media sources.
Sync: Does it cost anything after the beta period ends? If not, what’s the business model?
Evans: After the beta ends, Thoora will remain free. The business will likely be advertising and technology licensing.
Mark-
Your segments at the movies are great but please please for all us gay guys who are watching get a manicure before you shoot another segment :)
Russell
OMG … are you serious! This is not a fashion site. Get real.
Mark, it’s your mind I love … forge this lightweight wannabe. My husband admires you very much bless his heart, and we are big fans … and he’s a real luddite.
Hi Carol,
You are correct this is not a fashion segment, if that were the case I would say don’t mix this shirt with that pant- however i am sitting in the audience with a different eye than most as a former talent agent for many years in commercial products (print or on-screen) – the actor is a prop and when selling a product the consumer needs to be focused on what is being sold by the actor. There is actually a series of classes on exactly where and how a product should be held- ie: when Marc is holding a gadget to the screen, he has to turn it away from him and bring the product into his body (careful to not extend the elbow), making sure he shows all of his fingers or the product will look as if it is just suspended in air. Holding the product in this way is unnatural in our everyday lives so how he holds and or displays items for the camera is important- Ask any actor or commercial print model and they will all tell you that manicures are just as important as shaving and combing your hair :) So I chose to use some stereotyped humor to make my point instead of this long drawn out explanation but hopefully now you understand. See you at the movies :)
Russell
Russell,
LOL, you’re the second person to tell me that so I did get a “manny” before the last “Gear Guide” segment we shot (out in November) and we’re shooting tomorrow for December!
Appreciate the feedback!
;-)
Marc
Marc,
Well I am glad you saw the humor in it and even more happy that I can now focus on the really cool gadgets you demonstrate. Looking forward to the next well groomed segment :)
Russell
Ha, thanks Carole,
You’re sweet, but Russell is right! When my spots air at the movie theatre my fingernails are about 5-feet tall! So I need to take better care of them. It really shows when I’m holding up a gadget and such, which I didn’t realize before, but a make-up artist told me about a month ago that I should get a manicure (as constructive criticism) and so I took heed!
It’s all good. ;-)
Thanks for the kudos,
Marc
Mark,
This seems like a cool site but I can’t register any which way and I tried 10 different ways and their contact is won’t connect. I know it’s relatively new but …
Carole,
There’s no need to register. Just click on the Access Beta button on the right side of the screen.
Mark
I always seem to have a hard time on deciding which nail design to use, sometimes it can take me hours to decide. I usually try changing my nail designs at least twice a month.
There’s no need to register. Just click on the Access Beta button on the right side of the screen.
How would a Canadian interested in, say, technology, be able to take advantage of this? i like this question.