April 3, 2008
Brijit, using people, rather than algorithms, to filter information overload
A handful of startups are harnessing humans to process the daily onslaught of information.
Every day, Brijit publishes around 125 concise summaries of newspaper and magazine articles, as well as audio and video programs, rating each on a scale of 0 (“actively avoid”) to 3 (“a must read”) so readers can decide whether it’s worth their time to click through. “What we’ve created with Brijit is your well-read friend,” says Brosowsky, whose eight employees sift through more than 100 sources, from AARP the Magazine to XXL.
Google is getting into the game:
In December, Google announced that it was developing knol, a tool that will allow experts to write authoritative introductions — knols — about a vast range of subjects. “A knol on a particular topic is meant to be the first thing someone who searches for this topic for the first time will want to read,” wrote Udi Manber, a vice president of engineering at Google. In other words, after spending untold millions refining its proprietary algorithms, the titans of the Web are starting to realize there’s no substitute for the human touch.
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Link to Brijit, if you’re interested: http://www.brijit.com/
Thanks for the mention.
Best,
Jeremy from Brijit