Maybe you've already heard of swickis before, or maybe you're thinking, "God, another new Internet term? When will it stop?" Well, it'll probably never stop. The Internet seems to have a knack for creating new things that need new names. However, a swicki actually isn't a new term. It's been around for a couple of years--about as long as Eurekster (that's us). A swicki is a custom search engine that allows communities to influence results. The idea is kinda like Digg, Mixx, and many others; that idea being that a group of people passionate about a topic will bring the good stuff to the top.
I'm sure plenty of you have had experiences with search where you didn't find what you wanted. With a swicki, you can vote down the results that you don't like or that are irrelevant. Conversely, if you find a hidden gem lurking at the bottom of the page, you can vote that up. If you find a really cool Web page elsewhere that's not in the results, you can add it to the swicki. A swicki merges the power of technology with the discerning power of people.
And I'm not saying that it's going to replace Google or any of that jazz.
Google is great for the broader search stuff; swickis are great for specific areas of interest. Take our Green Home Improvement swicki. It's targeted to return results around eco-friendly home improvement topics. So you can find resources about building with bamboo, or you may want to discover some new Earth Day ideas. Give it a try. See what you find.
Plus, swickis are portable. I know everyone is into widgets, so you'll be happy to know that you can get code for the swicki and plop it right on your Web site. Then you can do all your searching from your own site.
Sound cool enough? We think so (Yes, we are a little biased). So, we created this Swicki Showcase blog to show off the neat stuff about swickis as well as all the interesting things that we find on the Web. Alex and I share tips, comments about our latest swickis, and random other stuff. To date, I think the Gamerator, which combines a keg with an arcade, is one of my favorite finds (Check it out in the Man Pad swicki). This blog is all about the crazy, intriguing, and wacky side of swickis and the information on the Web. We never know quite what we'll find, and it's fun to pass it along and share it with you.
So that's what a swicki is, and that's also what this blog is about. If you'd like to know more about swickis and Eurekster, you can click on this link for all that official verbiage. You can talk with other swicki users by joining our Ning group over at Swicki Shout Outs. You can also build your own swicki for whatever topic you choose. And feel free to check out our latest owned and operated swickis below. We appreciate your time and your feedback.
May all of your Web searching here and elsewhere bring you relevant results.