Rivera interested in starting more Techmeme clones, but is coy on topic areas

Ian Lamont — Tue, 18 Nov 2008 08:14:27 -0800

Techmeme creator Gabe Rivera has confirmed that he is interested in expanding the algorithm-driven news aggregator beyond technology, politics, and celebrity news, but he says a new job posting for his company contained some deliberate misinformation about required skill sets "just to throw people off."

The job posting for Rivera's company Epivoz was described yesterday on a sitepoint blog authored by Josh Catone. A scan of the job listing describes the following requirement:

You should be very familiar with news in one or more of the following areas: technology, business, finance, economics, politics, biotech, cleantech, the environment, football, or automobiles.

This prompted Catone to speculate about Rivera's plans. "Could Techmeme be readying the launch of new companion news watching sites?" Catone asked. "It sure sounds that way."

When contacted by The Standard, Rivera confirmed that the company would like to expand into new areas, but declined to identify what they are or when they would launch. "That job ad reflects several of the skills I was seeking plus plus a number I'm not that I included just to throw people off," Rivera said in an email. "It worked."

Rivera started Techmeme in 2005. His company also operates similar services based on political news memeorandum, celebrity gossip (WeSmirch), and Major League Baseball news (BallBug).

(Photo of Gabe Rivera by b_d_solis)

Sources cited, referenced, or consulted: Techmeme.com, Memeorandum.com, Gabe Rivera, Sitepoint.com.