You Scratch My Back… (A Tribute to Alltop.com)
by kev on March 7, 2008 

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A few days ago, I noticed I was getting a fairly large number of visitors from a site that was foreign to me. “What on earth is Alltop,” I thought to myself, out loud, in the middle of a large group of people, as the bride and groom were taking their vows. How embarrassing. I guess that’s what I get for taking an iPhone with me when I crash someone’s wedding.

Anyway, curious cat I am, I did some research. Alltop is a brand-new website from the creators of Truemors, a very popular social information site that has a Google PageRank of 6. To put that into perspective: American Idol’s website is also a 6, ESPN.com is a 7, and Carrot Top’s official site is a 4.

When I go to Alltop, I’m greeted by a nice, easy-to-follow layout. Apparently, Alltop is a collection (or “aggregation,” if you want to sound intelligent or geeky) of websites organized into categories. “All the top” (hence the name) websites are listed in each category, and links to the five most recent updates from each site is displayed underneath. It’s pretty nifty.

At the homepage, topics are grouped alphabetically. You’ve got entertainment, food, health, gaming, sports, politics, religion… the list is as long as… well, something very, very long. Sorry, I can’t think of any analogies without my morning pot of coffee.

Eventually, I glanced down to the “Humor” section of the homepage. There I found what you (hopefully) see in the picture to the left:

“Featuring The Onion, Jokers Joke, Special Kind of Stupid, and Stuff White People Like.”

I can’t truthfully say I am familiar with those other two sites listed, but The Onion is arguably the most popular humor site on the web. And there’s my site, listed in the same sentence with it. Usually, to be mentioned in the same sentence with someone or something famous, I’d have to resort to stalking a celebrity.

My bliss was kicked up a notch when I clicked on the “Humor” link. Only forty-seven sites are listed. Among them: The Onion, Dilbert, and Dane Cook’s website. Which site is listed top and center? Take a guess. Hint: it’s not Dane Cook.

Clearly, I must be a distant relative of one of Alltop’s creators. That’s the only logical explanation.

A big thank you to Guy Kawasaki and the rest of the Alltop team for including me in their index. The more I read about you guys and your past projects, the more I realize how big an honor this is.

So… which one of you am I related to?