How do I rank?

Every time you create a public Dot, it has a chance to be displayed on a "Blue Dot Buzz" page for each of the topics (tags) you've added to your Dot. Not only that, but if you create popular dots for that topic frequently, you will become a Featured Dotter for that topic. If you go to any "Buzz" page about a topic, we will show you "Featured Dotters" in the right hand column. For example, if you go to:

http://bluedot.us/buzz/travel

you'll see six Blue Dot users listed, along with a score beneath their names. These are the people we've identified as having the most popular dots for the travel topic. What's a Score and how can you be featured on a Buzz page? We use an algorithm that calculates a score based on a) the number of dots that a user creates for this topic, b) the number of times that people click through their dots to read the linked-to web page. To become a Featured Dotter, I'd suggest following these steps:

• Create Dots about this things you care about. Being the first to Dot a particular URL will give you a chance to have your dot shown on the Buzz page. Remember to consistently use the "tag" for the topic you're dotting for (e.g., "travel").
• Edit your comments and title in such a way that people will want to click on the dot to read the underlying page. Tell your readers something useful about the page and why it is interesting or important.
• Having friends on Blue Dot gives your Dot a way to be seen by people who are close to you, and will be interested in your Dot because YOU are interested in it. The more people click on your dot, the more likely it will be promoted to show up on the Buzz page for that topic. You might want to send a Friend request to other Blue Dot users, or current Featured Dotters for the topics you're interesting in.

P.S. For the geeks out there, the topic score (or "karma") formula for ranking Featured Dotters is approximately:

log(number_of_dots_in_topic) + log(views_of_your_dots_in_topic) + overall_bluedot_karma