I was recently asked what the difference was between Alltop and Browse My Stuff when it comes to a particular topic - in this case the topic was Professional Speaking.

So let’s compare:

• Speaking.Alltop.com and
• Speaking Pro Central

Similarities

Both sites highlight top blogs on a similar topic.  I’m not 100% sure what their focus is, but the list of sources seems similar enough.

Both sites try to help users who do not classically use an RSS reader to get information.  This is important in that both sites understand that their audience are people who are not that familiar with the individual bloggers in the space or who do not use an RSS reader to subscribe to those bloggers.  People who use an RSS reader and are subscribed would simply do it that way.

Differences

Alltop defines itself as “the magazine rack at the airport.”  It is designed to be a quick hit to browse through some current stuff from a variety of resources.  It’s more a directory than anything else.  I personally am not a big fan of the interface, but I believe it achieves the goal of quick hit browsing.

SpeakingProCentral tries to be a specialized library / librarian that’s available to help you find good stuff on a topic when you need it.  It can be used to get the latest and best stuff via Social Filtering on the topic, but it’s even more valuable when you are looking for something more specific.  For example, if you are trying to find out about how Twitter impacts speaking, there’s a page: Twitter - Speaking Pro Central that has the latest and best stuff on that subject.

Part of the difference in goals then is also to provide this value at the appropriate time to users.  As a destination, Alltop is something you go to when you have some time to browse.  As a resource, Browse My Stuff aims to be there when you need to find something specific.  And generally that means search. Most traffic to these sites initially comes via organic search.