Wikipedia, MySpace, Flikr...all fine and dandy but I think another great window onto what people are interested in online is the ['Most read/most emailed'][mr] list on the BBC News website (towards the bottom on the right).
At the time of writing, it's quite a sensible list (top story is called 'chips push through nano-barrier' though I'd like to think that people are clicking on it because they think it's about very small potato products) but when I checked yesterday, [this story][ts] about a woman fighting a lion with a pen was top.
[mr]:
http://news.bbc.co.uk
[ts]:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/americas/6301575.stm
Comments
<a href="http://www.haringey.gov.uk/index/community_and_leisure/neighbourhoods/hth.htm">here</a>
<a href="http://img.metro.co.uk/i/pix/2007/01/pigheadsWN_450x299.jpg">Two faced pig, anyone?</a>
Someone could write a thesis on social-websites/virial pathways/Memes and the effect on the media. Especially the meme aspect.