Sorry (not really) for the linkbait headline, but I'm recently inspired. AND, it really is mentioned in the article I just read, Altmetrics: A 21st-Century Solution to Determining Research Quality. Bet you want to read it now!
This is an overview article that makes the case for and describes the concept of altmetrics (alternative metrics for scholarly output such as blog posts, conference procedings, preprints, and even traditional journal articles). For some reason, until I read this article I'd been pronouncing it alt-i-metrics in my head, but whatever :-)
Turns out you can also get a solid overview by reading the wikipedia entry, or the altmetrics manifesto as well. From the same site is a list of altmetric tools you can try out to get a concrete understanding of the concept. Not mentioned on that list, however, are two library-focused commercial products that you might take a look at too, Plum Analytics and Altmetric.com.
Certainly an interesting concept of which to be aware!