The Digg Lesson
July 7th, 2007What is Digg? I could just tell you that it is a social news site, but that succinct catchphrase just won’t do it for the regular readers here. So here is what I have come up, although with some slight help from The Great Wiki King.
Social news is a system implemented on site that consists of many different designs, although the one I will focus on now is Digg. Users of the site rank, bookmark, or assign points to items in a certain category. These items could be useful, or just plain bloody brilliant.
On a social bookmarking system or network, users store lists of Internet resources that they find useful. These lists can be accessible to the public by users of a specific network or website. Other users with similar interests can view the links by topic, category, tags, or even randomly.
Other than web page bookmarks, services specialized to a specific subject or format - feeds, books, videos, shopping items, map locations, wineries, etc. - can be found.
The social bookmarking system or network is a great fast and safe way of storing information from your explorer.
The BEST parts about a social news site
You Decide.
This is really what I love about social news. I get to decide what is legit, and what internet demons can just stay shut away in the basement closet.
I have to say that one of the shining points for me about Digg, is exactly what Kevin Rose said I would feel.
Letting users control your site can be terrifying at first. From day one we were asking ourselves, “What is going to be on the front page today?” You have no idea what the system will produce. But stepping back and giving consumers control is what brought more and more people to the site. They have a sense of ownership and discovery at the same time. If you give users the tools to spread and share their interests with others, they will use them to promote what is important to them.
AH! He can read means. Damn, Kevin Rose.
The intranet is now governed by the proletariat, where traditional news sites are subordinated to the peoples’ social news sites. Would that make traditional news sites “anti-social news sites”? ***
Simplicity Always Wins.
Trust me, once you go Digg, you never go back. It’s interface is so simple, that it is almost beautiful (notice the almost). Simplicity reigns along with almost beautifulness, in a world of ugly, nerdy, sites that looked like they were designed in 1975.
Digg is easy. In a non-sexual way. That is why Digg is so great.
On a side note, Digg’s simplicity means that it attracts a different, and younger demographic than the other news sites. I have known many a Digg post where a commenter starts a flame war with another. These are sort of fun to watch. Also, notice the famed “revolution”, when Digg users reposted the HD-DVD Code thousands of times. Some said it was just the raging hormones of the Digg Proletariat.***
***I am beginning to sounds like Karl Marx.
Sign Up For Digg In Two Steps: You Will Love Me
I am about to give you something that will blow your mind. A way to get a Digg profile. Painlessly. This stuff is more like candy. Or Doughnuts…
Step One - Go to The sites
[Site] Digg
Here’s the site. The one I have been rambling about.
Step Two - Sign Up
Go to the Top right of the page and click “Join Digg” or Click on the Register link here.