Keeping a close watch over social media since 1874.
In its humble beginnings, Digg was a tech-stories site at heart.
The heart has changed over the years, and recently politics have been dominant, appealing to the hearts and minds of the Internet’s Web 2.0 users.
Now, Digg has a different kind of heart. Specifically, Digg loves artichoke hearts.
When my wife brought this to my attention, she was worried. She noticed that some of our friends were on the list of upcoming bannings and thought we should warn them.
The sad part is not that she did not recognize it as a spoof. The sad part is that it COULD HAVE BEEN TRUE. With the eratic behavior that Digg and its upper management have been displaying of late, there is no telling what they might try to pull next. Zaibatsu – gone. FameMoney – gone. DiggBoss – gone. Countless others – gone, gone, gone. [Read more...]
It seems that Digg is being a little hard on the Beaver. The banned count is nearing the century mark with no end in sight. While it is fair to ban those who have broken the rules, the tough part to swallow is the fact that most if not all of the recently dismissed seem to be in a permanent state of oblivion. Digg really needs to consider some aspects of their site and their users before giving no second chances to the majority who have been banned.
In short, this is a plea to Digg.
While many are rejoicing at the idea of the “cheaters” getting banned, I would like to point out a few things. Yes, there was a blog post, and yes, it is in the TOS, but few people read the blog posts and nobody reads the TOS. Even though ignorance of the law is no excuse in any state other than California, the proper way to handle this is to suspend the accounts until they agree to follow the rules. [Read more...]
Recent changes at both Propeller and Mixx have pushed the inevitable forward. Mixx, the brainchild of Chris McGill, has been poised for success for about a year now. Propeller, the once-proud Netscape, was doomed the moment that AOL stepped into the picture.
If recent trends on Alexa (which we all know are not always accurate) give any indication about what is happening, then Mixx is making the move to become the 3rd choice amonst social media sites. Propeller, on the other hand, is heading down, down, down as users have expressed concerns about a lack of communication from the administrators as well as a disastrous redesign that threatened to push its dwindling core of users off to another site (perhaps even Mixx). [Read more...]
Many people love appetizers. They’re usually overpriced, under-portioned, and loaded with calories, but we love them anyway. Why? Because they’re quick, easy, and too the point.
Social media websites like Digg, Reddit, and Propeller offer the same product in the form of headlines. We get to nibble on the news, taking it in bits and pieces, served to us through headlines that are often sensationalized or pointed. While some people take the nibble and move on the main course by reading the full story, a good portion of us live on the appetizers. We read the headlines, possibly read the descriptions, occasionally scan the story (or even just the first few paragraphs), then it’s back to the social media site for the next bite of news via headlines.
Some never make it past the headlines, establishing a reaction or opinion based on the nibblet. This is good. This is also bad. [Read more...]
First, a disclaimer about this experiment and the analysis.
In retrospect, this experiment was flawed. The subject matter and style of delivery was very clearly geared in favor of one of the combatants. When it was initially conceived, it was decided that the experiment would best be delivered through a post that announced itself. By checking traffic statistics on a post titled: “The StumbleUpon Digg Experiment”, there would be equal billing, equal exposure, and most importantly, equal chances through the delivery methods to give both sides a chance.
We were wrong. [Read more...]
