Filed under: Internet, Features, Social Software, Analysis, web 2.0
Digg's failing democracy
Digg has a problem. What was once a haven of obscure, insightful, and breaking news has become a cesspool of dated headlines, generic brand commentary, and fan-boy-blog spam. What happened? Why do the vast majority of front page links come from "popular" websites who feature a prominent "digg it" button on every article? Is there some conspiracy afloat? Is digg rewarding websites that send them a lot of traffic?Can we demand a recount?
Sadly no. Digg's problem isn't one of cronyism or corruption, it is far worse. Digg has always been a poorly planned community. There, we said it.
To make matters worse, digg's phenomenal growth illustrates its own failure. If it were a nation, we would call it a failing state with a bumming population. A population easily and unwittingly manipulated by the craftiness of other large and powerful websites.
Need proof?
Of the 15 front page articles this morning:
- 7 were from popular blogs that featured the familiar "digg it" badge
- 5 were from popular sites that featured a prominent submit to digg button
- 2 were from popular mainstream news sites
- 1 was from a small town newspaper.
How could this happen? Have diggers simply stopped caring about their own community?
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They key to getting good at Graveyard Shift is learning to use ...
