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Our end of the Internet, the information and networking side, has seen some interesting changes over the last year or so. One of the most predominant ones is in the way we are are driven to promote stories and those from within our networks. Social media sites other outlets were once fantastic resources for “getting the news out” so to speak, but as we all either know of at least sense - this is becoming less and less fruitful.

Given all the success that Digg and other such sites have seen, I think it is safe to say that Digg is at the forefront of a group of sites that are declining in both popularity and actual added value to our Web. Part of the reason for this lies in improper focus and essentially careless targeting of audience. The bottom line is, if you want more - do not go to Digg.

Judas And 30 Pieces Of Silver

At the onset of Web 2.0 user generated content was the lifeblood of sites like Digg. True to its shall we say heritage as a Web 2.0 company, Digg was a virtual treasure trove of stories about Tech and all things 2.0 back then. Not withstanding the elitist gaming aspects employed by many there, Digg was THE place to let the world know of our discoveries and interests. Kevin Rose became perhaps the most notable celebrity (or one of them) essentially because of the Web 2.0 boom and largely at the hands of TechCrunch , Readwriteweb , Mashable and a host of others. This is not to say that other venues did not contribute, but as our PR firm tells clients all the time: “You cannot escape Web 2.0 being a Web 2.0 startup.” A fantastic article by Richard McManus expresses the decline of Tech on Digg both intellectually and graphically, if you care to check that link out. http://www.readwriteweb.com/archives/digg_the_decline_and_fall_of_tech.php Proof to a degree that Kevin Rose and Digg betrayed their greatest supporters - the very people that helped make them what they are. Trackback

Ruled By Mathematics

Isn’t it funny now sites dedicated to and for people are so often ruled by algorithms? Digg is the most notable one that uses rather extensive mathematical computations to determine much about what a user experiences there. Stories rise and fall now based on some nebulous computation that essentially prevents “gaming” of the system and God knows what else. My point here is; “How the hell does a math equation know what a good story is?” I do not care to get into the Digg matrix of how things are submitted, viewed or rated for that matter, but one thing is certain - actual intrinsic value has nothing to do with it. However, the official Digg description at Crunchbase (ironically) describes a long lost Digg still:

“Digg is user driven social content website split up into two sections – “Popular” stories and “Upcoming” stories. After you submit content it goes into the “Upcoming” stories section. This is where other people read your submission and “Digg” what they like best. If your story receives enough Diggs, it’s promoted to the “Popular” section and listed on the front page for other visitors to see. This effectively allows the Digg community to choose which stories are the best.”

The best indeed! I remember doing a CEO interview a long time back for Profy, when such interviews were really news. Unbeknownst to any of us at Profy, somehow of another the domain at Profy was either being banned or had fallen victim to what was called the “the bury crew”.

In fairness Kevin Rose did post this one year after my emails to him started in explanation of the “supposed” Digg bury brigade and a rather cloudy explanation of domain blocking. I make this point only to illustrate that great news is not a predetermining factor in the Digg equation. As any of us know now, a 150 word story with 25 images of a cat eating a mouse stand a better chance of making the front page than news of any gravity. Now it appears that Tech has fallen victim to yet another mysterious variable in the Digg arsenal of apparent trickery.

Fiddling As Digg Burns

I remember writing Kevin Rose about 20 times trying to figure out what was up with the Profy situation back then. In the weeks prior to Profy stories “somehow” getting buried on submission, several of my articles had made the front page (unknowable to me, as I was not a Digg efficianado). The answer never came, as I expect that some celebrities are too tall to see even the most prolific Tech writers. I think this may have been the beginning of the end of Diggs love affair with the Tech blogs, though stories about techdome still proliferated the community until recently.

Kevin still remains something of an enigma to me I must admit, but I really wish Digg had used its power to influence in a much more positive way than appealing to a user demographic interested more in slugging beers and pornography than actually making a difference. In other words; “Kevin, you could have made such an impact, now this impact is a transient piece of profitable air”. Empires have tumbled over such mediocrity and obtuse narcissism.

Goodbye Digg

For my part Digg has been something of a useless commodity for some time. I only recently discovered that this is so for most of the social networking community too. I do of course “vote” for friend’s stories as they do my favorites too, but I think this is out of some long lost hope that the place will return to its once exciting promotional character. Let me say here that Digg is not the only transgressor in the “Social media betrayal” category. Stumbleupon and others are following suit in losing the drama and “coolness” they once had. However, either out of some necesary and unknown factorial or pure system copying, all the other networks seem to be following the Digg example as far as letting the math rule.

I used to think that “gaming” the system was a bad thing for all of us what with the paid Diggers and such, but now in this rather sad time for news broadcasters and story hunters it appears that at least those being paid had some wares worth while. Digg, like Google and so many other successful Web 2.0 entities just did not go where we thought it would. Maybe there is still time? Look for a startup called Streamy once again.