Thoughts 27 Apr 2008 10:19 am
Digg
Digg exemplifies the extent to which we will go to satisfy our need to socialize, to be part of a group.
It also exemplifies what is wrong with Web 2.0…. it’s a time killer. I can easily kill an hour or two on Digg and never notice I’ve done it.
On Digg most of my “friends” seem to be posting from work, I see far fewer shouts or submissions on the weekends. Perhaps one day it will displace solitaire as the number one workplace time waster.
Of course the Grave Diggers seem to work 24/7
— Grave Diggers are how I refer to those folks who seem to be in charge of burying anything they disagree with.
From the Digg FAQ:
The promotion and burying of stories is managed by an algorithm developed by Digg. There is no hard number of Diggs/buries to promote or remove a story. It’s based on a sliding scale that takes several factors into consideration, such as number of Diggs, reports, time of day, topic submitted to, Digging/burying diversity, etc.
Yesserie Bob. We now have a whole new definition for the word “Nebulous.”
I find it hard to believe that as Digg says:
“Bury.
If you find stories with bad links, off-topic content, or duplicate entries, click “Bury.” That’s how we get the spam out of the system and let the good stuff rise to the top.
The system only works when users actively participate on a large scale, so make sure to do your part and Digg and Bury content that matters to you!” — Large scale??
How many buries does it take to kill an article? Digg won’t say….
I still believe that certain folks carry a lot more weight than Digg implies by their statements.
Other social networks have arbitrary ranking, so that you know who does what. While Digg insists on being secretive in their methods.
Kinda makes you wonder what they’re keeping from us, don’t it?
This did not start out as a whine about Digg, but rather an observation on how Web 2..0 can be incredible time waster.
Oh well. Such is life.