Editor and Publisher reports that Digg.com, a Web site that ranks and displays news items based on recommendations from its users, is expanding to include video and topics beyond technology. Currently, users are limited to posting and reading items on security, digital music, robots and other tech-related categories.
Beginning Monday, they will be able to post and have access to world, business and entertainment news, along with non-news video. Games and science also will break out of the general technology section.
While in more recent times there has been a movement toward the accumulation of power and control by the larger bloggers, Diggs restructuring appears to be a shift back toward democratization of the internet. Specifically, Digg is part of a trend in tapping the collective wisdom of the blogging community to uncover items that might otherwise be hard to find.
Digg's ancestors
Interesting that the article refers to what corporations are doing but doesn't mention Digg's ancestors. 'Course shouldn't be suprising since the best overall general description term they can come up with for Digg is "aggegator."
To me, Digg is next generation Slashdot, Kuro5hin, and Metafilter, extending these models of user-powered communities to the next level. I wonder if Digg will influence these older communities, causing them to change to institute even more user-controlled content filtering? Probably not likely for Slashdot since they've really taken a step backwards in the last few years with their sale to OSDN. Slashdot seemed much more "open" when CmdrTaco was running the whole show.
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Charlie | cyberdash
Digg.com
Charlie,
You make a very good point. It'll be interesting to see how Digg's new policies actually turn out, and what influence they'll have elsewhere (or not). Thanks much for your comment. Patrick
What's the difference?
I ask this honestly -- is there a difference between digg.com and the Slashdot model other than the fact that the users place stories in a pool, and then vote on which stories to move to the front page? I would agreee that this is a big difference, but I wanted to know if there was an additional difference that I had not picked up on.
I would also agree that the digg model would be the <Howard_Hughes>Way of the Future</Howard_Hughes>. But does anyone else agree that the discussion on Slashdot remains stronger?
And how would you fit Newsvine into the conversation?
Is that what happened to Slashdot?
Geez, I knew something had to be responsible for the nosedive Slashdot has taken recently. That's really disappointing, because it was a great resource under CmdrTaco, not to mention pretty hip! Responding to Bob's comment, I'd say that Digg was much more democratic. Slashdot is controlled by an increasingly focused group of editors who seem to enjoy rejecting my brilliant submissions. That doesn't happen on Digg. Nothing gets rejected. However, only submissions that ordinary people "digg" will rise in the ranks and show up on the page. Thus, everyone is an editor, rather than a chosen arrogant few.
I'm not sure how I feel about Digg yet. I imagine that its value will diminish as its userbase expands. I also worry that spammers and the like will eventually get the upper hand...It's hard to say what will happen to it in the future, but it works well now--so I'm trying to take full advantage of it.
Check out Barton's other blogs at Armchair Arcade and Gameology.
Digg
Hi Bob and Matt,
Both of you make very good points. I'm just glad that Digg seems more open now to widening its scope of interest to topics/issues in addition to technological ones. But for the other questions that each of you raise, I agree that it's hard to say how things will develop in the future. Thanks for your comments, Patrick.
Limited?
"Currently, users are limited to posting and reading items on security, digital music, robots and other tech-related categories."
Huh. Well, they sure don't observe that one, in my experience. I used to subscribe to digg in my aggregator until it got too out of control, and it seems like every other item was some Boing Boing type thing like: Guy makes a 30,000 calorie sandwich. Guy makes a racetrack for Hot Wheels cars out of bananas. And so on.
CultureCat
Guy makes a 30,000 calorie
Ha! That's so true...I actually use the Digg keyword thing, so I can limit it pretty well to my topics of interest, though I must admit that Hot Wheels cards made out of bananas are so dreamy...! I'm still waiting for guy makes usb dippin dots maker out of legos.
Check out Barton's other blogs at Armchair Arcade and Gameology.
Okay, Okay..I Get It!
But maybe not so dreamy as making Hot Wheels cars out of Twinkies, perhaps with some sort of round Legos thingy contraptions for wheels.....
Acknowledging
It's cool that they're acknowledging the other non-tech related content now, at any rate.
CultureCat
Rob Malda doesn't matter
Business 2.0 Magazine lists Rob Malda (CmdrTaco) in the 10 people who don't matter in technology. Him I can see. Torvalds doesn't belong on that list, IMHO.
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Charlie | cyberdash
technology only on digg for me
Yeah. I'm afraid I'm going to have to switch to the technology only feed. It's gotten far worse than you describe on Digg's main page now (e.g., Man with 10-year erection awarded $400,000).
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Charlie | cyberdash