webrampage

What makes a site “social”?

I would say a place where people can share what they like, discover interesting stuff and communicate with friends. And also, democracy! But, does Digg have what it takes to really be a social bookmarking/news site? Hell no!

Domination!

Well maybe I’m wrong if you consider a place which is being dominated (and possibly gamed) by a handful of users to be social. I’m not going to mention names, but you know who they are. Like seriously how is it fair if 90% of the time, the front page has the submissions of those few diggers (more like “diggtators”).

Not a fair fight

Okay lets look at Digg as a… sport. We should agree that some people might be better than others. We should be all cool with that. But, what if those people are using things like steroids! Now that’s what’s happening over at Digg. Top diggers are using scripts.

Maybe you don’t believe me about the script part. I’ll show you an example. MrBabyMan, the born-to-be-digg’s-slave was proved using scripts here, here, and here. Plus its not just MrBabyMan, most (actually all) top diggers use scripts too. Just go to their profile and check how many things were dugg within the last few minutes.

Same old sites hit the front over and over again

More domination! Not only users are dominating, but sites are too. That’s just freakin’ unfair! Plus its also bad for Digg. How so? Digg is supposed to be a social news site, right? Its not good if you get the news from only a handful of sources. Its a bit like having Fox News as the only news channel in the world. Uh oh!

Well you might say that those sites are popular and they have a lot of followers and so, they get a lot of diggs. And you’re right. But, its not that. There’s something weird. There’s like something stopping smaller sites from hitting the front page.

One top digger (who wanted to stay anonymous) said, “Sites which have never gotten front page before have a hard time. Like REALLY hard” and also agreed by saying “that’s the theory” when I asked if the rumours about mods burying things were true.

Digg has double standards

Yeah that’s right, folks. Digg has double standards! Remember how Digg has been banning people for using scripts. Well the people they’re hunting down are the average diggers. But, what about top diggers like MrBabyMan? He has been proved to use scripts (and got like bitch slapped about it in public).

This other top digger dugg 15 submissions in a minute. Its obvious that he’s using a script. I don’t wanna mention his name because… I’m nice. Well I mentioned MrBabyMan because by now everyone knows what he’s been upto.

So, what is Digg?

I don’t know. I guess a place where people worship (aka digg) the top diggers and so does the staff. But, still a place with a bit of good content.

I would really love to see Digg be a better place. I know that Digg’s trying their best, but seriously, they should treat everyone equally!

Yep, that’s right! You better watch out on Digg. Well actually you don’t have to watch out since its only for the people who use scripts to digg stuff. Unless you are one of them!

Okay so here’s the deal. Digg officials have been hunting people who use scripts. And do you know what they’re doing after they find an “evil” digger? They ban him/her. Now that sucks donkey ass. You worked hard to get all those submissions popular, got good loyal friends, got the spotlight on yourself, and other bla blah. But, too bad it all just goes away.

Now are you wondering how they’ll find out who’s using scripts or not? Well I’m pretty sure that the officials get alerted when a particular digger is digging, shouting and deleting shouts at a rate that humans possibly couldn’t do. For example, digging all the stories on the front page within less than a second.

Oh and if you can’t login to your account, and you’re sure the password is correct then you’re probably banned. And I don’t think they’ll ever unban you. But, I do know a digger who managed to get himself unbanned. Hold on! He was a power digger. So, don’t get your hopes up. They couldn’t care less about unbanning a digger that isn’t any good to Digg.

So, you better stop using your little toys (or at least keep a low profile by doing things at a more… humanly rate). And post a comment if you got banned, know anyone who got banned and the reason behind getting banned. Plus if you support this or if you’re pissed off about this.

From time to time, my brain stops working and I can’t think of what to blog about. Its not exactly writer’s block. I try to think of something unique to write about. Well I was thinking (for a change) and I realized something important. Its about social bookmarking sites and how obsessed I was with it.

I tried so hard to get on Digg‘s front page, but I failed. I don’t know what’s wrong. I tried my best. I guess Digg hates me or something. I got around 250 diggs on a few submissions too. Its not like I got the basics wrong or something. I’m just not lucky enough.

I submitted my second last post to Digg and someone else made a submission about the same topic. It was about all the CAPTCHAs on Digg. Well the other guy was a power digger and his submission made it to the front. Mine didn’t, of course. I was really pissed off.

Now just a few minutes ago I was thinking of trying to game Digg. No more being a nice guy. Thinking of gaming Digg, SU, etc and grabing some traffic that way. But, then I asked myself what the fuck am I doing? Why am I so fucking hooked on traffic from social bookmarking sites? It was completely messed up.

I forgot that I can get traffic from search engines, backlinks, etc. There are other ways to promote my blog. I can comment on other blogs, talk about it in forums, promote it on micro-blogging sites like Plurk, etc, etc. I was obsessed. Obsessed with the traffic from social bookmarking sites. It was like everything to me. It was as if my blog’s success depended on that traffic. But, the good thing is that I snapped out of it.

I’m hoping that I could help a few people snap out of this obsession. Open your eyes and think about it. Don’t go crazy for the traffic from social bookmarking sites. If you don’t go popular there then its not the end of the world. Build a great site, have quality content, and be optimistic.

Before you get me wrong, let me tell you that I’m not saying that you should stop using social bookmarking sites or anything. Think of the traffic from social bookmarking sites as a gift. Don’t fight for the gift. You’ll get it if you’ve done a good job.