webrampage

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.

OMG! Am I high or is there really CAPTCHAs all over Digg. Okay I have confirmed it, a people saw the CAPTCHAs too. Okay what’s going on?

What is Digg trying to do? Stop spammers? Well the only spammers I saw on Digg was those McCain or Obama supporting village idiots. Some guy commented on one of my submissions:

IF RON PAUL WOULD BE PRESIDENT, WE WOULDN’T NEED “HOW TO USE DIGG” GUIDES
RON PAUL 2012

Oh wait. Who’s Ron Paul again? I didn’t see him on the news or anything. Wait. WTF? I went to the profile of the retard who posted this and look what I found. He’s been spamming Digg about this Ron Paul guy. Seriously who the fuck is Ron Paul? Oh he was running for President.

You know what? I thank Digg. This was a smart move actually. Now idiots like him can’t post comments. They’ll be trying to figure out what they should enter. I bet most of those retards never even seen a CAPTCHA.

Man who’s idea was this? Kevin Rose? Ah who cares, but it was a brilliant one. Good bye <enter candidate’s name> “brigade” (that’s what they call those retards).

But, then I think about it and it makes me wonder if the activity on Digg is going to go down. Like people are pretty lazy and it takes a lot of effort to put in the CAPTCHA everytime you post a comment. I guess the people at Digg never thought of that. Or maybe the fat, lazy people will just quit using Digg. Not bad.

So, what do you think of this? Are you going to post comments and send mass shouts on Digg anymore or is it a lot of work for you? Are you thanking Digg for this or hating on them?

Update (3 hours later): Digg just realized that the activity was going to go down and the diggers were really pissed off. Now the good news is that they took off all the new CAPTCHAs. Thanks to my post (duh!).

Update (5 hours later): Sorry guys bad news. Digg is not taking the CAPTCHAs off. They are just testing it right now and that’s why it was a bit buggy. At the moment you can’t see them, but Digg will put them back eventually.

Hmm so I thought why not post a little guide about what people should submit to Digg. This should give you an idea of what kind of topics work best on Digg. And you might wanna check out my beginner’s guide to Digg.

Well you need to keep in mind that not everyone on Digg is going to like your submission. That’s how you get buried. Duh! Okay lets move on. No more noobish stuff.

1. Something hilarious

Everyone likes to laugh. If you can make them laugh, you’ve got their digg. Most of us have a short attention span (or we’re just busy). So, a funny picture would be perfect. Takes a few seconds to look at and figure out what’s going on (unless you’re a blonde, of course).

And what about videos? I’m not too sure about that. You would need to have something unique then. Like the website is down, for example. Here’s another great tip. Try making fun of someone (or a group). Everyone loves a racist joke (but most people have a hard time admitting it). Just don’t go all Nazi.

2. Breaking news (or just news)

Digg is the best social bookmarking site for news. Got something great to share? Do it ASAP. A submission with a headline like “McCain becomes President. WTF?! How?” would be perfect.

Now only submit news that will help people. Or at least the ones we’re interested in and try to stick to subjects like the web, tech, gaming and Digg itself. Oh and try to submit “bad” news because it travels faster and further.

3. Controversial

Make people argue. You need to make them shout. Make them go angry. Make them say “you’re wrong! I’m right! Digg is better than Reddit!”. Getting any ideas? Things like “McDonalds vs Burger King” will work well. Like comparing things and being neutral (no buries that way).

But, keep in mind that this doesn’t always work. So good luck! And let me know how this went.

4. Guides, tips, helpful things, etc

The subheading says it all. Help them and they’ll help you. Teach them something interesting. For example a guide on how to install Linux. Well maybe that won’t be extremely helpful, but you get the idea. A guide on how to make Vista use less RAM would be great. Just keep it unique and new.

Update: Another reason you shouldn’t blog when you’re really, really tired. Actually you can only submit those 4 topics to digg. But, everything wasn’t a complete BS. #1 & #2 works great. Try those two.

Yep that’s it. I hope this was helpful to you. A mixture of the right topic, loyal digg buddies and luck will take you to the front page. And let me know which one works the best for you.