Wednesday, August 30, 2006

From Digg: Digg's Mysterious Ways

I have to admit... I'm relatively new to the whole "Digg scene". That's not to say that I don't know what it's all about, just that I haven't made as much use of it up to this point as many others have. And that's not because I don't think highly of it... But I'm getting off track here. Let me start again.

Digg is one of the coolest offerings on the web today, in my opinion. It's right up there with Google (the God of all Cool Web Offerings), blogging, and YouTube. It's one-stop shopping for surfers interested in the latest, coolest, most newsworthy items of the day. It's a dynamic, evolving collection of stories, links, and opinions on just about every topic imaginable. It's the way to keep your finger on the digital pulse of the world.

But does it work?

That, in essence, is the question asked by Napfisk in his write-up, "More of Digg's Mysterious Ways". Are we really seeing the best of the best when we click on a highly-Dugg story, or are we seeing the results of a web-based popularity contest? How much sway do the posting user's contacts and connections have over the actual "coolness" of the content being Dugg? And, most importantly, is Digg a vehicle for the sharing of interesting content (as I originally thought), or is it simply the latest web-game with users vying for spots on the front page?

Whatever the answers are to these questions, I'm pretty sure Digg will only continue to grow in popularity. That's the way it is with all good tools, which is (I believe) what Digg is meant to be. Perhaps, as with most "fads", this one will find it's own balance and we'll see less bias and more true social networking.

Here's hoping.

Anyway, if you're not already a Digg user, go sign up and give it a whirl. And be sure to let me know what you think.

read more | digg story

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