Time to Act: Call for Blog Posts About Digg 10-12-2008

[J.D. Rucker]

People are scared. Angry. Confused.

Users are getting banned and there seems to be very little chance that they will get unbanned. The recommendation engine has limits now. The quality of the front page has been questionable at best.

It's time to act.

On Sunday, October 12, we are asking for blog posts. Digg and the media has a tendency to ignore individual posts, but how can they ignore 10? 20? 50? 100? If you have a blog and an opinion about Digg, we are asking for you to:

1) Post on your blog on Sunday.
2) Post the link to it here.

If you do not have a blog but would like to get involved, there are a couple of options. You can post to this blog at Social News Central. We will also be setting up community blogs on other sites where people can voice their opinions. Please contact me if you need a place to post your thoughts: [e-mail]

Keep in mind: your opinion is your opinion. We are not wanting to guide anyone to feel a certain way. If you feel the bannings were justified and that those who are against them are whining, post it! If you like the recent changes, post it! Then again, if you feel that there is something wrong with what Digg has been doing over the last month or so, definitely post that as well.

The important thing to remember is that Digg does not have a public way through which users can communicate and extract dialogue back when there are issues. When this social network was initially established, the idea was that we were on the verge of a revolt and wanted a place to discuss social media issues. David and I got together and Social News Central was born.

Here are some of the topics that need to be covered:

1) Recent mass-bannings of Digg users, new and old.
a) Were they justified? Digg posted on their blog, but otherwise, there was no communication, no warning.
b) Should the bans be permanent? They weren't submitting porn, threatening users, or any of the "felony" offenses.

2) Recommendation Engine Limits: First, they bragged on their blog about how Diggs and submissions were up. Then, they limited the way that we can Digg. Which is it? Digg a lot, but don't Digg a lot...

3) Forum - Back in November, 2007, Jay and Kevin mentioned that they were working on a forum where Digg users and Digg employees could discuss issues. We're almost at a year and it seems that we're no closer.

4) Whitelisted Sites - HuffingtonPost, Arstechnica, YouTube -- Digg loves them. Newer sites - good luck! Should Digg have such a favoring of certain sites? Does it make it more of an RSS feed than a social news site?

There are definitely other issues. It doesn't matter what you want to write about, as long as you write something. We can make Digg listen, but we need to act together. They are not in the business of responding to revolts anymore. They have a couple of times in the past, but I think we're beyond that now.

Today, this weekend, we need a revolution.

Please post links to the blog you intend to use in this thread.d

[youssef]

L'auberge SAHARA est construite par les frères Bourchok à quelques mètres des dunes de sable d'or de l'erg Chebbi dans l'oasis le plus connu de la région de Merzouga par le tournage de plusieurs films cinématographiques internationaux comme :le secret du sahara ,le lion du sahara , marrakech express ,opération condor,…. Les plus hauts palmiers dattiers de la région représentent avec les dunes de sable un paysage exceptionnel surtout de la terrasse de l'auberge d'où on assiste aux meilleurs levers et couchers du soleil et ou dort à la belle étoile la nuit.

La légende orale locale raconte que la formation du plus grand erg du Maroc (Erg Chebbi) a été une punition de Dieu pour des familles riches qui ont refusé d'accueillir une pauvre femme avec son fils lors d'une fête alors qu'elles se lavaient les mains avec du lait et jouaient avec des boules de couscous .Eles étaient - alors - entereés par le sable des tempêtes de vent continu qui a formé des grandes dunes dont les plus hautes mesurent environ 160 m d'altitude. En été , on prend des bains efficaces pour le rhumatisme et quelques maladies de la peau en s'enterrant pour quelques minutes dans le sable très chaud.

[e-mail]

[SearchDesignDev]

This is a bit late and the post a bit early, but we blogged about Digg last week http://www.i-com.net/blog/the-quality-of-digg-traffic-and-the-truthiness-of-the-internet-104/

The blind Diggs undermine the site and the trust the site conveys just as much as the powers that be undermine their own community by banning users outright instead of issuing warnings first or taking other steps to stop the problem.

[Zaibatsu]

Here's one from Deb Peterson from the Fastfastlane and a great friend: http://www.lifeinthefastlane.ca/the-monster-that-digg-has-become/blogs-websites

[cGt2099]

U ARE ALL DOING IT RONG:

http://www.the-trukstop.com/articles/2008/loldiggs3.html

[RYAN LESTER!!!]

http://buu700.blogspot.com/2008/10/my-account-of-my-banning-from-digg.html

[J.D. Rucker]

Ooops, missed this until now:

"If you are so upset about this .. why not just stop using the site and submitting everyday ...http://digg.com/users/oboy/history/submissions ... and support Z and all the other banned users?"

@jESSIE - Digg is like the Walmart of social media. If someone doesn't like what Walmart does to someone, whether it's local businesses, employees, or whatever, a boycott of the store is meaningless. I don't care if you used to buy $1000 a week worth of merchandise, they still won't notice if you never come back.

Digg is best worked from the inside. Words spoken by an active user will have much more effect towards the end-goal of making it better than words spoken by someone who quits using the site. From within the site, I can rally support for particular stories, reach out to those who are concerned, and help promote quality content.

I have nothing against Digg, their community, or anything like that. I like the site. I just want changes made. I think they have treated the recently banned too harshly. I think making it a permanent ban was uncalled for. I think there is too much preference given to some submitters, some URLs, and some media types. I have no intentions of leaving the site. I just want to do what I can to make the site better.

[Digidave]

Oh shnaps. I had talked to J.D. about this - I didn't realize that it was going to be this weekend. Let me see what I can pump out.

[Melissa]

Count me in! Yes sir, May I Have Another DIGG Please?

[dotlizard]

http://dotlizard.com -- posted this morning, direct post link is http://dotlizard.com/posts/2008/10/diggcom-social-media-fail/

[Mark Dykeman]

My post: Digg.com lacks... it just lacks.


Mark