The Bitch is: IN and ready to snark about celebrities other and dumbasses in the news
WTF Digg? Try Valuing The Users That Make The Community.
[ 9 Comments ] Posted on 01.25.08 under Digg
So, for the last few days there’s been news of a Digg revolt. Some of the top users on Digg have been complaining, and organizing an “almost boycott” against Digg because of changes they have made recently. The story of the revolt actually made it in the New York Times.
So, interestingly enough, the CEO of Digg says there was no revolt and that a handfull of users does not a revolt make. Okay, so maybe the 150 users who became a part of the discussion don’t amount to a hill of beans in the big picture. However, there are many more of us disgruntled Digg users who did not have the opportunity to chime in at the “meeting.”
I really don’t care that they’ve changed how many Diggs it takes to get to the front page. That doesn’t bother me because I generally have had enough Diggs on my stuff to make it to the front page anyway - unless I got buried.
To me, the buries are the problem. Well, not exactly the buries, but the fact that they are not transparent. You can’t see who is shooting you down or for what reason. I don’t think there’s another social network that I participate in that operates that way. If people want to bury, fine, but be accountable for the buries. That might stop the obvious abuse that is happening.
There are approximately 6 or 7 branded domains, among many others, that I had been submitting stories from to Digg. Those branded domains are now blocked by Digg, although the previously submitted stories were not removed.
Before my submissions from these domains started to be buried on sight by abusive users, the stories from these domains were very popular and generated intelligent discussion. Then, suddenly, I guess I got noticed. By who, I have no idea because the bury process is cloaked. After becoming noticed, none of my stories from this group of branded domains went popular because once they reached the brink of popularity, they were buried.
Also, please note that the stories submitted from these domains were high quality, professionally written, timely news items with the bulk of advertising removed from the pages. I have written to Digg twice about the fact that I was apparently on auto-bury (which they say doesn’t exist) or that I was being abused by a group of haters. No reply.
I also wrote to Digg after not being able to submit any stories from these domains anymore. No reply.
I was a very active Digg user up until a few days ago. Not just with my 1-2x per week submissions, but by actively checking out, supporting the work of others and commenting as well. I think, judging by the popularity of my submissions, that my stories were well received and of interest to the Digg community. However, they apparently don’t want my contributions to the community anymore.
I could understand having domains blacklisted if I had spammed the system. But I didn’t. I was very cautious, did not do rapid fire submissions and limited my occasional submissions to only the highest quality stories that I truly thought would be well received in the community. And had it not been for the bury brigade, they would have been.
So, ok Digg. You say you will begin to communicate with us. I’m waiting.
If you don’t want me anymore, that’s ok, I’d just appreciate a valid reason for being rejected. If auto-bury doesn’t exist, fine. The bury brigade does exist, and they are abusive. Do something about it if you’d like to carry on with a community of shiny, happy Diggers.
I’ll just hold my breath and wait for you to answer at least one of my emails.
Tags: abuse, abusive, auto bury, buried, buries, bury brigade, Digg, Digg revolt, stories, submissions
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