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Valleywag
The following is an open letter for Kevin Rose, Jay Adelson and the rest of the Digg management, given to us by a number of top Digg users who have been unable to get any sort of dialogue going with the company which operates the social news site. Valleywag does not endorse this letter, but we like the idea of hearing from Digg about what's going on. And because the whole ruckus is entertaining.
We, the undersigned (comment to join), are ready to find out if there is more to social bookmarking than Digg. We are going to stop submitting to Digg. The alternatives are plenty — now is the time to venture into new territory. As we organize, we will evaluate and find a new space.
When a digital identity, like a Digg account, becomes penalized through its consistent interaction with a website we assume that site falls into one of two categories. Either (a) the site in question is ill-suited to become a healthy social network or (b) the premise of the social network is such that it is based on competition.
Digg is, in part, a game. It always has been — and that is one of the reasons we love it. That it helped us share useful, entertaining or interesting content only made it that much more fun.Unfortunately the rules to the game have never been under the community's full control. As far as we can tell, the rule-makers barely listen to us. The latest change in the algorithm, along with rumors of secret editors, auto-buries, etc., have led us to believe it is time to break ties with Digg.com.
Here are a list of the main charges against Digg:
1) Lack of communication and disregard for the Digg community
Digg is not a newspaper, a magazine, or a blog. It produces no content of its own and is entirely dependent upon its users for traffic. Digg users hunt down the stories online, craft the descriptions and titles, digg the stories, provide all the comments. Despite this dependency, anecdotal evidence suggests that Digg has repeatedly failed to respond to its users and address their concerns.2) Unexplained and unacknowledged banning of top users
cGt2099, Emobrat, and others who have submitted hundreds of quality stories to Digg were recently banned under suspicious circumstances. Digg did not acknowledge these bannings, nor make any public explanation as to why they took place. These are not the actions of a "democratic news site."3) Lack of transparency — Digg only shows you the stories that people have dugg, but not the ones that are buried.
This has resulted in the birth and flourishing of bury brigades, whose existence has gone unacknowledged, but which undoubtedly have the capability to shape what content gets onto the front page without any interference or objection from other Digg users.4) The auto-bury list - For months, dozens of sites have been on an auto-bury list, often with no explanation whatsoever.
These sites often get submitted to Digg and then are invariably buried after a certain amount of time. While it's up to Digg what sites it wants to allow, it's important that if it brands itself as a democratic news site, it makes clear why it bans these sites.5) Repeated and flagrant disrespect of its top users
Digg's top users generate roughly 30-50% of Digg's front page content but repeated and unexplained changes to the Digg algorithm have penalized the ability of top users to get front page stories promoted. Perhaps worst of all, this has resulted in other stories from lower ranked users with less diggs being forced off the "Hot In Upcoming" pages and hurt their ability to shine.In short — the site has become too powerful a media force and its lack of transparency and faith in the community is reason for concern. In addition, the allure of instant traffic has led to the manipulation and abuse of the site by trolls and spammers.
The collective "WE" built this site from the ground up and while it is sad to leave it, the time has come to move on. We as a loose group of social bookmarkers will find a new community that will allow us to stay in touch and stay informed.
If Digg is a game then we are ready to play for keeps. What happens if the most powerful users in the community decide to leave? Will others join? Is Digg anything without us? Let's prove it.
—Andy Sorcini (mrbabyman), David Cohn (DigiDave), Muhammad Saleem (msaleem), Reg Saddler (zaibatsu)
Comments
Top Digg users remind me of liberals during the 2004 election. Move to Canada already. The users below you will take your place and be glad for it.
What about the writers that cringe when MrBabyMan or the like submits an article because they know it will take even more hits for it to go frontpage? Anyone can submit diggs, it takes talent to create the attractive pages behind them.
nono, they're plenty right. i've been done w/ that site for sometime. srsly.
I can't wait for these self-important charlatans to move out. Maybe then we can get a rest from all the Ron Paul rubbish.
Watch out Mixx, like an unpleasant STD, the "brigade" will likely head your way next.
The letter states, "For months, dozens of sites have been on an auto-bury list."
Obvious question: Which are these dozens of sites? Please post the list here or mail it to me and I'll post.
good riddance. Top Digg users are the reason the site is NOT democratic in the first place. Don't let the door hit your ass on the way out...oh that's right, I forgot, you don't go out b/c you sit in front of your computer all day dreaming you owned Digg.
Dear "top Digg users",
You are a dime a dozen. Good riddance.
Sincerely,
The Test of Digg
Yaaawn. These sites are like small towns or villages - full of gossip and development that are, really, only of interest to those people who live there. Even though they think everybody cares.
One little nugget for the people who wrote this letter - get out more, for goodness sake! Nobody cares!
Did it ever occur to y'all that you might just be taking this a little too seriously?
I have an even more basic question than Paul. Who are these Top Digg Users? And how do we know they're really tops?
Either you believe in the power of the Algorithm or you don't. If you believe, then it doesn't matter if you are a top digger. The almighty Algorithm rules all and is just as effective no matter who submits stories. That is why it is almighty. If you choose to question the Algorithm, you have lost faith. Without faith, what is digg to you? The Algorithm will continue to attract new disciples who do have the faith. Those who have lost faith are welcome to start their own Algorithm. All you need is a little science, some celebrities and a new mythology.
Speaking of front pages, cnn.com's front page right now is featuring a woman who taught her Maltese ("Mr. Pinky") to scratch her back. Maybe someday Digg's front page will aspire to this level of greatness.
I'm with "mr e." on this one. Let's see if they follow up with their threat when Digg calls their bluff -- that'd be real news. What's more likely to happen is for this bit of news, like all others, to scroll off the front page and be quickly forgotten.
I like the new changes. Getting the algorithm to be resistant to group digging will make things more fair. These people are complaining about checks and balances, the system needs to stay healthy. Some of these things sound undemocratic, but democracies need checks and balances, especially for the most powerful in a given society. Just my two cents.
Read the update: [www.revoltnation.blogspot.com]
Kevin and Jay joined the chat - and made nice.
The revolt has been stopped and will only return if they do not meet one very critical demand: An open line of communication in the future.
A follow-up to this post: Jay Adelson & Kevin Rose appeared on our podcast at [thedrilldown.com] to address top diggers' concerns. Expect the podcast to be posted in a couple of days.
@jreed I agree! You guys are complete nerds. Find something real to get active about...
or maybe it's all just an elaborate Valleywag/DIGG publicity stunt, and I'm the nerd for spending 2 minutes of my life commenting on it.. damn!... I gotta go!
top users -->
first, get a life
after that, anny website algorithm wont affect you so much
;-)
news flash. no one outside california even cares about digg or its fanboys
kevin rose doesnt afraid of anything.
Aren't these top digg users only there because the last batch got upset and left? Just proof that there are plenty to take their unimportant place. They are the Robert Scoble's of Digg.
You guys have to understand that the top diggers have put in a lot of work in making Digg the powerhouse that it is. And for Digg to do what they just did is a slap on the face for those who helped Digg to the top.
I think it's a great thing that this is happening, Digg's days are numbered.
@JONxBLAZE: They do it for their own ego, nothing more. Digg may be a traffic powerhouse but its relevance is fading and a lot of that is due to the top users focusing on quantity over quality.
So, let me figure this out: Digg changed its algorithm because a group of users has been gaming the system with the old algorithm.
That group is now miffed because their stuff doesn't get on the first page automatically.
So, they wrote a letter threatening to leave Digg, unless they can go back to gaming the system.
Yep, that's the spirit of community. An Animal Farm community, but still a community.
@JONxBLAZE: Hard work? No, it was not just the top 100. That's ridiculous.
Single women do not digg Kevin Rose.
The shocking reality: What REALLY goes on behind the curtains at digg.com >> [supaswag.blogspot.com]
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