Protesting Digg

[Jay a.k.a. Dat]

Just so you guys know, I've been protesting Digg so please don't be offended if you don't get a Digg from me. I am willing to help out on any other site, delicious, reddit, bloggingzoom, sphinn, postonfire, mixx, SU, propeller, etc but I'm trying to stay away from Digg.

If it's absolutely crucial for you to get a Digg from me, I'll look past my protest to help out. But I figured I'd give you guys a heads up...

[Jonathan Crossfield]

Wanna fill us in for the reasons for the protest? Not that there ain't a number of things to choose from with Digg - just wondering which particular annoyance got to you.

[Patrick]

I gotta say, I'm not a big fan of the Digg "community" too. It's like if you're not part of the gang, or if you are not submitted by a Power Digger, you can kiss traffic goodbye. At one point I thought that my content was "undiggable". But then I have written a few articles that generated traffic from over ten thousand stumblers in 48 hours (10 Reasons Why Bloggers Hate Blogging is one of them, and it has all the ingredients of a diggbait), but strangely we got 25 visitors from digg. So it was not the content nor the quality, and based on mathematics and statistics, it should have been a hit on Digg too. But nope, the kids over there are quite difficult to seize. That being said, I have no problems Digging friends of Social Promo, but I just wanted to share that just as Jay, I'm not a very big supporter of the Digg community. However, when I want to hear the latest buzz in the great world of Technology, I'm heading straight to Digg........ but as a reader ;-)

[PRand]

If you think stumble is tough to figure out, digg seems much worse. a friend averages 1,000 diggs a post and he does not know why. he does not know anyone. his posts are quirky, mostly australian inside things. i submit but never check. the most i had was 150. but i average "2"

there are several good posts on stumble to help your strategy. i wish there was more info on digg.

patrick, our host, has a very good explanation on stumble—patrick can supply link as i am about to close down. another good link = http://www.doshdosh.com/a-comprehensive-guide-to-stumbleupon-how-to...

[Richard McLaughlin]

that makes sense to me. What I can do is post the same article in several formats and ask that (if you like the content) that one of the group is selected.


Not defending Digg - I have better results with Digg than stumbleupon. I got about 400 stumbles yesterday and none converted. When I Digg I have results. Maybe not great, but results. Propeller and reddit seem to give quality as well.

[Jay a.k.a. Dat]

I haven't been active in the Propeller or Reddit community, but I don't full get Reddit or delicious when it comes to getting traffic. Maybe I'm just stupid lol...

And the reason why I'm protesting Digg (unless you guys absolutely need a Digg then I'll help out) is simply the fact that if you don't know a power user, then you're almost screwed. On top of that, Digg is not blogging-friendly and if you have a blogging tips/make money blog, then you're almost setting yourself up to be stoned by the Digg users.

I used to be a very active users of Digg but I quit using it because it wasn't really bringing in traffic. I mean, I could get like 50-100 diggs and end up with 10 visitors lol...

[PRand]

jay brings up a good point and that is subject matter. i only submit highly visual content to SU. i don't have any other experience with anything else believing that visual works better. but then again, i found doshdosh and a very lengthy, wordy, techinical post. so i really don't know what i am talking about here.

on digg i submit highly visual and super oddly-enough. i don't do a thing with reddit but they show up a lot = quick visit and goodbye. it could be from my " socialposter.com " toolbar.

when i am really disparate i go to craig's list forums = good for 500 views instantly. from there i get people who return to my sites. but they are a very touchy group and don't like bloggers. when i first joined it took three weeks to get myself banned. i am back on again with a different username. they know who i am but i don't visit enough to annoy anymore.

one thing i think about lately is strategy. am i going after bloggers or people interested in my content. if i go after bloggers it seems all they want are faves and links ;-) = technorati points. non-bloggers are coming for information = PR points.

another thought is it helps to have a goal in mind. i chose technorati authority first as faves, diggs are less a priority. i am trying like crazy to get my technorati authority to 250 and reassess. my authority did not grow until i placed a goal to go after. probably the same applies to traffic. how many uniques to shoot for per month. a good friend depresses me. he has a blog for four years. he gets 750K visitors A WEEK. his site is built on high-volume comments and maybe that is the site magnet.

so in summary my two priorities are technorati authority and responding to comments.

[Jay a.k.a. Dat]

Personally, I don't think Technorati authorities should be one of your priorities. They will all come eventually, I'm over 800+ authorities now but it doesn't really mean much. Just like anything else, Technorati can be gamed, if you choose so.

Personally, I have participated in a couple of meme's a couple months ago, but the more exposure I got, the more people linked to me because they actually liked my articles. Also, I do banner designs so they link back to me, especially if they like my service/designs.

I think your first priority is to market your blog and get build your readership. Of course, to have them stay, you will also need to write good content.

That's just my two cents. I know we all have goals to achieve, honestly, I had the same when it came to Technorati. But once I shot past my set goal of 250 authorities, I realized it wasn't saying much and wasn't really helping my traffic.

Lol... let me stop blabbing on...

[TeasasTips]

U R right Jay...your 1st priority s/b your readers...I've started doing that more, and have received more traffic, more comments, and subs...

[TeasasTips]

Join the club...I stay away from Digg