

Digg’s MySpace Problem -- And What It’s Doing About It - quant
http://www.pehub.com/62600/diggs-myspace-problem-and-what-its-doing-about-it/

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Kilimanjaro
I went from slashdot to digg to reddit to HN.

Like an old disco, no matter how many times you remodel the dance floor people
already found the hippest place around the corner.

And they're not coming back...

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maukdaddy
I like your analogy, but...

A website, unlike a disco, can make tons of money off the unwashed masses. In
fact, Digg can probably make more off the masses who remain than the "hip"
crowd who founded/left the site.

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9oliYQjP
Clubs do well financially when they go mainstream. It means much more liquor
sales. This is a lot like websites who also love it for increased ad sales.
The problem is that the masses do eventually tire of the same club. That, or
they simply get older and move on to do other things. Because the club is no
longer the cool place, there are no/fewer replacements for the existing
clientele who are shrinking.

The problem with Digg is its a social spot and subject to the same dynamics as
clubs. Going mainstream isn't a problem. It's what they do afterward that is.
Not to worry, just like in real life, the owners will make bank, leave/sell
the old spot to naive buyers who think it'll be a good buy. They will then
start something new. This happens all the time with entrepreneurs in similar
industries like clubs and restaurants.

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miguelpais
Am I the only one to think that "social news" websites, from the perspective
of the content publisher only work when the site is small enough?

I mean, the quantity of information being submitted to Digg, and maybe Reddit,
is so huge it roughly gives a new story about 5 minutes of exposure in the
first page of the New Stories section, and only in the specific feed, not the
global one...

It makes me think that somehow, spreading something over Twitter, using our
friends to do it, might achieve a better result...

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icefox
Fun food for thought is that Slashdot has been around for 10+ years and is
still very strong. And they have a huge user base. They must be doing
something right. It is debatable if it is the editorializing or the comment
moderation or both, or something else, but something works.

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timmaah
>>For starters, Digg is planning to launch a spate of new Digg sites centered
around niche content. <<

So they are copying Reddit? Sounds like it lost all its "first mover mojo"

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jedberg
It's cool. We call us (reddit) their R&D department.

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ohashi
Do they pay well? ;)

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jedberg
No, not really. In fact, they don't even mention us when they release their
new features that they get from us. ;)

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ohashi
That's a shame :( At least we all know who came up with the idea.

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callmeed
_"If you’re interested in rock climbing or knitting, Digg aims to have in-
depth news for you to vote up or down on a separate home page."_

So, they are going to become another Squidoo / Mahalo type site? Sad. I
haven't been to Digg in at least a year and I don't see anything on the
horizon that might bring me back.

