Is Digging Stories Getting Lame?
When Did People Stop Digging Stories?
I have noticed an inverse relationship over the last two years that I have been using blogs on my affiliate sites. As time has gone I (and those that write for me) have consistently gotten better at writing excellent posts and headlines Brian Clark would be proud of, but have seen less and less of our posts get “digged.”
Now, this is not a “why isn’t anyone Digging my stories?” post. After all, getting Digged does not do much for generating affiliate sales, and while getting your site exposed to thousands of new potential users in a short amount of time is great, it is not something I bank my affiliate revenues on. This is a post that comments on the changing nature of the digg community, getting Dugg, and how affiliates might want to look elsewhere for short term traffic boosts.
Dig is Reducing the Influence of Top Diggers
Digg has recently given less exposure to the top diggers, by removing their top users list from the home page, and also the number of stories promoted to the front page that was visible next to a users name, digg has made it clear that they are looking to control the social media popularity contest that is digging anything and everything, just to be one of their top users. But will this move truly effect the habits of Digg’s top users or will they simply continue on?
Getting Dugg is Becoming Harder - Here’s Why
In giving less exposure to the top digg users, top digg users will change their habits. After all why would anyone want to be a top digg user if it wasn’t for the recognition that comes with being a top digg user? Therefore, with little reason to digg every story they can find, many publishers will (like me) gradually see less and less of their stories getting dugg. Why? Because with a de-emphasis on being a top digg user, there will be a shift in the total amount “diggs” to towards those sites that are larger, more popular, and have a larger readership. This will occur because posts will no longer get dugg just because a digg users wants to be a top user.
In giving less exposure to top digg users, they have made it difficult for smaller publishers to have their stories dugg and given larger publishers an advantage due to their size and popularity. Not that these larger publishers have bad content, but the true power of digg was the little guy could compete with the big, and with less motivation given to users to go out and find content on the far reaches of the Internet, that power is lessoning.
How Can An Affiliate or Blogger Combat The Changing Nature of Digg?
There is no way to directly stop the changing nature of digg. The best one can hope for is the occassional spike from getting a story dugg. As I said before no one should bank their business on the traffic they can/could receive from digg. Affiliates and Bloggers alike should get back to the basics of build traffic and readership; quality content, building a peer network, linking to other sites in their niche, on-page search engine optimization, and whatever little hints, tips, and tricks that you pick-up along the way.
