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Digg Goes Deeper with Social Networking

businessweek.com — "With its audience expanding and interests diversifying, the popular site is launching new features to help users find like-minded friends"

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  • canewediggit, on 10/10/2007, -6/+166so how come businessweek gets this scoop before we do? i have to say, i'm a bit saddened. i am sick and tired of 'social networks' and i really don't want messages and friend lists and about me stuff. i like digg because it's different and i hope that difference doesn't erode with these new features. i'm going to block any of you sending me 'digg this article' messages.

    good luck with the changes, here's hoping for the best........
    • Roger, on 10/10/2007, -21/+41"so how come businessweek gets this scoop before we do?"

      Same reason why the comment system sucks and we have no pics section - they don't care.
      • rpgmaker, on 10/10/2007, -6/+8I don't ***** know why you're being dugg down, must be the digg mods I suppose...
      • therealgeddylee, on 10/10/2007, -7/+2Some of you douchebags are so ungrateful. Hey Roger, how much do you pay to be an active member of Digg.com? Is it ~$0/month? I believe it is around there. So stop your friggin complaining. You're being provided a service, free of charge, that requires a TON of money to run. And I understand it all comes from advertising, but stop with the sob story. Jesus christ, if you're SO UNHAPPY with the site that you feel the need to bitch and moan with every single post, than kindly go ***** yourself, because nobody cares about you.

        And now, commence digging me down.
        • Roger, on 10/10/2007, -0/+3No I don't pay, but that doesn't mean digg doesn't make money off of me. Sites like this that depend on ads, and hence users, should do their best to keep them happy.
        • judsond, on 10/10/2007, -0/+1I'm sure they want to keep users happy also, so would be interested when someone isn't... Your weird fanboyism is misplaced. If a good service has one failing, better to point that that out than ignore it, that's how improvements are made.
    • tomboy501, on 10/10/2007, -2/+18I like the idea of having more of a social network on the site itself....but, the only way this will work well is if they ban links in messages. Otherwise it's going to be nothing but a submission spamming tool.
      • quomen, on 10/10/2007, -0/+2Messages won't be too bad if it's between mutual friends.
    • Unlgued, on 10/10/2007, -8/+8I don't want to meet any of you a*******.
      • beatrixkiddo, on 10/10/2007, -5/+1did you misspell your name on purpose?
    • mbradbury, on 10/10/2007, -5/+9Maybe they don't want to let on that http://reddit.com/ is growing faster that digg
      • Mysk, on 10/10/2007, -4/+24Reddit would be ever so spiffy if only they would figure out what GUI is.
        • rpgmaker, on 10/10/2007, -0/+12Well, they at least got the comment system right.
          • Elranzer, on 10/10/2007, -0/+3Digg has the comment system right... it's just trapped in the Podcast section.
        • KJoy82, on 10/10/2007, -1/+1for the most part. But I think that the horrible GUI far outweighs their comment system. It gives me a headache just to read Reddit.
    • OBKenobi, on 10/10/2007, -0/+1[quote]so how come businessweek gets this scoop before we do?[/quote]

      There are these things called press releases...
  • FyreGoddess, on 10/10/2007, -2/+82This is disappointing. While I was hoping for *some* of those features to be implemented, I don't like the overall concept at all. The idea that some people will stop submitting stories to the general population is disheartening and I can easily see the entire site being taken over by spammers and niche groups whose intention is to "get the word out".

    The internet doesn't need another MySpace, Facebook, Hi5, Orkut, Multiply, etc. social networking site. There are already too many. What I like about Digg is that news and networking were kept separate, now... I just don't know.

    I really hope that this will be implemented in a way that allows those of us who like things the way they are to continue using Digg in the same manner we have been.
    • reginaldb, on 10/10/2007, -3/+21I'm anti-MyFaceSpaceHiWaynBook too. DIGG DOES NOT NEED SOCIAL NETWORKING CRAP.
      • MrScience, on 10/10/2007, -0/+10We should start an anti-networking site to share our ideas with like-minded people!
        • rpgmaker, on 10/10/2007, -0/+6Why not just start a group on facebook? ;)
      • zengonzo, on 10/10/2007, -0/+1Maybe we can all create a Digg-niche within the new Digg.

        I suppose these kinds of 'innovations' will continue until some serious buzz generates allowing them to sell the site for XX million dollars.

        At which point it will become fully integrated with Facebook.
    • reginaldb, on 10/10/2007, -6/+1damn.
    • sovereign3, on 10/10/2007, -2/+12Frankly, I'm not worried that the social networking component will dilute the Digg experience at all. If you don't care for the social netoworking, then don't use it. If you look at the picture included in the BW article, it seems that it's essentially a Digg profile that can you can add photos to and link with your Facebook profile. I think it'll also be helpful to find people who Digg similar articles with you. That way you can build social connections based on similar interests and not just some random guy who you met while standing in line at Starbucks.

      To put it simply, if you don't want the social networking, then don't use it.
    • directsun, on 10/10/2007, -1/+1Best solution IMO would be to have this new "shout" feature AND the old style of submitting. It also wouldn't be very hard to implement something so you could say... only receive shouts from certain people or just friends or to block others.
    • tomboy501, on 10/10/2007, -2/+9There's going to be a lot of 'shouting' going on soon :(
    • derjames, on 10/10/2007, -1/+27Kevin... just correct the comment system....
      cheers
      • renegadeafk, on 10/10/2007, -0/+1Make it so we can find a ***** comment without expanding everything
    • LLLSecretChimp, on 10/10/2007, -6/+4I also think this is a bad direction. I *like* being a practically anonymous jerk posting snide comments with the only repercussions being that other similarly anonymous jerks might click a picture of thumbs down sign or post their own snide comments in reply. Digg is the new men's room stall! Digg is the new slam book! I definitely don't want a stronger identity on digg. Strangely enough, this isn't sarcasm. (All right, everybody post a bunch of Larry Craig jokes. By "men's room stall", I meant a place for anonymous graffiti.)
      • reginaldb, on 10/10/2007, -4/+0Word.
      • xister, on 10/10/2007, -0/+2Just like sovereign3 said: if you don't like the social aspect, don't use it, but personally I don't care about digg users knowing more about me. If you don't like it, don't use it- if you think it would be a benefit, then grow a pair and put your info out there and stop hiding behind a username and no profile. I like being an anonymous jerk as much as anyone, but I'm not afraid to let a little info out about myself that is already public knowledge.
    • picsectionpleez, on 10/10/2007, -0/+3I think the whole idea is to get back to the tech focus- at least for us who are techies. We'll be able to see others who have Dugg virtually the same stories as us. I don't want anyone sending me messages, but it would be cool to be a member of a group that votes the same way.
      • LLLSecretChimp, on 10/10/2007, -0/+1If it gets digg back to the more techie stuff, then I'm all for it, despite my earlier rant. Still, that could be done with just user names. In addition to top stories based on number of diggs, there could be a page for top stories among your community (in my case, the anonymous jerk community, see above). Your community would consist of users who dug/buried a lot of the same stories and comments as you did. I RTFA (or skimmed TFA), and didn't see a mention of something like that. Netflix does the same thing with movie recommendations. Recommendations are based only on movies you've ranked, not on your demographics.
    • SomaSynth, on 10/10/2007, -0/+1Either that or Reddify it! http://www.reddit.com
    • robbh66, on 10/10/2007, -0/+1It's official: Digg has jumped the shark.
  • racketboy, on 10/10/2007, -2/+62Is that why the site is so slow and buggy today?
    I'm getting a lot of "Pages Not Found" today, but visit them later and they are fine.
    • sinatosk, on 10/10/2007, -1/+5thought it was just me... I too been getting slow access, 404's and one time it was saying digg is down and will be back up shortly. I assuming they are updating the site
  • vroom101, on 10/10/2007, -3/+14I'm waiting to see an official announcement on DIGG's blog, "Digg the Blog" -- http://blog.digg.com -- before forming an opinion.
    • fkr3, on 10/10/2007, -1/+6Hi guys,

      Today we launched some new stuff. It's really buggy and the extra 5 javascript files were designed to cripple your browser even if you're not browsing digg, but it takes us another step closer to becoming http://www.i-am-bored.com/ which is worth more ad revenue than just being a news aggregator.

      We don't want to say what the new features are, instead you guys can discover them for yourselves and then front page every individual feature. Then reviews of each feature too. Then reviews of several new features at once. Maybe some unboxing pictures too.

      Kevin
    • vroom101, on 10/10/2007, -0/+2Here's the official announcement by Kevin Rose: http://digg.com/tech_news/DIGG_New_Digg_Profiles_Launch --> http://blog.digg.com/?p=94
  • diggstown, on 10/10/2007, -5/+10Digg Goes Slower with Web 2.0
  • zioxide, on 10/10/2007, -9/+42Dumb idea.. I don't want digg to turn into ***** myspace. Keep it the way it is and instead of adding these dumb ass features, add a ***** pictures section
    • picsectionpleez, on 10/10/2007, -0/+1It won't turn into MySpace, but there will without a doubt be new Diggers who are nothing like the original folks here.
      • mlostracco, on 10/10/2007, -0/+2It's all the "new" Diggers who brought the plague of stupid inbox images and wacky jokes to the front page. The next wave of Diggers could render Digg more useless and unrecognizable from its formerly great self.
      • rpgmaker, on 10/10/2007, -0/+1Well, at least we still will have Reddit, and I really mean it.
  • akf2000, on 10/10/2007, -10/+4Some ***** make friends with me then.
    • vuke69, on 10/10/2007, -2/+6This isn't myspace. You have to earn friends here.
    • rpgmaker, on 10/10/2007, -0/+1That was funny. vuke69 I think he was being sarcastic.
  • Launchify, on 10/10/2007, -6/+1@vroom101: I completely agree. I'm not sure why this wouldn't have come out on the blog first, anyway.
  • EllisAshbrook, on 10/10/2007, -3/+7Seriously wtf....this sounds like mission creep. Digg 3.0 was the best...anyone else remember the good old days?
    • OBKenobi, on 10/10/2007, -0/+2Only two things really bother me about Digg at this point, other than all the new users.

      1. This accursed comment system.
      2. Digg has been growing slower and slower with all the new features.
  • StarExtreme, on 10/10/2007, -2/+10"Currently, 15% to 20% of Digg's audience are registered users." Get registered you ominous people!
  • NyteStarNyne, on 10/10/2007, -5/+72So it's Diggspace now huh? Does this mean we will all get our default friend set to Keivn Rose?
    • i4mt3hwin, on 10/10/2007, -1/+4No, but maybe Kevin Rose.
      ...

      Sorry, just being an *****.
  • gthyb, on 10/10/2007, -2/+6All I want is an easier way to find my existing friends already on digg. Digging alone gets you nowhere.
  • krets, on 10/10/2007, -9/+3So I can Digg articles and hit on chicks all in the same place now? Count me in!
    • xister, on 10/10/2007, -0/+4Dude- this is Digg- there's no women on this site...

  • MajorHertz, on 10/10/2007, -0/+38Am I the only person who intentionally does not use the Digg friends feature? I agree with everyone else that I use this site because it does not have the socail networking aspect. I like the independant unbiased news submissions that I might have missed browsing elsewhere, and thats all I use it for.

    I dont really want to sound like I am complaining since I just wont use this feature. It is more of a general question to how many users use only portions of the site.
    • canewediggit, on 10/10/2007, -1/+13i'm with you. the only people i have added are a couple of rl buddies with a podcast i forced them to submit. i check the people that added me b/c there is some interest overlap, but i couldn't care less about 'digg friends'. too many people just abuse it and get too much crap promoted.
    • chilekillr, on 10/10/2007, -2/+5HA, you said unbiased.
  • brandizzle, on 10/10/2007, -1/+13Do not want =(
  • akash8m, on 10/10/2007, -3/+3Thats all we need another social network, Digg wants to compete with Pownce now? If Kevin Rose asks Digg Users they will give him a ton of ideas. Digg is special for what it is.
  • bloodborne, on 10/10/2007, -2/+2I like the friends feature as it is now, too. Maybe if they made it a bit more robust by adding private messages and that feature to suggest friends based on digging history, that'd be cool. But diluting and splintering digg too much will make it difficult to pick out the relevant information. This site is all about democracy, right? That works better the more people you have working together.
  • wildrices, on 10/10/2007, -12/+3Like minded? LOL, Diggers are all Liberals
  • Pbrane101, on 10/10/2007, -0/+9Im still waiting for the Pictures section.
  • cards, on 10/10/2007, -1/+7The features that are supposed to come out today are useless to me. However, I'm really looking forward to the features mentioned for the rest of the year. Most interesting to me:
    "There is going to be a section where you will see these suggestions of news items and pictures and videos based on what you have been looking at," says Rose. "It will find connections—people you constantly agree with and just don't know it."
    This is what I've been wanting ever since digg started to resemble crappy email forwards. I'm not hear to see lolcats or hilarious videos. I'm here to read news. Every digg user should see a different front page, based on their interests and what people with similar interests are digging. I shouldn't have to tell digg what sections I'm interested in...just find what like-minded people are digging and show it to me.
  • diggdeep, on 10/10/2007, -7/+2guys, this is not what i meant
  • diggdeep, on 10/10/2007, -9/+1guys, this is not what I meant
  • Lainy, on 10/10/2007, -0/+2I think its an added feature that some users will use more than others and it is a bit of fun. About how the news is sent to us it doesn't really matter to me as long as it is communicated. I might be being stupid but if there was a central digg updates space on here would be good too, I don't like going around to every ones blogs and personal pages. My day is to busy as it is... and if there is already one of those then I need to open my eyes ;)
  • dpknc84, on 10/10/2007, -1/+50"What Digg's users need, says Adelson, are social-networking tools."

    No. What we need is a revised comment system, a pictures section, and decrease load times so that Firefox doesn't screech to a halt rendering a page. Two things that have been requested forever but seem to go ignored. Don't make Digg a social network, we have enough. I don't even use the friends feature on here as it is.
    • dpknc84, on 10/10/2007, -2/+2Sorry, I added decreasing load times after the fact and didn't update "Two things" to "Three things".
    • xister, on 10/10/2007, -0/+8Well, although I don't mind the extra features, I do have to say that I see this kind of mindset in many of the "web 2.0" companies. It's like they're saying, "Hey, OK- so we have a few bugs and ***** elements of our site that we don't/won't/can't fix, but hey! Look at the cool new features we're rolling out!"

      It's annoying as hell...
    • OBKenobi, on 10/10/2007, -0/+1I agree, but I also would like to know more about my so-called "friends."
  • idiotkings, on 10/10/2007, -2/+8Gaming Digg just got much easier. Joy.
    • OBKenobi, on 10/10/2007, -0/+1Just add people whose comments and stories you like to your friends list and you can "game" Digg too.
  • cosmicdreams, on 10/10/2007, -1/+9I'm willing to give the new features a try. I certainly would like a better display of the stories that I have dugg or marked as favorites.
  • Seph7, on 10/10/2007, -0/+9How about they just scrap this idea and put the friends activity box thing back so its easy to read in place of the crappy square advert thing at the top of the page. I used to actually have a look at what my friends had dugg, now I just seem to stumble on by chance what they have dugg anyone else find this?
  • wonky73, on 10/10/2007, -3/+2I always find these businessy articles that try and pain digg as some sort of serious endeavor hilarious. Digg is a collection of crazies, morons, and fringe radicals screaming their heads off ignoring each other. This is not some serious business venture and web 2.0 future. It's just a slightly altered version of fark or other bizarre message boards.
    • xister, on 10/10/2007, -1/+2Oh no... Of course not- who gives a ***** about a site pulling in 5 MILLION unique visitors a month and 180,000 registered users?
  • Pbrane101, on 10/10/2007, -1/+15Kevin Rose: "Yeah, the users really wanted a pictures section but we didnt like the idea. Instead we're giving them something totally fresh and exciting that really makes no practical sense."
  • DevlinD, on 10/10/2007, -1/+3While the addition of these social networking features is a bit of a slippery slope, if they manage to keep it focused on news and not social networking I think it will be a good overall move.

    Personally I like the story diversity on Digg, its why I keep coming back. As this site has shown the power of the people outweigh the power of the processor and I think it would be a good idea to use this type of crowdsourcing in order to help like minded people find news that interests them. The whole "shout" thing seems like it could be easily abused but I'm sure privacy settings will take care of that. What I would like to see is some intelligent analytics that finds news stories dugg or submitted by other people who have similar interests to me, so I could create a more personalized Digg. Google more or less does something similar with search so its good to see that this is in the works...I'm actually pretty excited about that.

    I don't want more friends on more networks, I want news. Unfortunately it is quickly becoming an ill fated trend to think that in order to please your customers you have to make whatever it is you're making...more social. Digg is about as social as I would care to see it but perhaps their feedback says differently. The bottom line is that Digg does news better than anyone on the web and they should focus on improving that by using the user information that they have.
  • SteelChicken, on 10/10/2007, -1/+33Not interested in making friends, just finding interesting articles to read.
  • hydroplane, on 10/10/2007, -2/+9You got to be ***** me. This is the worst concept since G4tv.
  • delaen, on 10/10/2007, -1/+3The best part is that if you decide to use any of these new features and spread stories you're into around to all your friends, you'll get banned for gaming the system. Great idea!
    • xister, on 10/10/2007, -0/+1Well, if they're really going to do it like the Facebook "wall feature", it won't be a matter of you telling a friend you dugg a story, the fact that you dugg a story will just appear on their wall. As far as the "shout" idea though.... :(
  • wonky73, on 10/10/2007, -1/+7And.. we are supposed to trust them to implement this when they can't even create a commenting system that doesn't suck
    • iashraf, on 10/10/2007, -0/+2The commenting system didn't suck but now does... funny how that works.
  • BufordT, on 10/10/2007, -1/+4How about resuscitating some old features (old comment system).
  • geekelixir, on 10/10/2007, -6/+0and like facebook the hotgates have been opened to allow the persian nuisances into the spartan kindom of interesting articles. all in all i hope the site doesn't get over populated with *****.. so i dont have to like burry the whole front page at times and so on.
  • barrybarbee, on 10/10/2007, -6/+1***** TO A DIGSPACE!!!!
  • vofuse, on 10/10/2007, -1/+11I wish they'd just fix the comment system.

    Edit: I see that several others beat me to this. Should've known.
  • jayadelson, on 10/10/2007, -7/+15Hey folks, remember, this is an extension of the social network that has been part of Digg (friends system) since the beginning. The key is using this social component as an additional filter to what goes on here in the Digg environment. More on this later, stay tuned.
    • misterpony, on 10/10/2007, -0/+14If it's an extension and the suggestion and shout features are simply side features, I'm fine, been wanting better article suggestion for a long time. But this article makes it sound like Digg is totally changing focus. Digg is about the news, not the users, that's why I use it anyway. In fact, your quote, Jay, makes it sound like the focus will be on the users. Better clear this real quick because right now it sounds terrible, imo.
      • jayadelson, on 10/10/2007, -3/+14Well, Kevin and I believe the focus has always been on the users... but I think you mean are we shifting the main focus of digg away from the content we filter to the user network, and the answer is no. We're simply, as always, allowing the user network to help you with your experience. You will be able to use Digg the *exact* same way you always have.
        • parislemon, on 10/10/2007, -2/+3Sounds good Jay - when are the features coming so they can speak for themselves? Is the roll-out still in the plans for today?
      • OBKenobi, on 10/10/2007, -0/+1[quote]Digg is about the news, not the users[/quote]

        It's about both. If it was just about the news, we all have access to RSS feeds. Digg is a good place to get a wide-ranging view of a topic, and sometimes (sadly, not often enough) get even better or more accurate info than from the story itself. Especially when it comes to heavily propagandized and censored news topics like Iraq.
    • sovereign3, on 10/10/2007, -0/+4It seems the Digg community is always inertial about change. Whether it's change to comment sections, new categories, or different interfaces. But in the end users always find ways to adapt and even start to like the new changes. Ultimately you can't please everyone because there's always the vocal 5 percent that won't like any new feature no matter how good it is.

      I think a social-networking component is not only different from a "social network," but it's going to enhance Digg. You'll be able to find content that more closely relates to your interests because the community has helped you find it. I don't expect Digg to start allowing users to create Facebook or MySpace pages full of biographical info, photos, and home movies any time soon. It wouldn't be in their interest. Allowing users with similar interests to share stories seems a damn brilliant idea.

      Digg users will get used to it as they often do whenever a new feature comes out.
  • truebullfan, on 10/10/2007, -0/+6suggestion feature sounds like a good idea. oh yea fix the search function so i can search the stories ive dugg
  • ersnyder, on 10/10/2007, -4/+4I bet most are pissed because they will loose the "***** anonymity" of posting in the comments.
  • KevenM, on 10/10/2007, -6/+1*****. Reading these comments, you'd think that people are being forced to spend their time on Digg. If it's so bad, go away and quit cluttering stories like this with bandwagon trash talk.
  • JonRohan, on 10/10/2007, -0/+8Digg asked a user focus group about these changes, and they hated them. I don't know why they decided to follow through anyways.
  • UnkelJethro, on 10/10/2007, -2/+16The last thing I want to do is meet any of you.
  • digitallysick, on 10/10/2007, -1/+5While i don't mind the added features, but i do feel time could be spent better with improving the digg site. Better comment system, maybe some layout themes that the user can change, the ability to find your own comments
  • beetlejuice101, on 10/10/2007, -1/+7***** idea, I come to digg to get away from that crap... But at least we're getting an image section.
  • buildmorerobots, on 10/10/2007, -0/+4I'm all for new people, but the idea of smaller groups within seems to dilute the fun of the larger community a bit. I hope it doesn't start to look like facebook or myspace around here. Keep it clean folks.
  • vroom101, on 10/10/2007, -1/+7DIGG is unique. It would be a monumental disappointment to see fundamental changes implemented that would obliterate DIGG's uniqueness not only in the "social networking" or "Web 2.0" context, but more importantly on the Internet itself where DIGG holds an important position.
    • OBKenobi, on 10/10/2007, -0/+1In about a year, Digg will be sold off to Rupert Murdoch.
  • sjalloul, on 10/10/2007, -6/+1I am glad Digg, is moving in this direction. Unlike some of the comments above, I hate Facebook for many reasons as it's becoming a spam heaven for applications! Out of honesty, I believe Digg should hire community bloggers for it's most Dugg articles and have featured podcasts and have video podcasts via Rev3.

    Keep up the good work!
  • omarciddo, on 10/10/2007, -6/+3Wow. Don't like it, don't use the feature. And to those whining about the comment system/pictures/w.e must be out of your mind. You really think all these features could be rolled out without a major overhaul of the backend? Digg has already said that the pictures section has a release date of October. The "*****" picture section is coming, relax.

    ...whiny bastards. It's not like Digg's your only choice.
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