digg

Join DiggAbout

Discover and share the best of the web!
Learn more about Digg by taking the tour.

Warning: The Content in this Article May be Inaccurate

Readers have reported that this story contains information that may not be accurate.

The Social Media Manual By Muhammad Saleem

searchengineland.com — Something you should definitely read before you jump in head first into any social site.

Bury
show profanity settings
expand all
  • rtknox00, on 11/20/2007, -4/+42good info. I'm assuming this is msaleem. He's quite a powerful user, it's good to get his insights
    • Anwar, on 11/20/2007, -2/+24msaleem showed restraint in not submitting this article himself (rule #6 I believe)
      • floodyberry, on 11/21/2007, -5/+5When you have a "small network of friends" who all "reciprocate" within the group, you don't need to. He could have "IM'd" any one of the toads who got this to the front page in an hour (where it quickly went nowhere) and they would have tripped over themselves trying to be the first to submit it. You'll notice he was one of the first users to digg it.
    • notque, on 11/20/2007, -1/+4Sounds a bit too contrived. Doing whatever comes naturally to you works as well. There are all sorts of ways to become generally respected, liked, hated, and however you do that is unique to you. Does anyone really need to try?
  • MikeonTV, on 11/20/2007, -3/+20Interesting read. But I just can't help leaving a snooty comment every now and again!
  • doublehead, on 11/20/2007, -1/+20good logical advice
  • VeniceCA, on 11/20/2007, -2/+21And guest posting one of your best articles on a site that fits your niche (like this articles example) will only help to show you're willing to actively participate and help others.
    • justAnother9, on 11/21/2007, -0/+1Yeah, good example of how you have to be holistic in your approach and make a real effort to be part of the community. Also, having your article on a site that's as well respected as Search Engine Land certainly isn't going to hurt.
  • ukdave, on 11/20/2007, -1/+17I been in this game for years, it made me a animal There's rules to this *****, I wrote me a manual.
    • MikeonTV, on 11/20/2007, -1/+2couldn't help saying that rhyme in my head without an English accent!
  • bingobongony, on 11/20/2007, -10/+4I hope #1 is "If you intend to be as successful at "winning" these sites as I am, you cannot at any point soicalize OUTSIDE of the internet."

    Honestly...are there really people whose lives are so horrible that their desire to to be "successful" at Digg and similar sites?
    • BlogEx, on 11/20/2007, -1/+4I know it's tough for you to imagine but some people can do multiple tasks in a day.
  • bingobongony, on 11/20/2007, -9/+5Oh, and $2 is *****. LOTS of sites have been successful long term at spamming Digg. Consumerist, thinkprogress, alternet, metacafe (hell, they even got a partnership out of it.)
    • bingobongony, on 11/20/2007, -2/+3Obviously the $ should have been #. But I guess the dollar sign is appropriate too.
  • robdazomba, on 11/20/2007, -1/+2Most of this seems like common sense and courtesy. If you have to be told most of this, I think it's a good bet that social sites are not for you.
  • pumpedvideo, on 11/20/2007, -14/+8online marketing crap digg spam, buried
    • BlogEx, on 11/20/2007, -3/+8ignorant sob that has no idea what actual spam is, blocked
  • 2oonhed, on 11/20/2007, -7/+1hella hella hella hella hella hella!
  • nesibus, on 11/20/2007, -3/+3"You might be able to call in enough favors"

    Ukdave....just how well do you know Muhammad Saleem....
  • inbyronwetrust, on 11/20/2007, -6/+5Before you read this article, consider this: Do you have any common sense at all? If you do, this article is not for you.
    • Frei, on 11/20/2007, -0/+6Common sense is a rare thing on internet forums.
      • inbyronwetrust, on 11/20/2007, -0/+1Yeah, the sad truth... "The world is getting dumber, any myspace isan't helping"
    • hpymondays, on 11/20/2007, -0/+1this is in essence what I posted and got voted down for making the obvious observation that this article is useless.
  • Rubab, on 11/20/2007, -2/+1good stuff for the social media addicts..
  • Ihatehillary, on 11/20/2007, -32/+1The dude's name is muhammad. Buried as *****...
    • pintomp3, on 11/20/2007, -2/+16when i read the title i thought: "there are going to be some idiots who have a problem with his name". thanks for reaffirming what's wrong with the world.
    • Livewire, on 11/20/2007, -0/+14man my blocked list is growing quickly from the ***** commenting on this article...

      I'm just about ready to change my name to Muhammed and proclaim it to the world just so I know who's face to punch in.
      • poidh, on 11/20/2007, -9/+0Dude. I've seen you. You're not punching anyone's face in. You're too much talk and not enough muscle.
      • MOJIRA, on 05/17/2008, -0/+2Yeah... tell me about it. Most people online and on paper don't even realize that my name is NOT Mohammed.

        Doesn't stop me getting booted from xbox live games, haha. I'd change it, but then I might have to play with morons; at least this way they filter themselves out for me.
  • hpymondays, on 11/20/2007, -2/+1gosh, this is silly. First of all, as long as it doesn't cost money to submit, vote and participate, trolling would be a profitable/lucrative occupation for people who want to drive traffic to their sites. Second, I really doubt people would be doing staff meetings and brain storming with themselves before doing a 2 line signup. Third, the first and foremost rule of the internet is NEVER BELIEVE ANYTHING YOU READ ON THE INTERNET AND ONLINE PERSONAS ARE JUST WHAT THEY ARE: ONLINE PERSONAS.

    Bottom line, this is a nice analysis but it's also useless advice because I don't think there is anything in it that people don't already know.
  • MrBelding, on 11/20/2007, -0/+9This is great stuff namely because it tells people how to become REAL users. I get shout spam all the time from people who have 700 friends and could really care less about becoming apart of a community. Its basic info..yes, but I sure wish people actually followed it.
  • JuCee, on 11/20/2007, -2/+18Very well-written article. And apparently putting a Middle Eastern name in the title is an excellent way to draw out the racist retards on Digg.
    • ZeRux, on 11/20/2007, -1/+5Digg me down if you *do* care what religion M. Saleem belongs to.
      • notque, on 11/20/2007, -0/+1Or don't listen to people telling them what to do regardless of their opinion on the matter involved.
    • hobba, on 11/20/2007, -0/+0good point there :D
      dugg
  • MacParrot, on 11/20/2007, -4/+29Wow! Lots of haters going on about his assumed religion. Just because his name is Muhmmad and is from Pakistan you shouldn't assume that he's Muslim or even if he is that he's some fire-breathing fundementalist. I subscribe to the podcast (The Drill Down) that he participates in and find him generally to be well informed, tech neutral, and a good speaker. I must admit I don't understand the obsession with getting posts front-paged, but he's hardly the only one doing it.

    As far as the Muslims go, having traveled to most of the Middle East and Soth Asia, I've found that most Muslims just want to live their lives like anyone else. I've met more fundie Christians with worse attitudes here in the States.
    • kaiwai, on 11/20/2007, -0/+2I second that - to find a fundamentalist Muslim, one has to go really out of their way. It isn't as though in alot of Muslim countries that they're either tolerated by the state of society as a whole.
  • poidh, on 11/20/2007, -27/+3When I see the name "Muhammad Saleem", I think of a Muslim. Then I read his stuff and I realise he isn't one. There is hope.
    • hobba, on 11/20/2007, -0/+6grow up, and speak common sense please!
  • pdsoul, on 11/20/2007, -1/+11Thanks for that Muhammad. Appreciate you sharing your thoughts.
    On a side note, I honestly do not see the relevance of Poidh's comment above...
    • poidh, on 11/20/2007, -7/+1Read the Qur'an, Hadiths and Sira. And then you will. Education is a good thing. Anyway, it's good for a Muslim to leave his religion of death and join the society of life.
  • crapmatic, on 11/20/2007, -8/+3"Assuming you have an intention of participating in the long run, don't engage in any troll-like behavior (i.e. unnecessarily burying, sinking, down-voting/thumbing of content, posting negative or otherwise superfluous comments or spamming the threads, flaming other users for any reason, and so on)."

    Well, hell, he's writing about Digg but clearly hasn't even visited. Now ***** all 'yall!
  • Kenzan, on 11/20/2007, -2/+3The only "rule" on the internet is "show me the money!"
  • TheBrat, on 11/20/2007, -3/+0I found this quite amusing. Does the author actually EVER frequent sites of this genre? If he does, I'd sure like to know where they are because, quite frankly, I can't find any that adhere to that set of protocols. Regardless of the article, it seems like every set of comments at any of these sites turns into a Windows vs. Linux vs. MAC, or boys against the girls, or atheists vs. agnostics vs. (insert religion of choice here) adherents, or race vs. race, flame war.
  • somespecial, on 11/20/2007, -4/+1Big media decides what's popular.
  • somespecial, on 11/20/2007, -0/+1Digg is for people that want post things they find interesting. Sure, if you want get front page, submit stuff that is a hot topic, but that does not have be a focus.
  • MattBD, on 11/20/2007, -0/+3I have to admit to occasional outbreaks of Linux fanboyism, but I mostly agree with this article - it's pretty good advice
  • BlackMask, on 11/20/2007, -1/+9I am checking the comment portion of this article to make an exact count of exactly how many people are having trouble with his name.

    To all who don't know: The term Algebra came from Al-Gibre, which is also the name of a muslim scientist who invented it.

    Rule number 1: Just because somebody is muslim doesn't necessarily mean he wants to blow himself up in a market and kill americans. The two white dudes who shot some pupils to death and later killed themselves were christians too. But do I go around screaming MURDERER whenever I spot a white dude in the street?
  • SilverBack101, on 11/21/2007, -2/+4Isn't that cute...the racists think they're people.
  • artsyave, on 11/22/2007, -0/+5Very well written article Muhammad! I especially like this advice: "if you plan on using a site strictly to promote your site or content or that of your clients, don't sign up, because the social web is certainly not for you." :) it's a good advice and one that people over see when they first start out. You actually need to enjoy the community and get the rhythm before you can provide value in a social site. If you can't provide value, it'll be tough to become 'popular' in any social site. ... either that or you need really good social skills.
  • sassyt, on 01/30/2008, -0/+2Yes most of the stuff in the article is commong sense, but common sense is very rare... especially with a lot of people online just dying to spam people and use the 'latest fast technique' to get their site good ranking and good links. To me this article just proves yet again that going back to common sense is what's needed to be successful, but unfortunately not a lot of people are aware of that!
  • marketmou, on 02/03/2008, -0/+1This is a really nice brief Muhammad. Thanks for sharing--and don't listent to some of the rather ungracious comments I can see on here. I think some of these people need your guidance more than they know. :)
  • AmirAhmad86, on 02/24/2008, -0/+1Great article. It comes at a much needed time since I'm still so new to this whole social media thing.
  • stbon, on 03/15/2008, -0/+1Excellently written - Good pointers for beginners.
  • monsterette, on 04/24/2008, -0/+1...GREAT information and pointers on the ins and outs of social sites, appealing to the masses, intentions, & sharing info...
  • jennicamorel, on 05/21/2008, -0/+1Dugg! Good stuff
  • pacpub, on 07/19/2008, -0/+1Good overview. Would love to see your thoughts on the different algorithms for each social site. Thanks.
  • jshare, on 07/22/2008, -0/+2Great insight. Not enough people understand how they'd be better off not on Digg and on other social media that's a better match for them and their site
  •  

    Login or register to add a comment

    Create a new account or login to join in the conversation on Digg. You'll also be able to Digg stories to help promote things you like.


© Digg Inc. 2008 — Content posted by Digg users is dedicated to the public domain.
DIGG, DIGG IT, DUGG, DIGG THIS, Digg graphics, logos, designs, page headers, button icons, scripts, and other service names are the trademarks of Digg Inc.