Use Digg to Promote Your Cause
Digg ( http://digg.com) is an immensely popular social media website that ranks news links based on votes from registered users.
Digg users can submit as many news links as they like. Submitted news links are initially placed in an "upcoming" section for review. News links are rated using a simple "thumbs up" or "thumbs down" which allows any registered user to give a single vote to each submission. Users also have the option to "bury" a submission, which is a vote to remove the link from Digg's queue. When a news link receives enough positive votes (called "Diggs") it is placed on the front page.
The Digg Effect
If you're fortunate enough to get a link to your website listed on the front page of Digg, be prepared for the "Digg Effect," both instant and residual:
- Initially, you will receive tens of thousands of visitors to your website in a potentially overwhelming surge.
- Over time, expect additional traffic as webmasters and bloggers (who use Digg to find source material) link to your website in their own coverage.
How to Get Featured at Digg
Digg uses a complex and secret algorithm to determine which news links will be featured on its front page. Ranking factors are thought to include:
- the number of "diggs" (i.e., positive votes)
- the number of "bury" negative votes
- the number of Digg friends and fans of the submitter
- the number of news links that the submitter has previously got to the front page
Digg considers more than just the number of positive votes because it seeks to protect itself from spamming. For instance, if you're tempted to assemble an online team of 1,000 people who would suddenly join Digg and vote only for your news links, that's precisely the kind of spamming that Digg seeks to avoid.
Having said that, it's clearly possible to "game" the system because it was reported awhile back that the top 100 users at Digg are responsible for 56% of its front page submissions.
Digg clearly favors established, high-participation users and enables them to succeed more easily. For instance, Digg's friend system allows users to keep track of what their friends submit. Top Diggers regularly vote for their friend's news links and, in return, receive votes from the hundreds or even thousands of friends or fans that are tracking their submissions.
Unless you're one of the Top Diggers, this leads to a dilemma: Is it better to build and cultivate your own Digg voting block or is it better to work with someone who already has the requisite connections?
I recommend seeking an ally among the top Digg users. You can identify them by reviewing the unofficial list of the Top Diggers at http://www.efinke.com/digg/top1000users.html.
However, if you prefer to do-it-yourself, then review "How to Become a Top Digg User (Without Doing Anything Shady)" at http://www.10e20.com/2007/03/06/
how-to-become-a-digg-top-user-without-doing-anything-shady/
