What is Digg?66 Comments
- jcs_goog, on 10/12/2007, -3/+129Just to save you some time...
1. Instant Knowledge
2. Requires Little to No Individual Thought
3. Lists Have Authority
4. Easy to Memorize and Casually Mention in Conversation
5. Lists are Skimmable
6. Mobs Like Uniformity
7. Lists Have an Ending
8. People Like Counting - addiggt, on 07/06/2009, -1/+88Irony is fun.
- jasper976, on 10/12/2007, -3/+36unfortunately a list of 8 is too long, please shorten it, thanks
- bmartin, on 10/12/2007, -4/+34I stopped enjoying lists the moment I learned LISP.
- MikeDawg, on 10/12/2007, -4/+31Idiot Masses == Average digg users
- spamly, on 10/12/2007, -0/+17Lucky for me I'm well below average.
- clickwir, on 10/12/2007, -1/+17I'm so going to casually mention these points in conversation later to make it seem like I'm smarter. It was easy to acquire this knowledge and people will not be able to argue the points, I'll show them the list if they do. Then they'll join me in knowing.
- morandomdanu, on 10/12/2007, -1/+15Thanks, you saved me the time of actually clicking on the link
- violentvinyl, on 10/12/2007, -2/+159. ???
10. Profit!
Couldn't resist. - LDanix, on 10/12/2007, -1/+14...admission is the first step to recovery.
- EtherGnat, on 10/12/2007, -0/+12#9 People love to argue over lists
Any list is sure to be controversial. People will argue about what was left out, about things that shouldn't have been on the list, and relative rankings. I'd even go so far as to say this is the #1 reason lists are popular. Oddly enough, for this purpose a bad list may be better than a good list. - spinchange, on 10/12/2007, -1/+10lists are specific. they mentally anchor a headline/ story to quantifiable "results" (information)
- GrahamStw, on 10/12/2007, -1/+9Actually my abused spouse has a very high opinion of herself - that's why I have to hurt her...
- uttles, on 10/12/2007, -3/+10I just wish people wouldn't forward me every list that hits their inbox.
- poogtastik, on 10/12/2007, -2/+9Are those points supposed to be negative? There's more information on the Internet than any single person could ever read, much less process, so in a lot of cases well-thought out lists are God-sent. However, I do admit that all the "Top 10 BEST EVER" lists that tend to frequent the digg main page can get quite irritating; especially the lists that are totally subjective.
- Jugalator, on 10/12/2007, -0/+6"Idiot Masses == Average digg users"
Heh, but according to another story, many have 140 in IQ... :-p - brianrlawson, on 10/12/2007, -1/+7Dugg for title
- jordan314, on 10/12/2007, -1/+7I am shocked and offended! Good day sir!
- violentvinyl, on 10/12/2007, -0/+4Yes, you and the rest of the masses.
- okokitsme, on 10/12/2007, -0/+4@bwhite ;-)
10. Lists get longer and longer by additions we wise Diggers think of. - Lane5slacker, on 10/12/2007, -4/+7My old English teacher used to love lists. He was a *****, though.
- rholloway, on 10/12/2007, -2/+4the coolest thing here is that the irony isn't lost on the poster. Bravo.
- AnimalTaglits, on 10/12/2007, -0/+25. Lists are Skimmable
That's the only paragraph that I read. - jull1234, on 10/12/2007, -1/+3I just love arguing with people. Over lists.
- BlackAdderIII, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2"""Heh, but according to another story, many have 140 in IQ... :-p"""
Pah, as if IQ means anything. I have a knack for IQ tests, but am a complete and utter moron at real life.
If I fed it a calculator my dog could crap better mental arithmetic than I can think. - bwhite, on 10/12/2007, -1/+29. People love to add their own additions to the list and think it's funny.
.. damn. - DenDen, on 10/12/2007, -0/+18 Reasons Why Idiot Masses Should Not Post Links To Digg.
#8-Your sucky-ass server can't handle it...
#7-Duggmirror won't help you...
#6-Blogspammers suck...
anyone else want to continue? - logicnazi, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1The fact that they let people argue about it is one thing but I think the big reason for the popularity of lists is the illusion of definitiveness/precision.
It's similar to the reason that a urban legend will tell you that "at 2:32 am John K. Turkey....", often the addition of extra precision lets something assume the mantle of authority without any actual authority. People aren't very good at figuring out who really has authority so if you talk with an excessive amount of precision (discovery channel UFO specials always have experts that do this) people will assume you have it.
Lists are a less eggregious form. People don't really just buy into them the same way as UFO stories (I hope) but the form sorta gets many people thinking there is some genuine content in the list rather than someone say just complaining about some random things that annoy them. - Po0py, on 10/12/2007, -1/+2Dugg for the being the first digg front page link to get me to laugh out loud.
And then go... doh! - inactive, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1What you did was thoughtful. However I'd like a bit more explaination behind the list. :-D
- minorthreat, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1indeed, the max amount of items in a list that the human eye can easily glance over is 5-7. 8 is one to many
- OrangeTide, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1For a minute I thought this was going to be a rant against <li>. just like all those rants against using tables.
- maddendude, on 10/12/2007, -2/+3Its just an easy way of organizing thoughts. The authority of the lists only depends on the credibility of the writer, and in this case, the list is useless. The keyword in number 4 is casually. Its general knowledge. Its not meant to make people experts, just expose them to the topics.
and No one likes counting. - neuralcooker, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1Buried as lame. The content in this article is just bad and not well thought out. Seems like he can't even decide if he's being serious or is joking about this.
- logicnazi, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1Mirror
http://72.14.203.104/search?q=cache%3Ahttp%3A%2F%2Fwww.netbusinessblog.com%2F2007%2F02%2F03%2F8-reasons-why-the-masses-love-lists%2F - fkramer, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1No. 9 -- Lists generate LOTS of comments...
- dbr_onix, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1Doesn't this just prove the statement : An article basicly insulting anyone who's ever Dugg a "Top 10 [something]" list (I'd guess a lot of people), which is a list in itself, makes it to the front page with (currently) around 600 Diggs..?
- Ben - logicnazi, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1Is there some reasons that links don't work right while you can still edit your comment? My links didn't seem to work correctly while I was editing (sent me to a page on digg) and now they work fine? Maybe this will work too now
http://duggmirror.com/ - Neiby, on 10/12/2007, -2/+3I wrote an article for an IT magazine once and they edited it to make it more of a list-style article. I have to admit that it did make it easier to read, especially for someone just casually looking through it.
- inactive, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1dugg for the logical paradox of the whole theme.
- libradragon, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1I read item #1 and then started skimming just the first sentences until I hit #5; paused momentarily then I continued skimming.
- cbasst, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1personally, I like lists because it is an easy way to observe the current interests of the masses.
- inactive, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1dugg for the logical paradox of the whole theme
- inactive, on 10/12/2007, -2/+2Ahh, nothing more refreshing and amusing than seeing a business newbie thinking he knows about sociology and cognitive science.
- vampiregirl, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0Lists are fun, especially when they are collaborative. A site like www.list3n.com is better than a straight list (like a to-do, or my opinion list) since it allows people to add there own stuff and vote on things that they like.
- k3ymaster, on 10/12/2007, -2/+2Dugg just for the irony of the poster's description.
- nacharya, on 10/12/2007, -1/+1mirror please?
- akatherder, on 10/12/2007, -5/+5Here is a list of the top five things that annoy me about lists:
1. Just kidding.
I hate people who feign authority and proclaim the masses to be stupid. You may think you're insightful, intelligent, smart and that you buck the trend. There are approximately 6 billion other people who have the same opinion of themselves (abused spouses being the exception). - kbear1, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0Typically this wouldn't be worth mentioning, but if one is going to write an article suggesting a lofty spot over the lazy sloppy masses, best to avoid really stupid and incredibly obvious errors.
The 10 commandments are doctrine in the Jewish faith as well. - RegisteredUser, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0A fair amount of Digg submissions are lists. Search and you'll see the pattern..
Top [some number] Reasons Why [some product] Will [insert "fail" or "succeed" depending on which fanboy you are].
http://digg.com/search?s=top+reasons&submit=Search§ion=news&type=title&area=promoted&age=all&sort=new -
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