Submitted by
Users who Dugg This
Lt Gen Panda
17116 Followers
Cecil Helton
12879 Followers
John Boitnott
15810 Followers
BeShirtHappy
13460 Followers
FuriousFanboy
1243 Followers
CourageWolf
6888 Followers
oboyOct 26, 2010
Pitiful move, guys.
endersgameOct 26, 2010
This is pretty much the nail in the coffin as far as I am concerned. Since the launch of v4, Digg has lost all credibility and believe it or not that is very important. The reason Reddit is so successful is because the users feel like they are a part of the site. They feel like they have direct control over how the site works.
Everything about the v4 rollout was suspcious. Why did they take away the bury option? Why doesn't it show me how long a story has been on the frontpage? Why are some stories pushed to the frontpage with less than 25 diggs and virtually no comments that look like spam? Why were those same stories staying on the front page longer than usual (When v4 first came out I would see stories stay on the top 10 list for days)? All those things seem like they would only benefit an ad system and not Digg's users.
On top of that we had Digg employees and Kevin Rose tell us everything was fine and that we would have to get used to the changes. Every article I would click on would have the comment section filled with complaints about the new digg and then out of nowhere an article would hit the front page that put a positive spin on v4 and the most dugg comments would be suspciouly positive about all the changes. And then bam, back to every comment section filled with complaints. Even worse, I have seen several of my complaints (and others) about v4 outright censored. And by that I mean I would submit a comment and it would show up in the default view (Oldest First) and then I would check back the next day and all the comment threads are there except for mine is nowhere to be found. But if I go to Most Dugg I can see the comment thread.
Here is an example of the censorship I am talking about: http://digg.com/news/offbeat/wow_she_s_hot_wait_wtf_gif
If you look at the default view you don't really see any comments complaining about Digg. But if you go to Most Dugg comments and look for regulatorguy's comment, you see a whole comment thread complaining about Digg. All this stuff isn't just a coincidence, I don't trust Digg anymore.
trax852Oct 26, 2010
I posted this as a comment to http://ltgenpanda.tumblr.com/post/1403230157/di... story
Figure it would work best as a reply to your comment.
I came across something last week by accident. I was going
to post/blog about it but thought it was too conspicuous
(or another C word), so stopped.
The link
http://digg.com/news/technology/Who_Would_Kick_...
Digg.com has:
Who Would Kick Ass: Digg vs. Reddit
whowouldkickass.com — You know what to do...
Submitted Jun 19, 2008 by dfltr
Which shows 6 comments and 3 diggs
---*
Google cache which updated while I was messing with it had:
Who Would Kick Ass: Digg vs. Reddit
Made popular Jun 20, 2008
submitted by dfltr Jun 19, 2008
3100 diggs
445 Comments
The content revolved around http://www.googlefight.com/
---*
I had thought at first it was just Digg cleaning up the
message base, but the entire comment base is different.
I don't know if the submitter can do this or not.
google: Who Would Kick Ass Digg vs Reddit site:digg.com
showed and still shows there is/was only one submission.
revelationnowOct 26, 2010
It makes you wonder how long this has been going on. Is it a new thing, or have they been down-playing disagreeable articles for years?
jaytek13Oct 26, 2010
And lets not forget that Rose and his minions of publishers tried to play it off with a simple "users don't like change", like we're too simple minded to be able to think that these changes were for the better and we just didn't get it.
I only logged in to digg this story after finding it on reddit.
blackinthmiddleOct 26, 2010
I agree on all of your points. I also logged in to digg this article after seeing it on reddit.com. I think we've all susepcted v4 was done simply to appease large media outlets and this article pretty much makes it impossible for Kevin Rose to just dismiss the charges like he's done in the past.
stark222000Oct 26, 2010
@backinthemiddle
Sadly he quit so he doesn't have to dismiss s**t. Terrible piece of s**t that man is. All about the money with some people.
gibmanOct 27, 2010
DUDE. WTF! I am with you!... there still isn't a bury button? Ekk gad. I came back to see the embers or new construction, but the place is still burning. Thank JayTek, hope to see you.. on the other side...
scatteredbombOct 26, 2010
If I had a nickel ever time I read "a nail in the Digg's coffin"...
Yet millions of people continue to use the site. How many nails will it take?Comment is buried, click here to see the rest.
stark222000Oct 26, 2010
nails and time.
deathsmokeOct 26, 2010
[This comment has been deleted to protect the user base from dissenting opinion.]
whatsthatsmellNov 2, 2010
[This comment has been deleted to protect the user base from dissenting opinion.]
faithclubdotnetOct 26, 2010
Yeah I've been censored talking about Digg. Its plain to see to all that it is a corporate money grab. No sense putting effort into this post. They'll just censor it.
subatomicdocOct 26, 2010
Out of desperation, Digg has destroyed its integrity and any meaningful social contract it held with users. Can a company violate its own TOS?
Closed AccountOct 26, 2010
Yes.
hakujinOct 27, 2010
LOL
Closed AccountOct 26, 2010
Maybe you could show that there were a bunch of liberals on Digg. Yeah...I know we know. We know that content that hit the front page tended to be liberal...but SAY that these liberals we're talking about were all over the web with networks....and that these liberals ACTUALLY authored their OWN blogs...(which were mostly spam) and that they submitted these blogs to Digg and then the OTHER liberal bloggers in the same group....who had Digg accounts...went in and commented on and DUGG these liberal bloggers blogs...
http://p2blogs.com/p2blogs-family/
I mean, what if?
What if Conservatives had a network of blogs and they used their blogs to talk about social media and right-wing causes...and this network of conservative blogs harassed liberals on Digg?
What's the count up to now on Digg? The count of Digg posters who are affiliated with the P2blogs? This group of "progressive" publishers that definitely communicate in private?
I was a greenhorn and didn't know that Anomaly, Novenator, RMuse, Jordan and Sam Pennington...and manymany other Diggers are associated with the p2blogs.Comment is buried, click here to see the rest.
kevenmOct 26, 2010
Your comment reads like one of those spam emails I occasionally get where the text is randomly assembled words that try to make the email pass spam filters.
wrath017Oct 26, 2010
Hello Digg Patriot. Why aren't you banned yet, when it's a fact that YOU and your friends were gaming the system?
bluto36Oct 26, 2010
need a tissue or a tampon for those tears?
al3efromanOct 26, 2010
Not everything in life has to do with politics. Get a grip.
uberdugerOct 26, 2010
Oh dear. I'm getting a site error that won't let me Digg it but I guess that Digg are keeping it from the front page. In before it gets deleted.
addiktionOct 26, 2010
I don't know guys. Technically they could shift around diggs without ever needing to create a profile. Because they don't ever actually list who has dugg what really you wouldn't ever know. I have a hard time believing this is the case. What if someone just wanted to ruin digg even more by making rogue accounts like this? I know a lot of users (and maybe even competitors) would do whatever they needed to do to sabotage Digg while its already hurting.
I'm not saying digg did it or not but I'm not going to jump to accusations until more proof is found. Only digg can see the IP addresses of the profiles so if they indeed are 3rd party accounts they will get banned in no time once they read this article.
Closed AccountOct 26, 2010
Somebody at reddit made this comment about your point.
"They're probably limited by their own system. Or, at least, not wanting to make (potentially far-reaching) code changes just to support some shenanigans they never expected to be desperate enough to try.
While the digg count you see is almost certainly cached somewhere (and probably could be altered temporarily), but whatever it is that updates that cache probably goes off and looks the raw data (which, from looking at the API output is likely to be a list of users that dugg the link). So in order to make the illusion complete, without changing loads of code, it's not unreasonable to think that they had to go all the way and create some dummy users to assign the fake diggs to.
They could have picked some better usernames, though."
I think is not as far fetched as it might seem, specially when you have a system that is complicated enough...also, there is more proof http://ltgenpanda.tumblr.com/post/1404511358/second-confirmation-about-diggs-involvement
Closed AccountOct 26, 2010
and this him/her: smellycoat
http://www.reddit.com/r/geek/comments/dwg1e/wtf...
c_calienteOct 27, 2010
Or.... maybe it is the tool they use internally to simulate user traffic/diggs on their test/staging environments, which they just directed to the production environment in order to create some fake user activity and promote submissions from their preferred publishers.
tobeyOct 26, 2010
All of those accounts mysteriously stopped digging after this guy emailed Digg about it. The key part is the accounts weren't banned, they just stopped Digging. I suppose it could be an amazing coincidence, but I'm pretty convinced it wasn't at this point.
deathsmokeOct 26, 2010
And all within two minutes of the email being sent. That's the most damning evidence.
misterjanglesOct 27, 2010
because you can see in the API the users who dug a story, there would need to be actual user accounts attached to the diggs. http://developers.digg.com/version2/story-getdiggs
tecunxOct 26, 2010
This song may not relate 100%, but it just popped in my head while I read the article: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S0a12h8Nb2g&...
dukeOct 27, 2010
Naaah. I think THIS ONE is more appropriate on a couple of levels:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DWvIqZL0wNQ
lucas123Oct 26, 2010
I'm sorry. This was a surprise to someone? I mean, no one noticed "The Cruise Industry's Deep Secret" article on the front page about 100 times? And, that was one of dozens I've seen with hundreds of diggs.
http://digg.com/news/story/the_cruise_industry_...
lucas123Oct 26, 2010
http://digg.com/news/story/the_cruise_industry_s_deep_secret
renesisxOct 26, 2010
Er, you know that is a paid submission, right? That's why it keeps returning to the front page. It is labeled as such. Nothing to do with the above shenanigans in the topic.
dengzhiOct 26, 2010
bring back member since and # of profile views! also i need to see how many diggs i get in my summary page, otherwise how will i measure the size of my e-penis?
oh forget it. digg is already dead. RIP.
jobhostOct 26, 2010
I'm one of the 3 ex power digg users, we have started new project digg like project.
the funny think is Digg is so corrupt that they keep deleting our accounts on Digg.com this is my 4th account .
I always thought Digg is free speech site but they only do whats best for them and them only .
Digg is officially dead for me,
I dont want to spam but I invite you all to join us soon at http://DiigMe.com
Bye DiggComment is buried, click here to see the rest.
wateryouthOct 26, 2010
I logged in for the first time in months to digg this article and this post by oboy.
Ironically, the only reason I even knew this was on digg, is that it was posted at reddit, as I never visit digg anymore.
chuckdontsurfOct 27, 2010
Official response from digg: http://about.digg.com/blog/info-site-changes-and-test-accounts
couragewulfOct 26, 2010
Dunno man, let's ask the 8-ball to be sure http://bit.ly/ak5qVL
anomaly100Oct 26, 2010
I bow to the wisdom of the 8 ball. That's how I make all of my important decisions.
nickchopperOct 26, 2010
This seems to be around the same time I began having a tougher time popping stories. I guess they were sitting in the queue, while other stories were fast-tracked past mine?
wjappeOct 26, 2010
Or ours just die on the vine
raumschiffOct 26, 2010
This needs to get to the front page!
brookedunneOct 26, 2010
I'm shocked. SHOCKED.
novenatorOct 26, 2010
You say that, but you have no problem with the Digg Patriots artificially censoring Digg at the same time brooke. Not that I condone pushing “preferred publishing partners” in any way, that is a terrible move and I have spoken out strongly against it in this discussion thread. In the end however, you and the DP have always hated Digg regardless, and seem to find some perverse pleasure in coming here just to get some negative attention. This is just your latest attempt to attack the site that you seem compelled to use despite your hatred of it (any version of it).Comment is buried, click here to see the rest.
Closed AccountOct 26, 2010
You are a one-note wonder. Why are you attacking Brooke Dunne?
eq2sOct 26, 2010
I was still hoping that Digg was going to recover. I am sad that they did this as recovery seems impossible now as this will destroy any remaining trust from the Digg community. :(
styler9Oct 26, 2010
I suggest people wait for all the facts and both sides of the story before they start pissing themselves.
datalossOct 27, 2010
They've had enough time at this point...
betteroffedOct 26, 2010
/s?
lucas123Oct 26, 2010
Here's your winnings, sir.
louiebaurOct 26, 2010
What no mashable on the list?
NickCobbOct 26, 2010
Mashable didn't need help popping probably.
smurfzOct 26, 2010
Mashable has now been replaced by the recent amount of posts hitting from Break. The contract with Mashable must be up and Break is the new one in.
gamingforeverOct 26, 2010
I was wondering when this was going to be submitted... Hopefully digg doesn't stop it from hitting.. but it will go big no matter what...
Seems like they digg publisher accounts so they keep them on the site and get more money that way... Digg Games their own system...
statik99Oct 26, 2010
Way to go Digg, first screw over the site so bad you have to layoff staff and attempt to go back into start-up mode, and now this? Way to screw over, fail and piss off your users, yea the same users in "user submitted stories." The new site was starting to show promise but now violate the trust of users? Sickening and truly sad.
ashish04Oct 26, 2010
may be!
krandenOct 26, 2010
Short answer, yes.
Long answer, f**k yes
esornosoOct 26, 2010
Digg is like the perfect girl you met, but turns out to be a hooker.
gvoakesOct 26, 2010
Or she's your cousin that you didn't know about
NickCobbOct 26, 2010
1st or 2nd cousin?
nascenttOct 26, 2010
Maeby?
krandenOct 26, 2010
And on top of that her parents are actually brother and sister
langdonflynnOct 26, 2010
that's hilarious on another level... LOL!
technopunditOct 26, 2010
AND she's a hooker!
linds0ramaOct 26, 2010
Its cool for cousins to kiss.
recruzOct 26, 2010
I have some cousins that are really hot, dammit.
nickchopperOct 26, 2010
Or a dude!
nicklo06Oct 26, 2010
I thought digg was the whore with a heart of gold, now I find out that it's just a whore with a real whores heart.
mhuntOct 26, 2010
This is digg. A hooker probably would be the perfect girl.
homerrOct 26, 2010
With a meat tuba.
gamingforeverOct 26, 2010
These Fake Users are like Zombies who are controlled by digg staff, am I right?
m3wthr33Oct 26, 2010
Pretty much. They have so many, that way can spread around diggs and make it look less suspicious. But the usernames are laughably generic. Makes you wonder why they didn't mix it up.
harrypowersOct 26, 2010
They didn't mix it up because it's the same naming scheme they use for their IRC bots. Wow, remember EFnet?
runningjayhawkOct 26, 2010
Efnet! ...you just gave me massively warm fuzzies.
/me remembers the days hanging out in the "teen chatrooms" :snort:
harrypowersOct 26, 2010
/me slaps Runningjayhawk with a large trout. Man, I remember thinking channel takeovers were a huge deal back in the IRC days, bah. Now, a steady job would be a big deal.
blackinthmiddleOct 26, 2010
They didn't mix it up because they no longer show who dugg a story and they probably assumed no one would go to the great lengths LtGenPanda went to to uncover this.
gvoakesOct 26, 2010
WELP.
jaybolOct 26, 2010
Big gulps huh?
anomaly100Oct 26, 2010
First the Digg Patriots were gaming Digg, and now Digg is gaming Digg? Huh.
georgiomOct 26, 2010
Are you getting dugg down by digg? How is this happening?
Let's see how low I can go.
wrath017Oct 26, 2010
"How is this happening?"
Digg Patriots. Too bad there is a handful of them, and there's a s**t load of us.... and by us I mean people not on a crusade to bury Anomaly and Novenator for everything that they say.
davidtcOct 26, 2010
And by us he also means they crusade to digg everything Anomaly and Novenator say and submit while at the same time burying anything anyone says against them.
Example? Calling out Anomaly for doing a copy/paste rip of another site, posting it on her site, then submitting her site. Why was it done that way? As I pointed out, you don't make money for submitting other peoples sites. You make money when you submit your site and get page views. Guess what happened to that comment? Buried.Comment is buried, click here to see the rest.
anomaly100Oct 26, 2010
Let's not forget the rest of the 341. You're on that list;-)
@Davidtc just defined blogging. You copy & paste the news of the day, then add commentary. Geez, the DPs are the most stupid bunch I've ever run across.
crowdersoupOct 27, 2010
@anomaly100, sure he just defined blogging, and that's why blogging is ruining true journalism. Bloggers rip off their hard work and get paid more than them.
Closed AccountOct 26, 2010
Perhaps you could show that there were a bunch of liberals on Digg. And that these liberals were other places with networks....and that these liberals ACTUALLY authored their OWN blogs...(which were mostly spam) and that they submitted these blogs to Digg and then the OTHER liberal bloggers in the same group....who had Digg accounts...went in and commented on and DUGG these liberal bloggers blogs...
I mean, what if?
What if Conservatives had a network of blogs and they used their blogs to talk about social media and right-wing causes...and this network of conservative blogs harassed liberals on Digg?
You own Freak Out Nation.
http://p2blogs.com/p2blogs-family/
I was a greenhorn and didn't know that you and Novenator, RMuse...and manymany other Diggers are associated with the p2blogs.Comment is buried, click here to see the rest.
davidtcOct 26, 2010
Calling Anomaly for spamming her own site just gets you buried. Check this out. Called her out for just copy/pasting someone elses blogpost to her site and then submitting her site instead of the original.
http://digg.com/news/politics/facts_republicans_should_know_before_they_vote/20101025210133:efc88beb58af4e48b5682a4859a11d1d#20101025210133:efc88beb58af4e48b5682a4859a11d1dComment is buried, click here to see the rest.
Closed AccountOct 26, 2010
The article about voting in this election...where the brainiac told folks to encourage others to vote Obama/Biden? Yes....we can vote for people not up for election!Comment is buried, click here to see the rest.
novenatorOct 26, 2010
quirko, lay off the whiskey girl, you sort of look like an ass when you try to debate while drunk.
There was a conservative alternative to Digg appropriately titled Rigg: http://www.r-igg.com/ It is now defunct, but was a successful as conservapedia during it's short lifetime.
Regardless, you are hardly one to cast stones considering your history in the Digg "patriots", where you personally tried to both push your extreme right wing submits to the front page, give the illusion of popularity by getting a comments upvoting ring, and artificially censoring viewpoints you disagreed with (usually progressives).
@David, again, you like to criticize one thing, but seem to have no problem with the censorship. Strange.
Closed AccountOct 26, 2010
You have written stories that contradict your own stories. You have written comments that contradict your friends' stories.
"quirko, lay off the whiskey girl, you sort of look like an ass when you try to debate while drunk."
Wow. You are a real gentleman for sure. You and anomaly. Frequently on Digg with comments saying that I have substance abuse issues. I guess I *get* that you are trying to get me to say something that would get ME banned....but you won't do it. Sink lower....
It's hateful and horrible. You folks are pathetic.
"There was a conservative alternative to Digg appropriately titled Rigg: http://www.r-igg.com/ It is now defunct, but was a successful as conservapedia during it's short lifetime."
Learn to read? I said that there is NO CONSERVATIVE equivalent to your leftist network of blogspam. You are either stupid....or you are scared that Diggers will REALIZE that you are in the p2blogs family and you leftists spam your derivative vanity content to Digg.
"extreme right wing submits " LOL. Find one??? You label anyone except Blinker as extremist.
Of course BBC may be too conservative for the likes of you.
In short...don't you even TRY to intimidate me. You libeled me.Comment is buried, click here to see the rest.
davidtcOct 26, 2010
"@David, again, you like to criticize one thing, but seem to have no problem with the censorship. Strange."
Obviously you don't understand what I am doing. I even stated from the first time the DP'er thing hit. Digg doesn't have the comment anymore, but it was along these lines "I would take you seriously if you ever spoke out about the blind digging which is a much bigger problem here."
I'll make it simple for you. I am doing the exact same thing you are, just with the opposite view. You have no problem with the blind digging that you all count on to get anything to the front page, but have a problem when other blind bury. We wouldn't need a bury button if it wasn't for blind diggers! That is simple to understand. Crap is dugg cause it isn't looked at. Crap would not be dugg if it was looked at. This is why when it reaches the front page all the complaints start.
If you really don't understand what I am doing, then you don't even understand what you yourself are doing. Sadly, you probably don't understand what you are doing. You usually don't realize you are part of a problem when you partake the said problem.
So again, you like to criticize one thing, but seem to have no problem with the blind digging. Strange? Nope, you and your friends count on blind digging.Comment is buried, click here to see the rest.
davidtcOct 26, 2010
"Regardless, you are hardly one to cast stones considering your history in the Digg "patriots", where you personally tried to both push your extreme right wing submits to the front page, give the illusion of popularity by getting a comments upvoting ring, and artificially censoring viewpoints you disagreed with (usually progressives)."
All I have to do is change a couple things around and it fits you and your progressive buddies perfectly. Don't you see it? It is right there in front of you face! Hell I even called your buddies out on it and you were right there to make up excuses for the activities.
You might think there are problems with Digg, but honestly, you only see half of them.Comment is buried, click here to see the rest.
Closed AccountOct 26, 2010
These people have no awareness and no shame. Novenator's quote starts with an insult that has been repeated and repeated by ANOMALY. It's kind of funny to see him doing it, too. It must be projection. I have to assume that they partake and post....
Also...he shows an astounding lack of knowledge about CENSORSHIP. Burying a sub (and believe me...plenty of mine were buried) isn't CENSORING it. No one deleted it...it's still on the web...your family of liberal blogspammers can submit another similar story tomorrow...Comment is buried, click here to see the rest.
javaroastOct 26, 2010
Novenator, davidtc has been doing what he has been doing against blind digging for a lot longer than you have been carrying the torch and pumping the page views for the DP thing. There has been a current of anti blind digging for a long, long time. davidtc has consistently made comments in that regards. Criticizing him the way you do is what is truly strange. Being against a small group of DPers, while supporting a vast network of vote rigging is beyond bizarre.
drmangrumOct 26, 2010
OMG, Novenator telling others they look like an ass...if ever the pot called the kettle black, this is that time.
davidtcOct 26, 2010
wow javaroast actually gets it. Thanks.
Too bad novenator is blinded by his hypocrisy. What I am (have been) doing is clear as day.
anomaly100Oct 26, 2010
Quirk, I had no idea you're a communist and don't believe in capitalism. I am not allowed to own a blog?
Perhaps an anger management group or AA.....NA...whatever...Comment is buried, click here to see the rest.
drmangrumOct 26, 2010
Technically, progressive Nazi's like you and Novenator were gaming Digg first, then the DP's fought fire with fire (even though it was a match to a bonfire) and you whined (and are still whining about it).
Blame yourself and those like you anomaly.
anomaly100Oct 26, 2010
If you have proof, give it to me. Don't spam that 2 year old link of Novenator's shout. Show me proof that I have ever, ever called for someone to be buried. Do it.
There is none. I don't sink to your level.Comment is buried, click here to see the rest.
Closed AccountOct 26, 2010
Abnormality
"First the Digg Patriots were gaming Digg"
Ahhh. Point of order old girl. Digg did nothing about any of the lies you and the other co conspirators on the p2Blogs have been spamming about the DP's. Hard to say DP's were gaming Digg when Digg doesn't agree with you.
You can always prove me wrong by saying who of the DP's Digg has banned for TOS violations "exposed" in that farce Novenator conjured up so many months ago. I'll make it easier, name any DP that was even disciplined over this stale garbage. Any ? Just one ?
Why don't you spam another reply "exposing" me and all my supposed "alternate identities"
on Digg. Go ahead. I'll respond. I'm ever the gentlemen.
Get over it old girl. Much as you and team delusional would like some validation for the fantasy land you live in it's not coming, Digg just isn't as stupid as you think they are. Digg is ignoring you.Comment is buried, click here to see the rest.
stark222000Oct 26, 2010
@FustBirt
you suck at reading user names.
anomaly100Oct 26, 2010
MollyDog,
You love attention don't you old man? The entire Digg community is laughing at you because you look so damned guilty every time you comment. The only people digging you up, are your co-faux patriots. How does it feel to be caught?
You keep doing the same thing over and over expecting a different result. Ruh roh! That's the definition of insanity.
Bite me!Comment is buried, click here to see the rest.
Closed AccountOct 27, 2010
Abnormality.
"Bite me!". that's disgusting. I've seen a current picture of you !!
Guilty of what old girl, certainly not of anything here on Digg. Caught at what ?
Perhaps you missed it, or, more likely you have no answer so I'll give it another shot:
After a year of investigation where "teams" of "investigators" toiled over thousand of stolen emails, what was accomplished ? Was any DP banned ?
No.
Was any DP disciplined ?
No.
"You keep doing the same thing over and over expecting a different result. Ruh roh! That's the definition of insanity."
For once, old girl, you're right.
davincihOct 26, 2010
It seems like if Digg was behind this, they'd have come up with less obviously fake profiles to use, don't you think? But it's hard to think of anyone else who could be responsible because of the variety of domains involved.
What about some third party consulting company which takes on a bunch of different domains as clients and promises to get them dominating digg?
themachine1Oct 26, 2010
Digg's staff has very little creativity left at this point.
Closed AccountOct 26, 2010
That is why a large portion of them are getting the axe.
revelationnowOct 26, 2010
If Digg weren't behind this, they wouldn't be supressing the story from their main page and their search results. You can only hit it if you know the URL and try to submit as a story now.
revelationnowOct 26, 2010
http://digg.com/news/technology/did_digg_game_its_own_system_to_benefit_publisher_partners
revelationnowOct 26, 2010
If Digg weren't behind this, they wouldn't be supressing the story from their main page and their search results. You can only hit it if you know the URL and try to submit as a story now.Comment is buried, click here to see the rest.
atmofunkOct 26, 2010
It also seems that if they were to game their own system they would, you know, just inject the database with fake diggs rather than go to the trouble of making fake accounts. I definitely think it's a 3rd party at work here.
anomaly100Oct 26, 2010
I wondered about that too. It's possible it *could* be a third party. There are people that inflate their Diggs, so why not a company?
I'm playing devil's advocate, that's all. In no way do I find this appropriate.
Closed AccountOct 26, 2010
Right or wrong...
This is impressive the amount of information assembled on the subject.
Hats off to you ltgenpanda.
davidtcOct 26, 2010
Well Digg isn't dead yet. Some of the well known blind diggers from v3 are still going at it!
http://i.imgur.com/HzAos.png
trax852Oct 26, 2010
least we forget a1, a3, a5, d10, d11, d12, d13, d14, d15, d16, d17, d2, d4, d5, d6, d8, d9, dd1, dd13, dd14, dd15, dd16, dd17, dd18, dd19, dd2, dd20, dd21, dd23, dd26, dd27, dd28, dd3, dd30, dd33, dd34, dd35, dd36, dd37, dd38, dd39, dd4, dd41, dd42, dd43, dd45, dd46, dd47, dd5, dd6, dd7, dd8, dd9, diggerz10, diggerz11, diggerz13, diggerz14, diggerz16, diggerz17, diggerz18, diggerz19, diggerz20, diggerz21, diggerz22, diggerz23, diggerz24, diggerz25, diggerz26, diggerz27, diggerz29, diggerz30, diggerz31, diggerz32, diggerz33, diggerz34, diggerz35, diggerz36, diggerz37, diggerz38, diggerz39, diggerz40, diggerz41, diggerz42, diggerz43, diggerz44, diggerz45, diggerz46, diggerz47, diggerz5, diggerz55, diggerz6, diggerz7, diggerz8, diggerz9, s1, s10, s11, s12, s13, s14, s3, s4, s5, s6, s7, or s9
redthrowawayOct 26, 2010
Their contribution to the community is matched only by the creativity of their usernames.
ddl7Oct 26, 2010
Thanks guys, we appreciate the support.
daedoneOct 26, 2010
an impostor! ddl7 you have only made comments and no diggs! you don't match the profile :)
aetherboyOct 26, 2010
The hilarious thing is I commented in a story that made it to the front page from that mariopipereliwtfbbq site and called out the submitter who had ONLY submitted stories from that site and was obviously just trying to promote it here. They argued with me like I was the bad guy and had no idea what I was talking about....riiiight....
novenatorOct 26, 2010
Are you trying to say some smaller blog like mariopiperni.com is a "preferred publisher"? Do you honestly think they could afford something like that when they get only a couple thousand site hits per day?
ddl7Oct 26, 2010
If there is one user submitting content from the site, they're actually doing digg a service by only submitting relevant articles rather than autosubmitting them like everyone else.
davidtcOct 26, 2010
This is something that needs an explanation from Digg. By explanation I don't mean a post saying they don't know anything about it. They need to come out with a statement about how/why this is happening and what they plan on doing to stop it in the future. Is it something that is caused by the new algorithm? Is it coming from within? If it isn't from within, why are all those accounts linked to publisher sites? There is going to be many answers people are going to want answered.
The longer they keep quiet the worse it will be for them.
linds0ramaOct 26, 2010
Here here!
redsfaithfulOct 26, 2010
The sad thing is that I really want Digg to succeed, I've stuck around, I want to see it bounce back ... but it seems like we all care more than the staff at times like this.
josthellerOct 26, 2010
I've waited optimistically hoping the huge backlash would subside and things might return to normal. During that time, I have limited my comments because I didn't want to add more fuel to the V4 fire.... but honestly this might be the last straw for me. I was over digg a month ago, and now this appears to be the final nail in the coffin.
arbiincOct 26, 2010
Well done research!
swansontomOct 26, 2010
This might make v4 look like a pebble in the road.
Closed AccountOct 26, 2010
You know...a pebble in the road can crash your wagon.
daedoneOct 26, 2010
honestly guys, she actually deserves a digg on that one....
also: BRING ON THE PEBBLE PROOF WAGONS!
dvsbastardOct 26, 2010
Make it look like?! This *IS* Digg v4... All this publisher focused crap is why such a dramatic change was made in the first place!
LVSocialMediaOct 26, 2010
worth reading, but as you all should know, don't believe everything you read online... Digg may be behind it all, but until there's evidence, you cant make assumptionsComment is buried, click here to see the rest.
eudaimoneanOct 26, 2010
Right... until there's evidence? The link is to a epic post filled with evidence, complete with links to API data direct from Digg's own servers, as well as a verification video verifying the provenance of the API data that has been backed up off-Digg to prevent them from erasing all the evidence. How much more evidence do you need?
lynx44Oct 26, 2010
None of that pins it on the Digg staff. it's possible that someone was doing the work and being paid by these publishers. It's clear that gaming was happening, but there's no hard evidence that links this to the Digg staff.
thecliffbarOct 26, 2010
I'm thankful for access to this information, but the presentation is amazingly bad. If you're going to post a blog entry intended to be read by a large number of people (or anyone, really), you should make an attempt at making fewer grammatical mistakes than a 6th grader would.Comment is buried, click here to see the rest.
thecliffbarOct 26, 2010
I feel like a bit of a dick now that I read further and saw his disclaimer. I think my comment still stands, though.
langdonflynnOct 26, 2010
Re-posting davidtc because I completely agree.
This is something that needs an explanation from Digg. By explanation I don't mean a post saying they don't know anything about it. They need to come out with a statement about how/why this is happening and what they plan on doing to stop it in the future. Is it something that is caused by the new algorithm? Is it coming from within? If it isn't from within, why are all those accounts linked to publisher sites? There is going to be many answers people are going to want answered.
The longer they keep quiet the worse it will be for them.
laptopsandpartOct 26, 2010
Before I experience it myself. I wonder anything on it.
okwithitOct 26, 2010
Even if it is true, it's funny to have power users who undoubtedly earn money for pushing content onto the front page complaining about publishing partners.
Closed AccountOct 26, 2010
Exactly...genpanda is just jealous he didn't think of it first. This isn' digg doing htis. IT is probably badqat, or badwithcomputer or babyman who lost ALL their business for about 2 weeks after the relaunch and are slowly figuring out how to salvage their careers, which now is nothing but a gaping hole on an otherwise s**tty resume.Comment is buried, click here to see the rest.
talsiachOct 26, 2010
wow tons of data , well done for the research and the post. regardless which side you take in this story, i honestly believe that digg needs to invite over some digg users to save the site, i don't think there are people there that are actually real diggers and that been around long enough to understand the core elements of the community and what its all about.
grafenbergOct 26, 2010
So let's hear from some of these fake diggers! wait...
brezzzOct 26, 2010
A++++ Programed to digg again.
dd863Oct 26, 2010
Dude, we're totally real people who just happen to have similar user names. I swear.
Reddit Sucks!!
c_calienteOct 26, 2010
Do bears s**t in the woods?
iconmasterOct 26, 2010
This reads like a conspiracy theory penned by a homeless person, except it's about a web service rather than about anything of historic import.
gordigorOct 26, 2010
It really is sad, and a bit amazing, to see how far & how fast Digg has fallen. It looks like some of the doc com bubble sites lasted longer than it's takem Digg to self implode.
noupsellOct 26, 2010
f**king pathetic
Closed AccountOct 26, 2010
Why would this be Digg doing this? they could just fkae the numbers without doing this. This is simply those crappy ass sites paying users to create several accounts (very lazily and obviously I might add)
Probably a circlejerker who saw his income dry up wtih Digg v. 4 and did this as a last ditch effort to stave off unemployment.Comment is buried, click here to see the rest.
davidtcOct 26, 2010
So 15 sites or so, with nothing in common with each other besides main publisher sites on Digg, just decided to all pay the same users to do this at the same time? The same time Digg decided to change their algorithm? Don't forget with declining Digg users there are less referrals from Digg, which means less advertising money to these sites. Digg has a reason to bring these sites to the top page, that reason is the top page creates more clicks to those site. These are also the same sites everyone has been suspicious of paying Digg for the publisher feeds on V4 that brought their content to the front page with 20 diggs while a normal user needed 75+ diggs.
rtaibahOct 26, 2010
Wasn't using scripts or any automated methods a no no 2 years ago? What happened digg?
netneutralityOct 26, 2010
Bye-bye Digg. Bookmark is getting deleted this time.
linds0ramaOct 26, 2010
This is a true saga of failure.
noupsellOct 26, 2010
Someone should report to digg that digg is gaming digg
novenatorOct 26, 2010
This was one hell of a statistical investigation ltgenpanda, and you deserve a lot of props for conducting it and recording your procedures for transparency sake.
The greedy investors of Digg have put severe pressure on the Digg.com upper management staff to generate some short term profitability in my view, and both are guilty as s**t of making the most novice of mistakes that have severely damaged the site as a whole.
The conversion to v4.0 was a fiasco, and this pretty transparent attempt to push “preferred publishing partners” does not help things. Not that I don't like most of these publishers, they are all very good sites in fact, but taking the promotional side of stories away from users is a terrible idea. (*note that the v3 version of the bury was too easily gamed by the Digg "patriots" though.) One of the main strengths of Digg has always been in it's "Democracy of the internet" model, even if a lot of good submits fall through the cracks and don't make it to the front page.
ltgenpandaOct 26, 2010Submitter
Ok, now I have a very minor update, but adds as a very valuable confirmation.
http://ltgenpanda.tumblr.com/post/1404511358/second-confirmation-about-diggs-involvement
novenatorOct 26, 2010
You did an excellent job in this investigation ltgenpanda. Keeping things honest is the key to a healthy site. Thank you.
arbiincOct 26, 2010
Panda, major props to you on this massive investigation! Thank You!
subatomicdocOct 26, 2010
Thank you for the rigor you put into investigating what has been going on.
nickedynickOct 26, 2010
What can't Digg stop accounts from Digging, despite being able to ban them? That sounds like a bizarre way to set up a system to me.
daedoneOct 26, 2010
The only logic I can think of is that they want to prevent disruptive posters from derailing a comment section, but allow them the ability to still keep track of things they have viewed? like a muzzle maybe - they can come look at the pictures, but they don't get to say anything? It doesn't even really make sense on that level either, because if they are disruptive enough to justify a ban, then do you really want *any* input from them at all?
cr3ativeOct 26, 2010
I, too, salute you
kaiosamaOct 26, 2010
My assumption is that they might wait till this story dies down, and then ban you.
bboyjkangOct 26, 2010
I'll stay on digg if you become the new CEO, ltgenpanda.
kmyeOct 27, 2010
It doesn't seem likely to me, but for Devil's Advocate's sake: If they weren't aware of this gaming, wouldn't it be reasonable for them to stop it when you made them aware of it? I think the evidence in your original post is pretty suggestive, but I feel like the activity stopping soon after you talked them about it is far from a confirmation.
Edit: great work, regardless, by the way!
netchickenOct 26, 2010
As the publishers must be paying for viewers, then this is DEFRAUDING its publishers, not helping them.
lazymojoOct 26, 2010
The publishers probably only care that real humans are following the links. The fraud discussed here is mostly within Digg- that Digg employees are writing scripts to move items to the front page based on how much revenue those items generate, not user interest.
davidtcOct 26, 2010
I can see why you think that, but the publishers have their own stats from their site for pageviews from Digg. They aren't going by the Digg count. What about those people who read it and don't digg it? They still count as pageviews.
Another reason I don't think it is defrauding them is cause when the content reaches the front page, that is where the majority of the views are taking place. The publishers don't care how they get the views. They wouldn't care if they got 2,000 views on a story that got 4 diggs or 500 diggs. The digg count again means nothing. All this does is helps promote the story to the front page to get the pageviews.
trax852Oct 26, 2010
As for data being deleted and to watch for it.
I came across something last week by accident. I was going
to post/blog about it but thought it was too conspicuous
(or another C word), so stopped.
The link
http://digg.com/news/technology/Who_Would_Kick_...
Digg.com has:
Who Would Kick Ass: Digg vs. Reddit
whowouldkickass.com — You know what to do...
Submitted Jun 19, 2008 by dfltr
Which shows 6 comments and 3 diggs.
---*
Google cache which updated while I was messing with it had:
Who Would Kick Ass: Digg vs. Reddit
Made popular Jun 20, 2008
submitted by dfltr Jun 19, 2008
3100 diggs
445 Comments
The content revolved around http://www.googlefight.com/
---*
I had thought at first it was just Digg cleaning up the
message base, but the entire comment base is different.
I don't know if the submitter can do this or not.
google: Who Would Kick Ass Digg vs Reddit site:digg.com
showed and still shows there is/was only one submission.Comment is buried, click here to see the rest.
RobertHillbergOct 26, 2010
Looks like they're also stealing articles, photos and links from reddit and auto front paging it here.