What is Digg?76 Comments
- connieLingus, on 08/22/2008, -3/+22its not surprising that newspaper missed the boat...how many buggy whip makers survived the automobile?
- RockBandit, on 08/22/2008, -1/+17Yeah, there's just something awesome about reading a newspaper while drinking your morning coffee or riding the train in the morning. It will be sad to see this medium eventually disappear. Then again, outside of morning reading, most of the news I get is while reading RSS feeds via my mobile phone.
- I1969, on 08/22/2008, -0/+10Advertising is the main problem. The print ad salesforce doesn't know how to sell online, and many of their local customers don't know how to use online ads.
- jarjarwang, on 08/22/2008, -0/+10I hate going on a "respectable" newspaper's website (like the Chicago Trib or whatever) to read a story, and there is a comments section with 400 crazy racist trolls spouting the worst stuff they can get past the robo-censor. This is supposed to be a newspaper! What are these companies thinking?!!?
- thegamingguy, on 08/22/2008, -1/+10The newspaper is huge and clunky and mostly way behind the news, yet people still subscribe and love to hold them in their hands. In the day of corporate mergers and buyouts, there will be some newspapers that will survive their blatant early blunders... if only by name.
- Sonan, on 08/22/2008, -0/+8I've actually just recently started reading the newspaper. I was never all that interested in local happenings until my daughter became old enough to start participating in community events, so lately I've been reading the local paper for the kind of information that's not readily available anywhere online. I still get the "big" news online though.
- patience, on 08/22/2008, -3/+9Newspapers are NOT dead. 90% of stories on digg link to NY Times and
other newspaper. Even bloggers get their stories from newspapers.
The day when 1 can get twenty reasonably researched, grammatically
correct stories from a blog 5 days in a row, then newspapers will die.
Till then, they will be here but adapt (become leaner). - MazdaEric, on 08/22/2008, -2/+8I graduated from college with a BA in journalism, spent the entire summer looking for a job at a newspaper anywhere in New Jersey. I was hired by one in September, and two weeks alter the section of the paper I was hired to work on folded due to budget cuts and I was the first to me let go. The future is NOW folks - and it's all on a screen :)
- theneocity, on 08/22/2008, -0/+5I prefer online anyday as I believe i get all the materials which I get in their print edition. Its all about convenience. RockBandit is right in saying that- the experience of reading a newspaper while drinking tea/coffee cannot be beaten, but in todays world is impossible to have that pleasure. Weekdays - Impossible & weekends- i am too tired to get up in the morning (hangover) after nights booze.
- inactive, on 08/22/2008, -0/+5***** it. We'll do it online!
- roxgod666, on 08/22/2008, -0/+5its a lot harder holding a laptop while taking a *****
- otbeverly, on 08/22/2008, -0/+4Yup, as someone working in print at this very second and seeing the layoffs going on everywhere else (Gannett, etc.) and the cutbacks around here (Advance), the effects of the Web and faltering economy are dramatic. However, much of the Web problems are due to bureaucracy and top down edicts such, "let's do this and put it on the Web" ... then trying to do it with no planning and little coordination between the newsroom and Web developers. There's also the problem with older editors being somewhat behind the curve on trends ... we had to sit through a search engine optimization seminar last week. Come on! Search engine optimization? That tactic is so three years ago.
- jordanisj, on 08/22/2008, -0/+4Only the ones who recognized a very... exciting new market.
- peestandingup, on 08/22/2008, -2/+6A. The newspaper is inefficient.
B. Its wasteful.
C. Its slow - noen, on 08/23/2008, -0/+4Craigslist killed the newspapers.
- Sonan, on 08/23/2008, -0/+3That's great for localities that are big enough to actually have online feeds like that, but I was talking about extremely local, small-town stuff. Like how my daughter's friends' cookies won in the local 4H cooking contest. I don't think I'm going to find that on Google News anytime soon... ;)
- ArchieAndrews, on 08/22/2008, -2/+5haha, your medium is dying. - Nelson
- LeeSoong, on 08/23/2008, -1/+4#6:
Posting articles with no 'talk back' or comment section.
This is usually because they are once again promoting half-truths and out right lies -
they don't want a dialog, they want to tell you what to think.
Digg, and interactive sites are the future of print media. - stix213, on 08/22/2008, -0/+3Lately most Digg stories seem to link to huffingtonpost, thinkgreen, or any other left wing propaganda site.
- bubba9999, on 08/22/2008, -0/+3I agree with this partially - the newspaper is a day behind headline news. The strength of newspapers is in details. Online news doesn't get into depth as much as good newspapers typically do. Most online news sources have the same handful of paragraphs of coverage - I always seem to see more detail in the newspaper.
Another strength of newspapers is in breadth of coverage. I see articles in newspapers that I do not see online. Maybe I'm not looking in the right places, but I've noticed that online news sources cover the same handful of headline news stories, add a handful of weird interest stories for color, and have a couple of venue-only stories that distinguish one site from another. Between those categories are a ton of stories that get missed - many of which are picked up and included in the newspaper.
Don't believe me? Pick up a single issue of any "real" newspaper and take a look and compare the hour that you spend reading it with an hour of online news.
The trick, of course, is translating that type of coverage into an online sustainable business model. If I could get that type of depth and breadth of coverage combined with the timeliness of online news, I would be a happy boy. - longchamp, on 08/22/2008, -2/+56. The NY times makes you login and register just to read a ***** article.
- cadmiumpaint, on 08/22/2008, -4/+6Print isn't dead. They said painting was dead when photography was invented. They said film was dead when they invented video (and now digital).... print will just evolve. It will no longer be dominant but it will exist. Newspapers and magazines will have to move away from breaking news and focus more on in depth stories.
The Internet also lacks credibility. There are too may blogs and fake news sites that report rumor and speculation as fact....see most of the stuff on digg that's considered news. How many times do you see headlines that have the words "official" or "confirmed" in it, only to find out its just something a guy in his mom's basement made up and posted on his blog. Its rare you see postings from sources with journalistic credibility on digg.
The internet as a whole has some credible sources and blogs, but its hard to find them among all the crap.
interfaces are nice. The Internet is cool, but they have limitations. There isn't a mobile device that can beat the size, portability and cheap cost of a newspaper or magazine. - cadmiumpaint, on 08/22/2008, -0/+2online ads are an annoyance. the only way to really deal with them is adblockers
hence the problem. - gfh10h, on 08/22/2008, -0/+2touche salesman.
- lhbaker, on 08/22/2008, -0/+2One of the biggest obstacles faced by newspapers centers around a conflict of interest relating to classifieds. As much as the papers wanted to be on-line, they risk scooping their own morning edition by putting stories up the day before, when the event actually occurred.
Newspapers make a great deal of revenue on classified ads, especially Sunday. Circulation is generally measured in Sunday papers, and print ads are priced based on circulation. This is why it's easy to get Sunday papers for free. If a paper make itself irrelevant by providing up-to-date news on its website, Sunday circulation tanks and ad value drops. - failedpimp, on 08/22/2008, -1/+3The future of newspapers is that they will become more localized. They can only survive by reporting on news specific to one community. This will be the only place to get this news, therefore local is the way to go.
- nepidae, on 08/22/2008, -0/+2Maybe ewe where fired four baking tons of typos that aren't cough buy the swell checker.
- bubba9999, on 08/22/2008, -0/+2This was a really interesting and well written article - well worth reading.
- whatthefu, on 08/22/2008, -0/+2Newspapers consistently provide quality content and top-notch reporting every single day. Internet news is usually provided by newspaper websites, cable news websites, and blogs. Cable news websites and blogs are more like magazines if you ask me, and blogs can be especially biased without any repercussion.
- jmpeagle, on 08/22/2008, -0/+2the only form of news I still recieve in print form is The Economist. I like being able to carry it around with me and read it whereever instead of lugging around my laptop. Large papers such as the WashPost and NYTimes are too cumbersome to carry around given the size they open up to and always making sure you fold it all right back up so it doesn't bulge.
- inactive, on 08/23/2008, -0/+2"I was the first to me let go"...
no wonder they let you go ;p - whatthefu, on 08/22/2008, -0/+2Have you been to YouTube? All major news websites? Blogs? This is the internet, sites can't just scan all the comments in each story and delete the offensive ones.
- inactive, on 08/23/2008, -0/+2totally agree with you
- Sawta, on 08/23/2008, -0/+2As long as people are not held responsible for what they say on the internet, news from online sources will likely never be taken completely seriously.
Sure, there are one or two sites that are usually right, or close, but I tend to wait for confirmation from an alternate location (that isn't just blog spam leading to the same article).
It wouldn't surprise me too much if newspapers have a fighting chance in the coming generations when you take into account the quickly shrinking about of gas available to the world, which is then used to create plastics, which is then used to create computers. I'm not saying that it will make a "huge" difference, since people can recycle and what have you, but I can easily see people avoiding buying new media devices when they are asked to conserve plastics more. - Ben174, on 08/22/2008, -1/+390%? Really?
- Br3ach, on 08/22/2008, -1/+3Newspapers are in the same boat as phone books, music, movies etc. It all comes down to the fact that before the Internet, they had total control over distribution.
Now papers are struggling to keep up with the blogoshere and the 1000s of ways you can get your news online. Soon they will disappear in to irrelevance as an outdated medium, just as CDs and other things are.
They all must adapt, or die - otbeverly, on 08/22/2008, -0/+2Sadly, my newspaper's Web site still looks a lot like that New Century Networks site they list as an example. Of the nine companies that started the endeavour, I think I know which one inherited it in the end. (and they like their Web sites to say 'Live' at the end).
- chrism1128, on 08/23/2008, -0/+1I think the real reason that Knight Ridder had all of those failures was that David Hasselhoff left the show for Baywatch.
- Moggamonstar, on 08/23/2008, -0/+1I on the other hand like those crazy racist trolls. Could you kind fellows direct me to those newspaper sites? I've been looking for a home ever since Yahoo! took down the links where you could "discuss" the article.
- DestroyFascism, on 08/23/2008, -1/+2New York Times...Please log in to read this article..
No STFU! - musclebuilding, on 08/23/2008, -0/+1Great Posting
- robbiedo, on 08/23/2008, -0/+1I have seen the future. If you squint real hard and open your mind, all the pieces are in the Amazon Kindle. I have have the Sony Reader because i just like the ergos better, but the Kindle and it's ilk are the future. E-Ink displays with need to improve greatly, but the screen anchoring the rest of the technology is "it"
- inactive, on 08/23/2008, -0/+1And 90% of digg users surf headlines without RTFA (see, I can make up numbers too). Of the ones who do actually click back to the New York Times and other papers, how many participate in the business model by clicking an advertising link, or purchasing something ad-driven? You're missing the point that when these credible news sources can no longer fund their expensive production values, you won't have those linkbacks to click on from digg.
- inactive, on 08/23/2008, -0/+1a valleywag article... oh brother
- cadmiumpaint, on 08/23/2008, -0/+1agreed.....
not to mention all the LCD and silicon for chips. That stuff isn't that green.
i attended a design sustainability conference and they were like
have no fear corn and soy based plastics will save the day right!?!?! not quite...
well where is all that corn and soy gonna come from? you'd need to cover every square inch of farmable land with soy and corn just to almost meet demand.
the consensus was that all plastic all digital isn't the answer. Paper is still more sustainable in a lot of ways. - jnordb, on 08/22/2008, -0/+1Don't forget crosswords.....it's hard to wipe the ink marks off your monitor, but you can just toss a used paper in the recycling bin.
- Sawta, on 08/23/2008, -1/+2Awesome to hear that someone's gone to the trouble of calculating precisely how many stories come from those sites rather than just pulling it out of their ass.
- inactive, on 08/23/2008, -0/+1ahahahahah
thank you for that! - CrushThemTorg, on 08/23/2008, -0/+1***** the RIAA ... err AP!
- Macskeeball, on 08/23/2008, -0/+1Google News has an actual Local news feature now. Google News can also be customized as far as what categories of news you see and how many articles each category gets. Then, you can subscribe to an RSS feed of your customized Google News. Due to those features, and also because it gets news from a very large number of sources in an automated manner (which helps me avoid getting the same biases constantly), I've really come to like it.
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