What is Digg?94 Comments
- Mizzike, on 03/13/2008, -0/+98This is actually an interesting case study: This same exact story (http://digg.com/software/Hold_the_front_page) was submitted by linmhall (http://digg.com/users/linmhall) 5 days ago (3/8/08) and received a grand total of 6 diggs including the submitter of this one, dburka. Reason: linmhall has no friends here and has done virtually nothing on digg since he joined in late 2006. Yet, even though he submits an article that proves it can get diggs, and it doesn't get them, something interesting happens.
When the original submission didn't gain much traction, dburka resubmitted it as his own story, then Kevin Rose dugg it, sent a shout out to 64 recipients, and as of right now the digg count is at 30 and climbing as I type this.
So really, it doesn't matter how good my story is... if I don't have a massive friends network on Digg, chances are my story won't make it to the top. Understand that this could have been submitted at 3AM, but that wouldn't change the outcome of the digg count if it's submitted by the right person (i.e., MrBabyMan, msaleem, Kevin Rose, etc.); if your friends all see what you're digging and they digg it too, you've got yourself a popular story.
It truly is all about the network, and not so much about the content. - MyDiggIsBig, on 03/13/2008, -1/+49i think there should be some pyschologists studying Digg's comments.
- spinchange, on 03/13/2008, -1/+38Why is this bad for HP investors?? (More was probably spent on a singular executive golf outing than was on this research)
In spite of all that, I see this research as just another validation of digg's social news experiment. A lot of folks have been dismissing the notion that Google or MS would even be interested in digg. This shows to me, that at least some level, HP is.
...and you thought it was all just top ten lists ;-P - inactive, on 03/13/2008, -0/+30Oh fancy that. I too work for HP, and I spend hours at the office "researching" Digg. ;)
- lpmiller, on 03/13/2008, -5/+33and that's how things with 50 diggs hit the front page. Speed of diggs. Can we stop asking this question now?
- Mizzike, on 03/13/2008, -9/+28Very insightful article. Kevin, you should send them a thank-you note for the free research. ;-) Thanks for submitting that one, Daniel.
- inactive, on 03/13/2008, -3/+21How about cheaper printer ink HP....... Its almost cheaper to buy the 30 dollar lexmark that comes with ink, use up the ink and throw away the printer. It comes with a color and black cartridge. The cost of which is about 40 + dollars.
- sfcitybootcamp, on 03/13/2008, -16/+34Great for Digg... awful for HP investors. Are they really spending their time analyzing Digg's front door? Seems like they should spend time analyzing their brutally slow processors
- NuchDog, on 03/13/2008, -1/+18The half-life is 69 minutes?!? Way to go Digg!
- jmpeagle, on 03/13/2008, -0/+16also depends on the category it was submitted under
- nahsrocketeer75, on 03/13/2008, -0/+15Interesting research. But, it wasn't clear from the article whether (or to what degree) the researchers accounted for such important Digg variables as "friends" and "buries." Seems to me they would play a key role in determining the relative values of novelty and popularity.
- skoobisnaxs, on 03/13/2008, -0/+13HP makes processors now? Maybe for printers....but probably not.
- jemka, on 03/13/2008, -2/+14Buried for inaccurate. These guys just called it research when they got caught spending 90% of their work day on digg. "Oh, this is just research."
- Elias1, on 03/13/2008, -0/+10Here is a link to the full research paper:
http://www.hpl.hp.com/research/idl/papers/novelty/ ... (PDF) - ileftfark, on 03/13/2008, -0/+9I gave up a long time ago.
- Sidonas, on 03/13/2008, -0/+9Now he's one of us.
- canewediggit, on 03/13/2008, -1/+9actually, it had only received 2 diggs. the other 4 came after a submission from a blog about the economist article, http://digg.com/tech_news/The_Economist_Talks_Digg ...
but yeah, it's not about quality, it's about your personal network and 'marketing'. which is why it's pointless to spend time on the front page if you're using digg for more than 10 minutes a day. - SkippyDoorknob, on 03/13/2008, -2/+10And thanks a million for the follow-up comment! A real bang-up job! Kudos!
- emalen, on 03/13/2008, -0/+7Of course, a good title also has a lot to do with it. "Hold the front page" is boring, unclear, and certainly not provocative whereas this submission mentions HP, Digg, and research - all buzz words that might interest Digg users.
- JoshuaLowe, on 03/13/2008, -2/+9They could have saved themselves a lot of time. If MrBabyMan submitted it or if it's XKCD, it will be on the front page.
- jmpeagle, on 03/13/2008, -0/+5they seem to be very good at research and development judging by their stock price over the last 3 years
http://bigcharts.marketwatch.com/quickchart/quickc ... - masterm1nd, on 03/13/2008, -1/+6And the diversity of the diggers. Meaning 5 friends who digg the same story has less weight than 5 independent diggs.
- kpwells, on 03/13/2008, -1/+6Half Life? of 69 minutes? on Digg? This is just too perfect...
- spinchange, on 03/13/2008, -1/+6Friends are what gets a story to the top of the upcoming queue and give it a chance to be seen. Their influence really only carries it that far (which is the whole point, obviously, for most submitters - but not really the point of this research)
Once a story is on the homepage- I think quality really is put to the test because the will of the entire site is larger than any one group, even the most loyal users.
How about letting old stories (out-of-the queue) be able to go popular with enough votes -or- some kind of duplicate aggregation/link display in a stories description so you could vote on the best one? - inactive, on 03/13/2008, -0/+4I only have 8 friends, and one of my stories I've submitted actually got to the front page with about 1200 diggs. So it IS possible...just rare, and more difficult. It's interesting that simply having popular submissions gives more weight to someone being a "top user" than contributing via comments....
- inactive, on 03/13/2008, -0/+4Everybody knows there are no girls on the internet. Just pictures, videos and your occasional trap.
- inactive, on 03/13/2008, -0/+4printers are good.
- jakswa, on 03/13/2008, -0/+4that's all i took away from that whole article... 69.
- Mizzike, on 03/13/2008, -2/+6Namco: sorry I beat you to the punch. It must frustrate you, given you have more comments submitted than you do stories dugg. I'll give you a head-start next time. Promise. =)
- CasaMan, on 03/13/2008, -0/+4i am pretty sure that "dburka" is Daniel Burka the creative director at digg.com..It's obvious that that might have helped people noticing this story..
- rupprupp29, on 03/13/2008, -0/+4"The idea of this self-styled 'digital media democracy' is that any registered user can submit a story he has found on the internet."
^ Anyone else find it funny that it doesn't say 'he OR SHE'? - MyDiggIsBig, on 03/13/2008, -1/+4holy hell. i will never buy a lexmark again.i got one free with my laptop and the piece of ***** eats and ***** ink. it lasts for 40 B/W prints and its done. The only reason i haven't taken it out to a field and beaten the ***** out of it with a baseball bat is because i sometimes use the built in scanner. pray to god the scanner doesn't break lexmark. pray. you scrotum scratching dick sucker.
- Mizzike, on 03/13/2008, -0/+3Great point. I used to be puzzled when I'd submit a story and it immediately got a digg. I thought to myself, "how could someone have read that story THAT FAST?" Then I looked at the profile and sure enough, the person's basically just digging the headlines, not reading the stories. I guess I'm one of those diggers that actually reads the content before he diggs it. I still love digg, though--I'm not a player hater ;-)
- inactive, on 03/13/2008, -0/+3There are three different types of people frequenting Digg. You have submitters, diggers of submitters and readers/conversationalists.
A readers/conversationalist would never say that it is pointless to stay on the front page for more than 10 minutes a day. That is all they may do, or they may hover in a category.
For submitters and diggers of those who submit stories: It is pointless to think that those digging stories to the front page stay on the front page for more than 10 minutes a day. Just go look at MrBabyMan or msaleem friend list. Their friends digg from 300 to 600 stories in 48 hours....they do not hang on the front page at all. They are going through the activity of their friends and digging their stories without reading any or very few of them. You rarely read a post from MrBabyMan, msaleem or any of their digger friends. - Accolade1, on 03/13/2008, -0/+3*Responds with a working HP laptop*
- sockpuppets, on 03/13/2008, -3/+6Get a room you three.
- inactive, on 03/13/2008, -3/+6digg is the culmination of internet democracy.
- JJcollection, on 03/13/2008, -0/+2Very interesting, but what about the thing digg really is about now? I think it is nearly impossible to hit the front page just by submitting a (interesting, great, whatever just a good) article, image or video. I think they forgot some factors... didn't they? The concept of digg is still great though... ;)
- mookieXL, on 03/13/2008, -0/+2You're correct!!!
- kickme2004, on 03/13/2008, -0/+2Dr.Huberman is 2 managers away from CEO Mark Hurd. Pretty smart Fellow.
- Rotzooi, on 03/13/2008, -0/+2You forgot the, MWUAH-HAHAH-HAAH!!!!!
- inactive, on 03/14/2008, -0/+2That's a really good idea. It's a shame that it got dugg after I got fired :(
- theaceoffire, on 03/13/2008, -0/+2Pretty sure its the first one.
- asaone, on 03/14/2008, -0/+2In my youth I was told many times "They should study you boy" Congratulations Kevin and the Digg team :-) Of course in my case I think they meant it for a different reason, lol
- synyster, on 03/13/2008, -0/+1let's not to forget the HP brown sauce!
- synyster, on 03/13/2008, -0/+1those guys probably caught on browsing digg everyday, and then using the name of research to cover up
but their HP brown sauce is delicious :) - inactive, on 03/13/2008, -0/+1I'm sorry, I didn't know you were banned to use the digg buttons.
- dreesemonkey, on 03/14/2008, -0/+1I'd call it wisdom of the herd.
Obama good (+43235435 diggs), Hillary lying (+3439939393 diggs), I'm being oppressed by my government (+32435534944), Join me in my anti-war sitting on digg and drinking soda campaign, We're totally doing good! (+9999e9999 diggs), xkcd pretentious ***** comic lawls (+100101111010101001 diggs), Cop taser a bald eagle, should they be water boarded? (+23432435353 diggs) - karolisonline, on 03/14/2008, -0/+169 minutes, what an irony
- MyDiggIsBig, on 03/13/2008, -0/+1what can i say. i am disturbed. its my penis reference day. tomorrow will be poo and pee day
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