COMMENTS
I do not use Digg/Reddit... I directly read the postings from your website.
For me the reason is simple - I cannot see the links/icons in the RSS feeds, and I open your blog as a proper website only if I want to move on from reading it in the RSS reader, but still have your entry open in another browser tab ;)
That's my #8
I use digg and when I visit the site I occassionally digg the article. But if I just read the article in my RSS reader, the digg and reddit images dont show up so it doesnt cross my mind.
I go with #4 with a slice of all the rest. (In my opinion) there is no pavlovian mechanism for Digg, No stimulus-response-reward. You're reduced to and dependent on the mathematics of social interaction on the Internet, which from what I've read says that roughly 1% of users actively contribute content (votes, in this case) and the rest are potted plants. Given that you have 1300 semi-regular visitors you should get approx. 13 diggs per article. From what I've seen of Diggs for onstartups this is pretty accurate.
I don't vote for many articles (voting for your own is called 'astroturfing' btw, and I do it too) but I vote for yours Dharmesh. Not because I always agree with what you write, but that I think you're a decent human being who brings value and insight and took the time to converse with me.
I am, in fact, Digging the person. Food for thought: maybe you should be asking those who do Digg your stuff 'why' they Digg. Therein lies the secret of Digg superstardom.
For me, the reason i don't digg them or anything is because the articles aren't of what i'd call "bookmark quality".. they aren't something i'd ever read again. All posts on this blog are generally lists, quick reads and simple 'read and go' activities...
Another reason would be that the placement of said 'digg' and 'reddit' javascript embeds is pretty bad.. and it ruins the general appearance of the blog. One last point - why would ANYONE digg a story they haven't read yet? Think about your placement..
That's my personal opinion on the matter.
Definitely don't use digg or reddit (never heard of it either). Don't see the value of Digg, I don't want people telling me what they think I might find interesting, I can do that myself.
Nick: Point taken. It was a Saturday so I thought I'd try something different.
Will be back to our regular programming on Monday.
Thanks to everyone for their comments. Wasn't expecting it, but have some ideas of things to fix.
I don't use digg or reddit...never have. I think I visited the digg site ONE time just to see what it was...but honestly, I have way to much information to process in a given day anyway... Am I immune to the social networking phenom? I don't use delicious, reddit, digg, social networking sites, I don't blog, I read very few blogs, I don't "chat" much, I don't "network" much online...just read a few discussion boards and less than a handfull of blogs.
BTW, I would read your discussion groups a whole lot more if you would fix the "Remember Me" cookies so I don't have to log in every single time. Further, it would be great to be redirected straight to the page I was going to...after I log in...instead of the general board page. I can help you do both of these if you need it.
No disrespect intended by not "voting" it up. I don't vote anything up, since I don't use those services. There is WAY too much information to be digested, for me to think about whose content is best, or my responsibility to help an author "succeed" in blogging. I didn't even know the whole process existed. If posting content doesn't provide value in some way for the author (outside of popularity contests), they shouldn't do it. Obviously, the process seems like wasted effort to me.
> Nick: Point taken. It was a Saturday so I thought I'd try something different.
When you read bloggers who blog about blogging and link to pieces about viral linking, the whole blogosphere starts to loose perspective. There are some great writers out there, who are informative and entertaining. But what they do is probably not what business bloggers who ultimately want to sell a product should do.
Dharmesh,
In my case it was #1 for a very long time. Then i decided that let me try. When i wanted to try digg, i had to enter my e-mail id, which was again a hurdle (SPAM). But thought will give it a try and got myself registered.
Next, it is not #2. My first digg registration was for your article "Selling Technology To Small Business: 7 Insights From Top Innovators". Why did i do that? because i wanted to know more about enterprise web 2.0. which means your article was good and i wanted to read more.
In my perspective, good contents are always read and there has to be constant efforts by the author to promote their content. For example, if you vote this article i know you like this article and that way I can write more about this article and you get to read more contents of interest to you
Well...
There's no link to "digg it" on the RSS article, so the majority of your readership can't.
I don't have a digg or reddit account anyways.
I don't use digg or similar sites , could be useful for you to put a poll up for your readership to see how many use those type of services. I find I get the info I want (and plenty of it!) by googling,podcasts and blogs etc I read regularly , something like digg would lead to more yet more clicking and less time on my software!
> One last point - why would ANYONE digg a story they haven't read yet? Think about your placement..
Definitely agree with Jay's comments about the placement of the digg/reddit voters. Probably would fair better immediately after the article. Looks awkward up at the top, too, like Jay said. (And what's with the bottom of the word reddit getting cut off? Also kind of detracts [anally speaking] from the general appearance.)
my $.02
I'd vote for this:
"Only a small percentage of people actually see voting on articles as a form of contributing and helping the community"
Frankly it never occurred to me that there was any particular need for me to vote for someone's articles - or why it would/should matter to you whether I do or don't.
As per your stats above, over 2300 people read your blog posts. I think that's great, in my opinion, and were it my blog I'd be very proud of that and satisfied with that. So why is that not enough for you? Why is it so important to you that your articles get voted on at digg or reddit? Vanity? Insatiable desire for more? :-)
I'm being tongue in cheek, of course, but only half so. I honestly don't understand why this is an issue for you.
I don't digg any longer because it would automatically reduce my iq.
Have you looked at the ridiculous comments that are made on that site?
Uh, no thanks. That's a conversation that I don't want to be a part of.
I get this when I try to vote.
The domain "onstartups.com" has reached the free requests limit for the Digg Counts Feedflare service and therefore has been redirected to this ad page. In order to support the costs of providing this service and to stop this ad page from appearing (scroll to bottom for Digg link) the domain owner or a loyal fan can subscribe "onstartups.com" by registering it via Paypal:
Both #1 y #4 . I found almost always interesting your post. Sometimes I print and store to have a nice lunch/reading session. I store some articles in my own groupware software and I have you added to my favorites. Better: I am so familiar that I don´t use the Favorites, I simply type your url at least a week in search o new articles. But I seriously think that delicious+digg+reddit+rss+atom are tothgheter a little bit a sobreexposition to information overload.
I thinl all of this will be just ephemeral so I don´t care about digg it an reddit and youtube, etc.
It´s all so pervasive that i decided taht just real "thinked" content worth my time. Not social playings around.