Disqus - Latest Comments for Stephen

Re: How to handle getting buried on Digg

Stephen — Mon, 08 Jan 2007 03:20:20 -0000

I don't think my 'most buried comments' list is very accurate anymore, though I am pretty sure this is the most buried comment. There was another one on a story about James Kim that is probably pretty close.

The interesting thing is that a comment with that amount of - diggs gets way more attention than a comment with + diggs. Odd. :)

Re: 10 Suggestions to Improve Digg

Stephen — Wed, 15 Nov 2006 15:46:25 -0000

With regard to upcoming stories, it is possible to sort the upcoming stories by most popular rather than newest. I find that that is an easy way to see what the hottest upcoming news it at that moment.

Hopefully that is of some help. :)

Re: Confessions and Reflections of a [Former] Digg Addict

Stephen — Fri, 09 May 2008 12:57:14 -0000

I think this quest for fame and the top users list has an effect on about 200 people. Digg has taken away the official top users list and has evened out the algorithm to curb "friendly" digging groups. I don't think the problem is Digg, I think the problem is the mindset of the people that submit for the glory of getting to the top of some list.

People seem to think that a story they think should be on the frontpage always deserves to be there, and that is wrong. If a story is submitted and the digg community thinks it is interesting enough it will get to the homepage. If not, better luck next time.

It is unfair to deem the algo changes as penalties. Sure they might look that way to a few people, but for me, I'm glad I don't have to see all of the stories a group of 50 "friends" submit and digg to the homepage.

Also, in my experience, I have seen that it is always the people who's stories aren't hitting the homepage that say the quality of the submissions are decreasing. If you ask the people whose submissions are making it there, they would obviously say that the quality is increasing.

my 2 cents

Re: Confessions and Reflections of a [Former] Digg Addict

Stephen — Fri, 09 May 2008 13:29:10 -0000

"Its just not the same Digg as before."

Just because you aren't finding the same value as before doesn't inherently mean that the quality went down. When digg first began, it was mainly tech focused, so when it expanded "the quality went down" for some people, but it increased for others.

"You can make that argument, but if 50 people..."

You know that it isn't the number of people that matters most in these situations. When that 50 people first dugg a story to the fp, they represented a cross section of digg. After they get 50 stories to the frontpage, they are no longer a random group of diggers, so the algorithm kicks in and requires more diggs.

Re: Confessions and Reflections of a [Former] Digg Addict

Stephen — Fri, 09 May 2008 14:12:14 -0000

"I mean, really, why do stories like this get frontpaged?"

Yes, it's true, not every story that hits the homepage is interesting to everyone. In those instances, either bypass the lame story and move on or bury it.

"except that its still a bit flawed..."

Sure, it is true that some members submit content that you find more interesting or diggable more often. I'm not arguing against that. I'm just saying that once you have found memberXYZ and enjoy their posts, simply enjoy their posts and digg them if you so choose. Once you do that, your job as a digger is done. Someone who is digging something shouldn't act as if they have some sort of vested interest in that post. Just digg the story you like, share it with friend if you think they'd like it, comment, and move on.

Re: Confessions and Reflections of a [Former] Digg Addict

Stephen — Fri, 09 May 2008 16:49:24 -0000

@tamar
"but there are people who feel its a lot more than that."

I guess I have a hard time seeing how other people making getting to the homepage a competition is digg's problem. Perhaps those people can just not visit the 3rd party top users list? Problem solved.

Just to be sure I am debating the correct issue. Is the only problem the fact that they make scraping the data possible?

@kevin
"You cant tell me that anyone can go out and start an account submit something that is front page worthy and have it magically get there because they community will see the value in it."

That's exactly what digg's algorithm is designed to counteract. The reason why some posts take 150 diggs to get to the homepage is because those users have been counting on their "base" for diggs instead of relying on the community. Are you a fan of the algorithm or not?