Digg Rebellion or Transition?
Thursday, January 3rd, 2008Aside from this likely being another attempt to hit the front page of Digg (it’s at 25 as I write this), it brings up an interesting topic.
Essentially, Don is assuming that the dissenting comments on a Digg article about Digg are indicative of a serious movement that could potentially harm the site (in loss of traffic I assume). First this ignores the general rule on the internet that those with negative opinions are disproportionally vocal compared to those content or even extremely happy with a service/product. But let’s look more closely at the source of the angst some are having with Digg.
One of the most reoccurring complaints is that it’s moving away from its roots as a technology oriented social news site. And while there is still a core of geeky tech focused articles, I believe it’s fair to say that proportionally they are falling compared to other categories. What dictates Digg’s long term future here is dependent on what the actual cause is.
One the one hand, the audience may be relatively the same (although definitely growing) and as current issues in politics begin to die down in time things will return to normal. The threat here for Digg is that it is possible that a political burnout could drive a significant portion of once loyal users to other properties such as Reddit and Mixx. And once these users become comfortable in those new locations, will they ever care to come back as they build new social ties and loyalties away from Digg?
However, there’s a potential positive for Digg here also. The positive is for Digg as a business, not as a geek brand we all love. It could be that Digg is moving towards a more mainstream audience. As more and more people are become savvy with social systems a great pool of people may be interested in using a site like Digg. Especially if it’s covered in all the internet meme’s they love elsewhere. Digg can position itself to become a major portal of social news sites (and although it was never as strong as they wanted- something like Netscape was until this summer).
Becoming a major mainstream social news site is not without its complications. Is it even possible to appeal to such a large and diverse base while remaining socially driven? Mixx has some features that I think will help better position them for such a dynamic, but Digg is working on a recommendation engine to better filter results to users. If successful, this could allow a broader user base while maintaining niche appeal.
Ultimately, Kevin Rose faces the problem any social content driven site faces: Your audience dictates the direction of the site, and your audience might not like that direction. By having a good system (some complaints aside) and a growing brand name, an influx of new users can derail what made the site popular in the first place. The key is to rapidly adapt to both retain the original loyal base, while welcoming the new audience, and somehow keeping your brand identity the whole way.
