DISQUS

Erika · 2 years ago

Tamar- this is a great read. I am glad you thought it through! ;-)

Ask Guy · 2 years ago

Thanks Tamar, this was very interesting. I think I am one of the few people left who would rather read something than watch the video :)

Tamar Weinberg · 2 years ago

Hey Ask Guy --

I actually agree with you -- there's a lot more flexibility in reading than there is in watching a video. I blogged about desiring to read rather than watch elsewhere too. :)

Taylor · 2 years ago

Interesting analysis.
While I disagree with you and Neil about the eventual demise of digg, I wanted to speculate about Digg's creators obligation to accomodate users and address user's concerns.
Are they really obligated, per se?
I am not sure they are... it's their site, they are turning a significant profit; techy geek people will always be around. What do you think?

Tamar Weinberg · 2 years ago

Neil didn't really speculate the "demise" of Digg -- that was mostly me, though I don't think I'd be using the word "demise" for it. The speculation from them was more about Digg and its competitors going into different verticals, which seems to be a natural path. If SEO articles, for example, are being disallowed on Digg, there should be an alternative site where they are welcome, don't you think?

I would say that it is their site, but if they want to keep their users happy, the most important thing that they need to do is LISTEN. We see MyBlogLog founders commenting on this blog all the time in terms of issues and how they can be improved. Now that's good customer service. Digg might think they're getting better, but you can always take one step forward and two steps backwards -- and that's where I think they may end up failing.

Taylor · 2 years ago

I agree about SEO articles.
Perhaps digg has its niche, and as this form of media becomes more mainstream, their marketshare will decrease.
Luckily the guys behind digg are the type to listen to their users, and I'm excited to see what comes up in 2007.

Tamar Weinberg · 2 years ago

I guess that I end up saying "to each his own" in terms of how they do "listen" to their users. A lot of folks are a little disgruntled by Digg's stance on banning submissions from whole domains -- and their staff has not fully addressed that to all users' satisfaction.

As referenced in the above article, we've covered a bit of that before, and I haven't seen any change with how this issue is handled, nor have I seen any Digg staffers reply to these particular concerns. I'm sure a few people would appreciate a more personal reaction from Digg, that's for sure. I guess at this point the priority is money rather than user satisfaction. But perhaps I am wrong; I just haven't been convinced otherwise.

I've also emailed Digg in the past and the replies I have received have left a bitter taste in my mouth. Even writing "thanks for using Digg" would make me appreciate the service more. But I don't see that. I personally barely use it anymore. Digg allows the community to have too strong a bias (which is fine in some instances) yet it doesn't address major flaws with this system. A staff that oversees abuse should actually do something in terms of addressing that abuse.

Then again, that's just me. And I know I'm not alone -- but I'm probably not in the majority either.