Tired of the never changing, dead wood laden most viewed OS feed, I have been playing with Digg and reddit for two weeks now.
I am far from an expert, but here are some things I have learned.
Summary for those in a hurry:
Digg is an awful lot like Open Salon. It takes time, networking, reciprocal diggs and comments to be successful there. Making something popular is a strange alchemy of time since the digg was started, the topic area the digg starts in, the number of diggs, and the number of comments.
In contrast if you are lazy and want potentially tens of thousands of hits without bothering to build a network, reddit is your site.On reddit clever titles rule the day and it takes only a handful of up arrows to launch your article onto the front page. Success there is easier, but if the content is not worthy, reddit folk are sharp and will quickly down arrow you to oblivion. It is a meritocracy and the people will speak.
I submitted Patrick Hahn's War On Food post and watched reddit bring in over 30,000 hits in less than 24 hours. I watched Digg bring in over 10,000 hits in less than 24 hours to Dr. Loo's post Obama: Gitmo Prisoners Aren't "Persons" which a power digger in my network submitted and made popular.
If you want more attention for your stuff, these sites will bring it in if you learn to use them correctly.
Both Digg and reddit have very quick processes for registering an account.
Take the time to toss a photo up on Digg. Diggers are like OSers in that they are prejudiced against gray ghosts.
I leave both Digg and reddit open in tabs and as I crawl around the web, it has become second nature to digg and reddit things I find.
Often the non-OS items I digg and reddit have already been submitted which is good because I don't want to submit too much stuff to either system.
When you are submitting to Digg and reddit, you are selling the content. The title is key in both.
Try to make the article/photo/video sound like something people will want to read/see/watch. You are not doing the author/photographer/videographer any favors if you submit their stuff and screw the pooch with your title and in the case of Digg, put together a yawn inducing write up paragraph.
If you don't think you are doing the content justice, don't submit it.
In both Digg and reddit comments there help the content along. So if you can think of something to say, take the time to comment.
You can up arrow or bury other people's comments on both sites, but you shouldn't be a dick about it.
Good comments will lead to people following you on Digg much like on OS.
Unlike OS, the comment threads on Digg and reddit allow replies and make more sense as a consequence than the comment threads here.
On Digg when you are just starting off, it is unlikely your stuff will become popular. There will always be the post that takes off like lightning, but for the most part getting other people to digg you takes a network.
The goal of digg is to make your submission "popular" and reap the views popularity brings.
Making something popular earns it time on Digg's front page which can result in tens of thousands of hits. If OSers band together on Digg to form a swarm, we could be very effective in making things popular.
As a general rule, the faster a submission get diggs the fewer diggs it takes to make it popular. For example, I have seen submissions that grab up fifty or sixty diggs in an hour or so catapult to the front page. If your submission can get a hundred diggs in less than eight hours it has a good chance of being popular. This means having a network of people who will digg for you.So build that Digg network.
Feel free to mine my digg profile friends list for familiar OS faces. I have found about 50 OSers on digg so far.
Once you have a network, one of the ways you get your network of Digg friends to digg your submisions is to "share" it by "shouting." This is basically content whoring. You pretty much have to do it or you will get no traction on digg. This is all about getting attention for stuff so don't be shy.So once you have submitted something, share it. (You will see the share arrow in light red green under your submission. Click it. A window will pop up and those in your network willing to get your shouts will be displayed. Click on the people you want to know about your submission, etc, etc)
Some diggers like to shout (alot). One of the first things I did was change my profile preferences so that I was not emailed every time some one shouts me on digg. If you don't want your inbox clogged up, I recommend you do the same.
But to keep up with the shouts from my network, I check digg ever so often and digg the stuff people shout me. I do this so they will digg my stuff in turn. Digg requires this reciprocal digging. No man is an island on digg.
Reddit does not require the networking shuffle and is easier to use to get stuff noticed in a quick manner.
But the title is beyond key on reddit since this is all that is displayed. Digg limits you to sixty characters, but reddit will allow easily double that.
You can follow people on reddit and communicate with your friends there, but it is not as easy as an interface as digg. Deliberately so.
So that makes the title very, very important as your reddit submission will rise and fall on the quality of your clever snark.
You are limited to 200 diggs in 24 hours. I have yet to run into a limit on my arrowing on reddit.
Users on Digg and reddit have low tolerance for other users who over submit and in the case of digg over shout. So much like on OS, don't go overboard.
If you are going to use redit and digg, you should take the time to explore the sites. Read the FAQ. Check out the various tabs.
You will be rewarded for your curiosity. Both reddit and digg have taken me down rabbit holes I would not have found other wise.
With the media spinning as fast as they can and burying stories, reddit and digg help bring interesting news to the fore.
If you decide you don't want to spend the time to build a digg network or come up with creative titles on reddit and just want to help OSers out by digging and up arrowing their submissions, the easiest way to do this is by running a search on both sites for "open salon" and sorting for the newest submissions.
That search on digg will take you here.
That search on reddit will take you here.
You can very quickly go down these pages and digg/up arrow efficiently. If you click the above links and check out the pages, you will see what I mean.
If you have specific questions, leave them in the comments and I will do what I can for you.
First edit - How to submit content:
You can easily submit content two ways. One is from the main page of digg or reddit. Each has a link. On digg it is up at the very top of the page to the right of your login id and friend's activity counter. For reddit it is on the right hand side and says clearly submit link.
(There is also a self reddit link below the content submission link on reddit. You can use the self reddit to ask reddit users questions or make declarations.)
The second way to submit is from the page of the content. Most web pages have a share bar somewhere. On OS it is located to the right of the ratings and flags. If you look, you will see the reddit critter and the digg shovel dude. If you click on them, you will be taken to a submission page.
Second Edit - following friends:
Once you have friends on reddit and digg, there are ways to follow them through their history to insure you don't miss any of their submissions or just because you feel like being a freak online.
Digg offeres more options than reddit, so I'll deal with it first.
You can track all of your friends by clicking on the friend's activity link up by your log in ID. Once there, you can sort by submissions, comments, or diggs. Look to the right hand side and you will see the links to do it.
If you want to see what one particular friend has been up to, click to their home profile page which you can find by sorting through your friends list or by clicking on link at any of their submissions, shouts, or comments. Once at their home page, just click their history tab and all will be revealed.
It isn't so easy to find or communicate with people on reddit, but once you have found someone and made them your friend you will be able to locate them pretty quickly by going to your preferences and then your friend page.
One things I discovered today is that if you are mutual friends on reddit you can access the other person's up and down arrow decisions.
Digg/Reddit Porn:
Gratuitous Nudity (The images that popped up when I searched for digg, reddit, and nude):
Comments
MOnte
Hip...hip...HOORAY....!!!
at first digg felt a little like walking into a huge box store and trying to find a nail clipper....but it is getting easier to find my way around and your explanation in the post helps too. thanks!
Thank you for the great post.
Bookmarked, of course and Zuma Pick! (for what that's worth).
I'm too cowardly to blog call girl on a daily basis, so I'll have to work at it. I just set up a digg account today.
I think a lot of people here want to be read and have no clue how somethings get 30 thousand reads... now I have a clue.
I joined them both. What that means I have no idea... but at least now when I read something I feel deserves more attention I can hit those buttons.
Rated
I registered for digg, but I had to use my first and last name (like I use here on OS) with no space in between names. I searched to see who had the audacity (or bad judgment) to use my proper name and a few things that had been dugg (digged) from my newspaper days appeared. My question is whether there is a way to reconcile the two so that I can be me. Does it matter that my OS name and digg name are not the same, though darn similar?
I also received an e-mail that a couple OSers (I think you're one of them) had made me a digg favorite. I can't figure out which name that is under, and whether it's with my old newspaper content or my other stuff (which I've not digged). This I will now have to figure out.
Again, thanks for the info. And if you can answer my questions, I'd be much obliged.
Ok. So I gave up on Digg and Reddit. I'll try again with this great tutorial.
http://digg.com/educational/Now_that_you_ve_Reddit_Do_You_Diggit_w_gratuitous_nudity
Maria Stewart, I am unclear if you think someone is impersonating you on Digg or if someone just has the same name as you there. While Stewart is not like Smith, it is fairly common. The thing with Digg and Reddit is that anyone can submit anything to either system. It doesn't matter who wrote it. If it has a link on the web, it can be dugg or reddit. What it comes down to is who submits it and promotes it best. Diggers and reddit users get pissed when people duplicate submissions, so it is best not to do that. From what you wrote, it sounds like people have been submitting your stuff for years which is flattering. They think your writing is something other people should read. If this doesn't answer things, drop me an email.
People do use other names on digg and reddit, but I have managed to flush out many of you because you submitted OS content or dugg OS content or commented on OS content in reddit.
Digg records your content diggs and makes that viewable by others. Reddit only displays your submissions and comments, not your up and down arrows.
Like Monte wrote, Digg can take time if you want to be a power digger. I don't think most people here want to be power diggers. Digg and reddit can also take time because you will be exposed to all sorts of interesting content which you will read or view and there goes the time.
Such is the danger of the internet.
BTW, for those who haven't yet (or just recently) signed up with Digg - BBE is quite an established hunter. I have the shouts to prove it.
Keep up the good work. Oh, and the gratuitous nudity.
Monkey fingered.
But seriously - thanks.
Dugg, rated, etc.
If OS folk get in the habit of using the two links up in the post to easily up arrow and digg content, we could permanently retake the feed from the pit bull Spam post.
So be shameless.
At the moment I'm getting loads of shouts every day from someone called Sanali about Indian cricket and mobile phones. Feels like spam.
What to do?
The Digg cricket spammer is able to shout you because you either friended them or you have your shout settings set so "anyone" can shout you.
If you friended this person, but are tired of their shouts you need to just unfriend them. Click on their profile and then click the unfriend button and you will be free of them.
If they are not your friend, but can still send shouts you need to go to the "settings" tab which you will see on your home page and change your shout preference so only friends like me can spam you.
I have more than a few spamming shouters on my friends list constantly requesting I digg stuff, but never digging my quality submissions in return. (Bastards!)
I have been paying attention to the non-OSers who are my friends and am getting a good feel for which are good reciprocal diggers and which are one way Charlies and have been clearing out the deadwood.
When I am notified that I have a new fan and they are not someone I recognize from OS, I check out their profile and digg history before friending them back. If they have way too many friend (800 or more), but yet have only a handful of diggs to their credit, I don't bother. They won't be a valuable addition to my network. I only have 200 diggs per day and don't want to waste them.
Thank you for your concern. I think we will be fairly safe as we don't venture out very far. The fighting should soon be over but the "continuity" LTTE may still cause mischief.
I have gone a bit quiet because of lack of time and also a bit irritated with OS at present while still thinking it is a wonderful thing in general. Not a flounce, I assure you. I shall return when I have recharged my batteries.
Digg? Buncha Communists....well, if not that, then
Marxists at least...we here at OS have a good old
Oligarchy of the Talented,
which breaks down when it comes to all this nudity becuase we are the most erotic site on the net, but
only for people with brains left
after the apocalypse....
the doors of perception were nudged open gently in the 1960's in America and Europe,
but now they are gonna have to be kicked in or
we will never come to our senses and dscover love is not
only the Way
but the Way out of this mess we are in....good Christian stuff...Os is christian in that it believes in some
kind of Providence: talent outs
in the End....dig it?
The whole nekkid biking thing is a mystery to me. I get the nekkid swimming and sun bathing and streaking and yoga posing (go artfish), but the biking looks painful to me. But who am I to argue with the nudity the internet sends my way?
FYI, I like the poems from arthur and james. Communism wasn't evil. It was the totalitarian regime that pretended to be communist that was.
Am I the only one who has noticed the Spammy pitbulls being knocked off the most viewed feed? Reddit and Digg are working. Along with Harry's suborning the pit bull photo.
No comments:
Post a Comment