A Social Networker's Rant

I belong to a few of the ‘ social’ media groups,, digg, reddit, stumble to name just three and I enjoys those sites; they are basically places where people from around the world find interesting stuff on the internet and ‘post’ it onto these sites for others to read and enjoy, the ones reading it can either vote for it by ‘ digging’ it, thumbing it up or down or arrowing it, all of the sites give people the option to review the articles and comment on them, what they liked/disliked etc.

The internet is a vast place, full of many fascinating and wonderful things, its also full of some really bad stuff that make you want to cringe, all of these go to make up the internet, as in life there is good and bad and what appeals to one person does not necessarily appeal to another and that is fine, its how it should be, imagine how boring life would be if everyone liked the same food, dressed the same, spoke the same and followed the same path as everyone else.

Guess the reason for writing this is that over the time that I have been on these sites I have seen a marked decrease in the comments, the comments are still on the submissions that’s true but they seem to be nastier, the tone of them more scathing and bitchy if you like, and that is such a shame, someone had gone to the trouble of thinking, “ Hey this is good, I will share it with everyone” only to be met with scorn and abuse in some cases, and to be honest I cannot understand why

If you don’t like something, don’t vote for it, there your job is done, finished, unless the article is plainly offensive then report it, again your job is done. The old saying, “ If you can’t say something nice then say nothing at all “ rings true in most cases, if someone has posted a picture that they thought was lovely or amazing, that is their opinion and should be respected as such, the same is true for currant affairs articles and jokes, even the weird and wacky odd ball things that can be found are interesting to some people and if you saw it awhile back then that’s fine, you properly already have an opinion on that so there is not need to comment “ Damn this is older than I am, what a waste of my time “ How were we to know you had seen it ? How were we to know you liked/disliked it?

Comments on all submissions are welcome I know but at times the comment are just plain rude and offensive and to be honest, there is no need for it, if you don’t like something, move on to the next one, or submit your own and tell us what it is that you like.

Ok I am done



This article was published on http://akittenone.wordpress.com. It really touched a nerve with the Digg community based upon the diggs and comments that it received. I hope this allows us to all look at our own behavior.
Share and Enjoy!

5 Tips For Success On Digg

You heard all about all the traffic that you can get from Digg simply by submitting a story or article. Post it up there and let them come to you. It is a wonderful concept but there is a lot more to it than that. New people sabotage themselves by taking the wrong approach to this animal. They want to instantly get a story on the front page without doing anything to “earn” it. If you want to be successful on Digg, it is important to let the others on there know that you are a serious person.

Following there are five suggestions for improving your chances of success.

1. Digg. Digg. Digg.

Do not do anything else until you reach at least a minimum of 1,000 diggs. So often I get friend requests from people with 10s or 100s of diggs. To get something in this environment, you must first give. Diggs are the currency which everything operates. Show that you are a person worthy of another's attention by first digging his or her stuff. We follow the axiom to get you must first give.

2. Add friends in groups of 20-30 at a time.

Again, I check out profiles of friend requests only to see that the person asked 200-300 people at the same time. Half of my computer screen is covered with names of people who they added to the list. It was a mass friend appeal. While there is nothing wrong with adding so many friends, it lacks credibility unless you have lots of diggs. The ones who do this usually have under 500 diggs to their credit. This simply gives the impression of someone who wants everyone else to digg his/her submissions. Early on, slow but steady is the motto.

3. When adding friends, stay within your range.

If you stepped out onto a baseball field, would you expect to be added to the MLB All-Star team? The answer is obviously “No”. Yet many seem to think that they should rub elbows with the heavy hitters on the site. Many newcomers go directly to the top 100 list and send friend requests to all of them. This is a waste of time. Even at the 1,000 posts, you have not shown that you have what it takes to operate in this arena. I suggest you try to add those who have between3,000-7,000 Diggs. You can get involved with the others as your totals grow. Also, as your Digg total grows, other will begin to come to you.

4. Comment. Comment. Comment.

This is a participation sport. Posts that are commented on draw more interest from others who come behind later in the day. Comments are another way to garner attention. It takes a bit more time to do it this way, but it is certainly worth the hassle. The one who submitted the article or photo will sincerely appreciate this. Do it enough and you will be on their radar. This is one thing which will separate you from some of the masses who are out there.

5. Submit with care

There are many arguments that are made about how much should you submit. I am a believe that less is more. It is really frustrating to go to my reader and see 15-20 submissions by the same person (or 40). Those in the Top 100 have earned the right to do things this way. Someone new has not. To digg these articles takes a good deal of time. If this was my only contact, it would not be bad. Yet I have over 100 messages each time I go in there and I hit it up at least 3 times per day. Personally, I limit my submissions to 2-3 per day. This way I am not overloading my friends.

Everybody who is on Digg was new at one point. However, you do now have to act like you have absolutely no clue what is going on. Follow these suggestions and I guarantee that you will get a decent amount of quality friends within a month. Quality will often trump quantity on Digg.

Share and Enjoy!