I have been a long time reader and user of Digg.com. I have had apps on my homepages for years to get the latest stuff off of Digg. The idea is great, allow users to choose what news stories are actually worth looking at and which ones aren’t. However, over the last few months I have noticed an alarming trend with the site and it stems largely from the fact that users make up stories for the sole purpose of putting on Digg.
That is lists. Digg has become list-central. Just a quick perusal and you get lists of reasons to switch to linux, best things about macs, reasons to hate the RIAA, best ways to optimize firefox, best iGoogle apps, etc. Now don’t get me wrong, these are often handy lists, with often useful information. But it has deluted Digg to the point where it is difficult to find ACTUAL NEWS on the site anymore. All Digg is now is a site for people to submit their lists and have other people rate them, often complete with rants and flames.
Now adays I think that Newsvine.com is the better source of news that allows users to rank and submit stories, as well as pays writers, and has an editorial stance to make sure that the good stories actually are on top instead of the lists. I think you can even emphasize that Digg even realizes this issue as the only thing left in the company that is worth the time is Diggnation which is still really good, not only because Kevin & Alex are funny, but also because they pick out the best stories. Note that this is editorial, they don’t use the most popular, just the best so that they can take out the crap… aka Lists.
In fact, I’ve taken my Digg app off my iGoogle page as I write this and have replaced it with Newsvine’s feed as we speak. At least I will know what is actually going on the world more.