The Dirt on Digg

So I finally gave one of these social bookmarking sites a whirl. I haven't really had the desire to before, as I'm not really a big bookmarker. I've bookmarked more for this class and this program than I have probably in all the time I've had the internet combined (and that's close to 15 years). With the exception of the few tabs I've added on my bookmark bar across the top of my browser window, I've just always typed in the website I wanted to visit. I think it's because I do get emails from all the sites I would typically "follow" and use the links in the emails to go to pages of interest.. I've never really had the need to bookmark a page so I can reference it quickly. But I can see the appeal of these social bookmarking sites for someone who bounces from computer to computer and DOES have a need to have multiple sites bookmarked.

That really wasn't the thing that I liked about Digg though.. I personally was more fascinated by being able to "digg" some sites of things (or people, bands, etc) that I think others should know about (and "dig" if you will). For example, I bookmarked and "dugg" Smiley's Bungalows, which was a place I stayed in Khao Sok in Thailand. The owner was really awesome, super friendly and kind and I'd love other people to know about this little place that's tucked in the island away from the beaten path. Now granted not many people will necessarily see the things I "digg" unless I share my digg account on my facebook, etc etc and/or they just happen upon my page on digg, but I feel like I'm doing my part to spread the word about some cool places I stayed, some bands I love, my friend's photography studio, and so forth. And then I have other sites I do regularly visit (democracynow, facebook, my blog) that I think are worthy of "digg"-ing.

I did have some technical difficulties with the site... maybe I was just using it at a high volume time, but I kept having to go back to the homepage to be able to type another website for it to find. And I don't think I understand the difference between "digg"-ing a site and saving it.. or, I do, but I couldn't figure out how I could save a site without "digg"-ing it and vis-versa. And when I went to the "Help/FAQ" page I got an "access denied" message.. the technical difficulties were abounding :) But I obviously "dig" the sites I wanted to save, so I guess it was kind of moot.

I also started considering how a site like this could tell a LOT about someone, especially if they actually "digg" the sites they visit frequently. It could give a pretty accurate picture of where they spend most of their time on the internet and where their interests lie. It could be a very interesting study...

Check me out on digg!