Arguably the most influential of social bookmarking sites, Digg.com is
often both criticized and commended for having a narrow topic focus. With big changes in the works at Digg right now, what are the odds that the site might broaden its
horizons, and add a separate category for nonprofits and social change?
A fair number of solid stories from the nonprofit sector are
submitted to Digg every day — but those stories tend to get lost in the
crowd.
Why?
Demographics, to begin with.
High visibility on Digg depends on users voting for (“digging”) a
story. As a result, Digg’s coveted front page tends to be dominated by
stories that reflect the interests of the predominantly young male
userbase. Technology, gadgets, and “oddball” news stories prosper,
while nonprofits and social change languish in the shadows.
But, even more than that, it comes down to the structure of the site.
To submit a story to Digg, you have to select an appropriate
category in which to place it. And for readers to find nonprofit news
on Digg can be a real challenge. Stories related to nonprofits and
social change are scattered across the site, filed variously under
Technology, Business, Science/Environment, Lifestyle…
One of our readers, Ashley Messick, makes a compelling case for a dedicated Digg category for nonprofits:
Recently I was wanting to Digg a blog post about using
Twitter for Nonprofits and I ran into the age-old dilemma of how to
categorize it. I got to thinking about what a great resource center it
would be if Digg had a category for nonprofits. I tweeted about my
thoughts and got some positive responses that fueled my thinking.
Currently nonprofits are really starting to consider how they can
utilize technology and social media in general to help their causes.
Nonprofit tech and Nonprofit social media blogs abound and in general
we are all forced to rely on our RSS feeds and bloggers in general to
spread nonprofit news and resources. In my opinion Digg would be just
what the nonprofit world is looking for. Plus I think that it would be
a great addition to the Digg community - a group of do-gooders who are
looking for a way to further their individual causes and the collective
cause of helping the worldwide community.
At the present time
Digg doesn’t have a very good spot or way to categorize stories
pertaining to nonprofit news so we wind up trying unsuccessfully to use
the search function and spread the Dugg stories in blogs and through
tweets. Wouldn’t a Nonprofit category on Digg be a much better fit?
She has a point.
And I think there’s a potential benefit to the nonprofit sector,
here, that would be far more significant than even the
much-talked-about “Digg effect” — server-crashing floods of traffic
drawn to a website when a post hits the front page of Digg (although,
of course, most of us are delighted to gain new visitors to our
sites!): Think, rather, nonprofit zeitgeist.
The strength of Digg lies in the fact that users “collectively determine the value of content,”
as Digg itself puts it.
And it doesn’t stop there. Because Digg is all about sharing and
discovery, there’s a conversation that happens around the content.
We’re here to promote that conversation and provide tools for our
community to discuss the topics that they’re passionate about. By
looking at information through the lens of the collective community on
Digg, you’ll always find something interesting and unique. We’re
committed to giving every piece of content on the web an equal shot at
being the next big thing.
When social-marketing blogger Alexandra Rampy (
SocialButterfly)
explored Digg for the first time earlier this summer, she found the site both useful and
frustrating: “Unlike some social bookmarking sites,” she says, “Digg
lets me get feedback and hear more from peers about the type of content
I submit to it. And, I get to see/read what peers find interesting
which helps me find new and interesting content.”
But can stories from the nonprofit world really get an “equal
shot at being the next big thing,” if they’re competing for attention
with the stories of celebrity scandals, tech gadget fads, and Wall Street
bailouts?
With last week’s announcement of a $28.7 million investment in Digg — slated to fuel Digg’s plans
for “personalizing the Digg experience, enhancing the recommendation
system across other areas of the site, creating deeper category and
topic content views and more ways to discover and organize content” —
perhaps there is some hope for a Nonprofits and Social Change category
to be added.
What do you think?
