Social Media Like digg.com isn’t Evil, We Just Don’t Need it
Through time, trial, and error, I have come to the realization that social networking/media/bookmarking is a mixed bag and probably a fad. In my opinion, it’s not useful.
I don’t “submit” posts I read to digg like I used to and I don’t put ghastly kitsch chicklets, for example, on my site advertising showing who visited last and how many readers have submitted my posts. I’ve seen the light.
It’s a freeing thing for me to be rid of all that stuff on my blog. But hey, to each his own and please note I judge no one. I simply weigh the pros and cons of things like social media and report what I find. I agree that, in and of themselves, they are neutral. But even as neutral tools, they are lacking.
It has been said on a couple posts I’ve visited lately, that social networking is not just digg and de.licio.us and the like. They claim it is also the act of commenting on posts, connecting with new bloggers and getting your blog read by new audiences. But the inference here still seems to be that I somehow need digg.com and other companies to network or I will miss out.
With all due respect to folks who think social networking media is crucial: I do not need it. And truth be told, neither do you. [quote]When it comes to companies like digg.com, de.licio.us, and the like, one can do for oneself what they so braggardly advertise as the genius innovation of Web 2.0.[/quote] (Although Stumbleupon is an innovation above them all and I have written a complimentary post about it and do use it regularly). We think Web 2.0 social networking is about smart people recommending links and us getting better articles. What it is in reality is mostly uneducated people submitting their own business related stuff along with their friends’ and more or less virally spreading lousy content. Bloggers don’t need social networking media. Let me give you 3 simple ways I function as my OWN social network BETTER than digg.com and any of the others I’ve tried:
Method#1 
Use Google Blog Search to find blogs on topics you are interested in. (Hint, use your categories as search parameters)
Use good seo titles and vocabulary in your articles so you show up in these types of searches where you want to be. There is a plethora of free info out there on how to seo your posts and your blog for Google.
Method#2 
Use Stumbleupon’s “Weblog” randomizer on the Stumbleupon toolbar to randomly discover “stumbled” blogs. (We hope these are usually good, but they have just as much of a chance as being good as other user-submitted blogs on social media services.)
Method#3
From time to time, write articles related to blog posts you have read by blogs you respect and TRACKBACK (when it applies ONLY! To do this every time at the expense of content is the equivalent of SPAMMING). This is a humble, honest, effective, and genuine method of networking.
In doing just these three things, you are doing more to network with quality blogs than you are by using social network media extant. If you try these 3 methods and you still feel forlorn for the social network media services, by all means head over there. I’m not blackballing them. But if you are like me, you’ll have a better time innovating your own experience than clicking on one of their icons, widgets, buttons, banners or chicklets.
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Tags: blog, computers, Cyberculture, invention
I don’t use them, only tried one, once. I would rather spend my time seeking other blogs to read or clicking on comments at another blog and see where it leads me! Glad you brought it up.
Stumbleupon and Technorati are useful. NONE of the widgets out there are useful (imo). Glad to hear you aren’t getting caught up in the the malarkey like I was!
Hello Damien-I agree with you regarding Stumbleupon (despite my worries over the eBay acquisition).A lot of the social networking type services and blog widgets seem like a means to viral marketing and personal information harvesting (for the purposes of targeted advertising)more than true useful social applications driven by users whilst other entities like digg are either not diverse enough (sorry still too dominated by male perspective tech items and titillation stories for me) or prime targets for being used by larger commercial concerns and their priorities (but then I’m a bit of a naive idealist).
@Emalyse: You have quite a way with words. I wish I would have read your comment before writing my post I might have borrowed a few of your excellent points!
You’re too kind Damien. Maybe I sound overly skeptical but even Google are in the personal information harvesting game as their primary revenue model even if they and others now seem to be falling over themselves to assure us they won’t keep that info forever. That seems to be how ‘free’ is financed these days.
I absolutely love that phrase you just said: “Free” is financed. have you been reading my blog long?? You are reading my thoughts. Open source of course you will agree is different. Between my desktop Google calendar widget (do look up my article on that if you have time) and analytics and my customized front webpage . . . yadda yadda yadda . . . and the amazing way they treat their employees, Google can have my personal info. It’s these fly by night dudes drinking coffee in their pajamas with no clue except programming know-how . . . ie; most social networking company owners - they worry me. I also wrote an article about how I was deleted recently from Blog Carnival and then reinstated strangely after my post??? And also my thoughts on a new company called “Blog Catalog” that seems to feel they are innovating the marketplace. My post here is to say: THERE IS NO NEED FOR A SOCIAL NETWORKING BLOG MARKETPLACE. Thanks Emalayse, hope to chat with you further down the road.
Here a few of the links I alluded to in case you are interested and have the time:
On Google Calendar:
postcardsfromthefunnyfarm.com/2007/07/21/my-cal-se...
On “Free” services BS and the way we pay:
postcardsfromthefunnyfarm.com/2007/07/24/blogcarni...
peace! Have a great day!
For myself, I never find articles through social network such as digg.com but I still put on their button on my site in case someone want to click it. My opinion is I will not judge whether people like social network or not. It only added value for my traffic. nothing to lose anyway. My traffic mostly from SEO.
Thanks for that good comment. I didn’t see a digg button on the link you provided??? Is that your site or are you promoting them? I agree digg or other buttons can help get your word out. The problem is that millions of blogs with little or no content get dug everyday so it’s a fly in the ointment. Just today I was looking for articles on blogrolls and as it turned out, there was a helpful article on digg. I read it and it was interesting but it turned out to be totally out of date and the 3 plugins it recommended were no longer supported. Nonetheless, the blog sponsoring the article hadn’t bothered to update anything . . . it just kind of reminded me that these services are like robots, they can’t discern the quality of what gets clicked in. So you just have to be careful to not get all excited just because something is “dug” a lot. Thanks again for your comment.