Give ‘em what they want
12 10, 2007
Ever wonder how so many people know about internet videos such as how one Russian woman keeps 129 cats in her tiny Moscow flat or up to the minute stories about the latest technology innovation? Does it seem like there are so many articles, videos and photos that are making waves in the news but they’re hosted on different sites and it’s difficult to find out where something you heard about is located? Well, have you heard about digg.com?
Putting the online community in the editor’s desk, digg.com asks its readers to submit stories from anywhere on the internet, or to “digg it,” and then other users can choose whether or not they “digg” it as well. The greater the number of diggs, the higher up the link is listed on digg.com.
One of the best things about digg.com’s front page is the size of the headlines and blurbs. Instead of employing the tactic many news websites use, cramming as many headlines as possible onto the homepage, Digg boasts a more than 200 page archive, searchable after scrolling down through the first few links. The top stories, videos and photos are often accompanied by a small picture and frequently tagged to a frequently smarmy blurb about the link. While some headlines, “129 Too Many Cats… At least for me” are certain to grab attentions, the blurbs that follow usually give entertaining pushes towards urging the reader to click on the link.
All of the links archived on digg.com are browsable through various categories visible on the top of the page. To further customize — digg’s “customize” feature allows registered users to decide which stories they want displayed on their digg.com. If the user is not interested in stories about technology, or even specifically, about online gaming, the user can choose to remove those kinds of stories from their digg.com feed.
When it comes to presenting the news to the people, digg.com has gotten it down to the t with their user-friendly design and specifications with the individual in mind.
