If This Social News Site Were a Publication It Would be....X

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Permalink Reply by Andy Sternberg on February 1, 2008 at 1:43am

I'm very curious as to what -- if anything -- will become of Newsvine as a part of MSNBC. Was it acquired because of the appearance or careful way in which Mike Davidson raised Newsvine? Or is it the quality of original and bookmarked news and the active community.

I have the same question about NowPublic, which I've occasionally come across as a first-on-the-story with original reporting site.

It may come down to functionality and consistency, because all of these sites have social aspects but in time create their own culture. You know, hmm, is this a story I should submit to reddit or is it better off on Digg?

I'm starting to see very interesting trends with USAToday.com that I'm beginning to like. Many of their stories are getting quality comments and others -- like their great liveblog of the debate tonight -- featured a very interactive, reverse-chron comment thread. The Guardian's liveblog had active comments.

I put a lot of stock into the quality and depth of comment threads -- even those on Digg. I'm a big believer in engaging the reader to participate and to feel as if the site is their own in a sense.

So why can't -- at least parts of -- the LA Times be Mixxified and the Merc Reddited?

Now that newspapers and advertisers are keeping a close watch on the minutes readers spend when will we see a shift to more community-building and reader participation?

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Permalink Reply by Maurreen Skowran on February 1, 2008 at 3:54am

David, is this group about bookmarking in general or news sites in particular?

Either way, do you want to explain Technoratti?

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Permalink Reply by Digidave on February 1, 2008 at 4:08am

Social news sites: Examples are Digg, Reddit, Mixx, StumbleUpon etc.

These sites don't make any original content - they are just chock full of links to other sites where the content originated from.

These sites derive value, however, because the communities collectively determine the "front page."

Del.icio.us was originally a "social bookmarking site" -- in that you could share your bookmarks with others. But when they added the "most popular" page - they entered into the social news realm.

Newsvine is also in this sphere.

Technorati is a stretch - but I suppose you can interpret the linking structure as "voting" -- but it's usually not with daily headlines - more like rating regular bloggers. In that sense I see technorati as more like a search engine.

Make sense?

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Permalink Reply by Maurreen Skowran on February 1, 2008 at 4:18am

Sort of.

I would have put Delicious and Stumble Upon in a different category than Digg.

I wonder whether "Social Bookmarking" is the most precise name for the group. But I also wonder what would be better.

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Permalink Reply by Digidave on February 1, 2008 at 4:25am

I spoke with Jay Adelson once about the distinction between Digg and Del.icio.us.

Del.icio.us paved the way - but the content people were submitting wasn't dynamic. Which is to say - they were saving static web pages, not necc. news items.

Digg is ALL about news items. But since the popularity of Digg Del.icio.us and StumbleUpon both have "most popular pages" - which are memes or news articles that people are bookmarking in spades. In that sense - they are social news sites and bookmarking sites. At the same time: Digg can be a bookmarking site as well.

What do you think about Newsvine: It's obviously a social news site - but they incorporated one more layer - you can write your own articles too: Combining social news sites with citizen journalism.

Which brings up another important factor in social news sites: it re-engages people with the news.

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Permalink Reply by matt king on February 1, 2008 at 12:29pm

Hi,

Gotta say, this one is lost on me. I've already got news stories coming at me from a 1,000 different places, and those are ones I choose to see. Why do I want to get involved with the bookmarking sites?

As far as my own stuff goes, for 99 percent of it, no one outside my coverage area is gonna care.

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Permalink Reply by Digidave on February 1, 2008 at 3:08pm

The quick version: My readers know more than I do (including what's good reading) and 2. No man is an island - neither is your beat.

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Permalink Reply by matt king on February 1, 2008 at 3:28pm

I read the CJR story last year. it was the first I'd heard of DIGG. My reaction was, yeah, and ...

Just went back and kinda feel the same. And if I may indulge my wiseacre side, I recall hearing something about the Microsoft-Yahoo deal other places.

As for the wisdom of the crowd, I don't want to listen to Now That's What I Call Music, either.

But as you can see my my willingness to join the group, I'm open to seeing this issue in a new light.

I mean, I joined facebook for efsakes.

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Permalink Reply by Ryan Sholin on February 1, 2008 at 9:13pm

Digg is a great serendipity engine - a place to find interesting stories you might not have otherwise spotted, whether it's News of the Weird or just some impressive technical accomplishment.

Hook up your office Christmas lights to Guitar Hero? It'll end up on Digg.

That's not about traditional "news" value, but it's a place folks go to casually browse a list of stories.

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Permalink Reply by Digidave on February 1, 2008 at 9:18pm

Digg is the leader in this world - but it's not the only (or the best) example.

Take NewsTrust.net (again, I have to disclose that I'm a contributing editor).

If Digg is the National Enquirer (no rhyme or reason to the content) then NewsTrust is the NY Times.

Propeller has more of a USA Today feel. Check out NewsTrust.net - it's a social news site.

That's why I wanted to start this group: Just as journalists have been slow to the web in general - I think we are being slow to this space - and it's to our own peril.

If journalists claimed a social news site for themselves - people would find value in it.

Permalink Reply by matt king on February 1, 2008 at 9:22pm

i get that and i'll check out the others.

by the way, sholin are gonna start a band called Serendipity Engine. You want in?

Permalink Reply by Maria Varmazis on February 1, 2008 at 3:44pm

I think comparing Digg to the National Enquirer is being too mean to the National Enquirer, especially considering the kind of content frontpaged on the site in the past year or so. Yikes man. I still visit Digg daily but I can't take it seriously anymore. It's a shame.

Newsvine pre-acquisition...hm... the Christian Science Monitor? Provides good content but is often overlooked. Maybe now it'll get some much-needed attention.

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