The New Phenomenon Called Digg

In this contribution economy & new ecosystem and in the age of web content and masses arises Digg.com, the new phenomenon in the online world. Bweek writes,Digg.com features news about the tech industry, filters stories from all over the Internet and presents them in a linear Google News-type interface. All digg's content comes from its users, who scour news sites, blogs, and other online sources for interesting tidbits. The items users submit - usually in the form of a short writeup and a link - go into a queue, where members vote on their favorites. The 15 stories that attract the most votes - or "diggs" - are featured on the site's front page, which is updated several times an hour to keep the news fresh. It's this innovative "by the people, for the people" writing and editing system that sets digg apart from other Web sites. And it has some people calling digg the future of news. The 11-month-old site already has 80,000 registered members and 500,000 daily visitors, with 100,000 visitors being added every month. Paul Kedrosky points to Alex chart on Digg Vs Slashdott traffic.
Digg started with the notion of how to leverage the collective mass of the Internet in various ways: applying it to content, using it to rank content, using it to make content more palatable to the masses. Automated systems take time to crawl the net. Editorial systems have the human factor. They may decide they're not interested that day, or they'll do it tomorrow. In Digg’s case, there's no barrier.The larger the critical mass of users and the collective wisdom applied to digg, the better and more relevant the stories get. A system we call karma helps prevent abuse of digging. Coupled with a unique ranking system and power of collective wisdom, Digg gets more powerful. The founders note that Digg started with an application, and are using components of social networking to expand the value of the site. In the case of social networking, it serves one very distinct purpose - introduction. The power of user generated content and economy of people is exemplified by Digg. As we wrote earlier, Wikipedia, OhmyNews are enjoying great success and noted that this raises a key point: All of us will have to take on more responsibility. To get the most out of the new cooperative tools and services, we'll have to contribute our time and talent in new ways - such as rating a seller on eBay or penning a short essay in Wikipedia. The rewards will be more personalized products and services that we don't merely consume, but help create. Ultimately, all this could point the way to a fundamental change in the way people work together