Digg This? Why should I? Aug21 '06

Lately, I’ve been noticing an increase in "Digg This!" links, usually located after an article, or blog entry.

This is, of course, a "shortcut link" to the ever-popular news site Digg. If you click on a "Digg This!" link, you’ll be taken directly to Digg, with the URL for that story as the article you want to digg.

I find the "Digg This!" link (or icon) annoying, because I think it’s a rather brash and self-absorbed thing to do.

It’s kind of like a kick in the face.

For example, I spend time reading an article, when I could be doing a billion and a half other things, or reading a billion and a half other articles. Then, at the end of the article, when I’ve been patient enough to read it all - word for word, I then get a "Digg This!" link shoved in my face.

As if my "reading it" wasn’t enough. With all the other articles and "time-wasters" out there, bloggers should be thankful that people are even reading their site.

On the other hand, there is certainly no shame in the reader digging an article, but they don’t need the link shoved in their face. They know well enough to Digg it, if they like it.

By providing the "Digg This!" link, bloggers are assuming way too much:

1. The article is worth digging.
2. The reader is too lazy to copy/paste the URL into Digg on their own.
3. Digg is used by the blogger, so the readers must use it, too.

Digg is a great site, sure - but there are tons of different ways to get an article out there for others to see. Digg is just one of a handful of options. And with the ever-changing landscape that is the internet, you never know what the "next big thing" is - so why even bother taunting the "latest and greatest?"

Just worry about your content, and not how many people have "dugg" your content.

Caveats

What follows are some things that others could use as proof that I am talking like a hypocrite. Hopefully this will simmer-down that notion.

First off, I am aware that I advertise for Box.net in the sidebar of each blog entry. But this has nothing to do with my content. This is advertising, in general. And I am not bashing advertising; I am bashing self-promotion through obtrusiveness.

Secondly, I have dugg articles that I have written - at Pain in the Tech.

Does this make me a hypocrite?

No, because Pain in the Tech currently does not have a "Digg This!" link after each article. (I don’t know if this will change, but I like the way it is now.)

No, because any "digging" of a PITT article (by myself) is only done as a "back door" option to self-promote, and there is absolutely nothing wrong with that.

You can promote your own article on Digg, but never force readers to view a "Digg This!" link. If they want to Digg it, they know damn well how to do it.

Categories: Rants , Writing

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