Digg?

When first reading about digg in Paul Levinsions “New new media”  I had no idea what it was.  The only other time I had heard it mentioned was in class.  

            Digg is basically a social network having to do with news. You can create your own account and personalize specific news updates to you.  The “social” side of the website is that you can make “friends” with someone who has a common interest in the same story as you. So unlike facebook or myspace, friends are not made based on profiles but on ones interest.

            Digg is also very popular to bloggers because they are able to directly link their links to their blogs and any other profiles. Digg users have the choice to make the information available for everyone to see or just their “friends”  on Digg (Levinston 103). 

            Ironically I found out that “a poll reported in September 2006 shows 5 percent of Digg users are between the ages of 13 and 16, 22 percent ages 17-20, 28 percent ages 21-24 , 20 percent ages 25-28”  (Levinstion 106), according to the ironic pentameter in 2006. I found this a bit shocking because the percentage of youth using Digg was higher then I thought.  Amongst all my peers I can honestly say I don’t know anyone who uses dig so that is why I was kind of shocked at that.

            Levinstion also shines light on the election in 2008 and how Digg publicity played a part, especially for candidate Ron Paul. It also did a great deal in helping Barack Obama. However Ron Paul’s fame was not strong enough on digg to win him the election but I could see how it would be a reliable source for things like election coverage.

            Digg is a good way for publicity for candidates like Ron Paul, because it cheap! I am interested in seeing how dig could help out in future elections if it continues to grow in its popularity.

            After reading more about dig and browsing through the website I am interested in what it has to offer. Have you ever used Digg? Have you found it useful?