New algorithm changes always tend to shake up the way things work. Especially when it’s sites like Google, who have power over way too much for anyone’s good, and Digg, who’s users have total control over the site - or so it seems?

Digg has recently updated their algorithm to require diversity in diggs as a major ingredient for a stories promotion. But there are times when you just don’t get it, here’s a comment I left on a story that got promoted after 21 hours with only 29 diggs? So 29 diggs are diverse enough after 21 hours, but 150+ are not diverse enough? If that makes any sense to you, please enlighten me.

Many users are trying to figure out the reasons for all of this. Some just saying that they[digg] have gone insane and don’t care about the site’s top users anymore, who spend many hours a day submitting, digging and commenting on stories.

Looking at it from an economic point of view, this is what I think -

• Digg is now known to be looking for a purchaser, anyone got a spare $300 million?, so in order to do so they are trying to make their users more active. If that means making them look more often at the “Most Upcoming Stories” page than just hanging around the front page refreshing all day, then so be it.
• If users look at the “Most Upcoming Stories” page more, they will obviously go more deep into the site to look at more “upcoming stories” - hence driving up page views and pleasing their advertisers with the extra millions of impressions generated. {I see myself viewing at least 15 pages when I go into the most upcoming stories pages}
• This is obviously done to drive more people than just the regular set to view more upcoming stories.
• More ad impressions = more advertisers = a better chance at selling. Simple.
• But don’t most digg users use Firefox with AdBlock anyway?

This has pissed off top users, as they feel it’s insulting to them that their submission and/or vote doesn’t have much power anymore. Granted, some of the users are quite passionate about using the site and the thought that digg sometimes doesn’t give any clear answers for banning, lack of proper communication, the bury brigade etc…does leave a lot to speculation and frustration. In the end, that’s not digg’s problem.

They are a business at the end of the day and even when instances like the HD-DVD key fiasco come to mind I’m sure digg knows exactly what can hurt them and what can’t. I just have a feeling that this recent algorithm change might hurt them more than they realize.

About the author

Hyder has been blogging for the past two years on this blog. He started Weborithm, his web company, in 2007 and along with designing blogs and websites also releases various web related products.