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How to become a Digg Power user in only 48 hours

earnersblog.com — Here ’s an account of how exactly I created a profile & became a power user that had 4 stories front paged with no help from any IM friends, within 48 hours of creating the Digg Account.

Bury

geekchic 1 year 13 days ago, made popular 1 year 13 days ago

1297 diggs
digg it

141 Comments
Who Dugg It?

MikeonTV, on 11/10/2007, -7/+11Very interesting article. I wonder who the user is and how current he is now. If your out there let us know!
- SirFoxx, on 11/08/2007, -1/+30Who cares about their status on digg.
  - notque, on 11/08/2007, -1/+43Unlike you with only 1 PS3, I have 3. 3 PS3s.
- knde, on 11/09/2007, -0/+25I don't find it an interesting article in the least. I find it to be representative of many of the things wrong with Digg.
  
  I'd much rather people submitted and dugg articles based on the article's value. Not because you've come up with a strategy and recruited an army of Diggers. It defeats the purpose of this site to me. I want to see relevant, interesting, informative and educational articles (and yes the occasional funny picture or video submissions, are also welcome). I don't think what the author suggests in his article, is the way to ensure that we see such articles.
  
  I’m not an “oldie” and have only been around since February. However, in such a short time span, Digg has undoubtedly gone down a notch or two. I have never posted a comment on the flaws of Digg before, but this article really bugs me. Yes some of the flaws on Digg are technical (comment section anyone?), but a lot about the quality of Digg is in OUR hands.
  
  I love Digg and would like to see a reduction on its bashing over at Reddit (which I’m guilty of sneaking over to quite a bit). I’m very grateful to Diggers like CosmikDebris who always submits good articles, to Nikokun who is obviously very passionate about marijuana policies, and MrBabyMan who always submits the entertaining articles etc Employing the silly tactics in the article, may drive them away (please don’t go!) and then we’d be proper screwed.
  - FrankButcher, on 11/08/2007, -1/+0Hear Hear (now please digg my waterballon story, it deserved more)
- p0ss, on 11/12/2007, -0/+9I never pay attention to which user submitted an article, the only time i pay attention to a user name is if I like or hate their comments.
  The stories are usually only a catalyst to discussion, and that is why i come here.
  - sleepwalkers, on 11/08/2007, -0/+2And, unfortunately, the quality of said discussions have been decreasing lately.
ZaNkY, on 11/13/2007, -0/+152THAT's the problem with the current friends "feature". It's preventing those of us who submit quality stories from hitting the front page. Digg now follows a friendocracy system. I would get about 1 or two friends per week with Diggv2, people that would digg my stories (i submit tech stuff). Now, I've getting 2-3 friends DAILY, with NONE of them even having dugg ANY of my submits, and NONE of them digging ANYTHING related to tech (all of them politics, or offbeat news...).

These are new users that are on Digg for less than a week before having 500 friends, 1000 friends, sometimes more. You've been on Digg for a week and you have 1984 friends? Really? You MUST be a popular fellow.....

I digg articles I like, not everything my friends submit. Coincidentally most of my friends submit stuff I like, but that's because I picked them so. If you friend me NOW, you're not getting friended back unless you email me or leave a comment in one of my submits or something.
- wiifm69, on 11/10/2007, -2/+66Title should read "How to become an annoying ***** head with thousands of 'friends' who mindlessly digg up your ***** content"
  
  Buried in the hope that no-one else on digg follows this *****
  - Archeologist, on 11/08/2007, -3/+8Marked as spam. Maybe his site will get banned...
- notque, on 11/12/2007, -1/+3I dislike that it's harder to follow my friends, but I follow friend's activity closely, rely on shouts, and generally like the same things my friends do, so it isn't too difficult.
- Markpdotcom, on 11/08/2007, -2/+11Dear Spammer, ***** off. Anyone who "shouts" me with some ***** blogspam digg, I bury without a second thought. You should realise that digg members are tech savvy and won't take your *****!
- scallon, on 11/12/2007, -2/+27He referred to Digg as a game. A game? Its a ***** news site! It may be socially driven and be entirely user-submitted, but it is far from being a game. And people who treat it like a game just piss the rest of us off.
- ReaperUnreal, on 11/10/2007, -0/+31984 friends eh? Just picked that number randomly did you?
FameMoney, on 11/10/2007, -3/+6Things sounds easy in theory, but how many digg users can do that ?
- xMedic, on 11/12/2007, -0/+10First, would we/they even want do do that?
  - ledmatrix, on 11/08/2007, -2/+3Exactly. Some people actually have a life.
    - thewindfish, on 11/08/2007, -2/+1Dugg down because I don't think you do.
    - thewindfish, on 11/08/2007, -2/+1Dugg down because I don't think you do.
dtele, on 11/10/2007, -0/+54Agreed - the system has become spammers paradise - it was bad before, is much worse now.... but the system promotes it. If you dont play the game, you never reach the front page. I have had over 200 people want me to be their friend. I think I have asked about 5 people myself. Be wary of the ones who have just joined as they are usually spammers.. you will note they shout you a couple of times a day as soon as you befriend them.
- Bukowsky, on 11/12/2007, -0/+17i don't even look at who is a fan of me. Because most of the time, they just joined earlier that day. The only people that I befriend, are the people that submit good content, not the people that digg EVERYTHING!
  - notque, on 11/12/2007, -0/+7I've added you as a friend. I don't care if you ever add me as a friend. I want your posts highlighted so I can read them. That is the first priority of my friends list, marking people I like listening comment.
    
    My priority here is commenting.
- notque, on 11/12/2007, -2/+3I don't add spammer friends, but do build a group of like minded people that I enjoy following. It really isn't all that hard.
dadosky08, on 11/12/2007, -3/+27So apparently Digg users don' care about the merits of story, but rather who posted it. Won't this hurt Digg as more and more irrelevant articles come to the top?
- bingobongony, on 11/10/2007, -0/+7You spel as if that will happen in the FUTURE. It happened over a year ago.
- notque, on 11/12/2007, -1/+13That isn't true for many of us. I refuse to digg anything based on if it's a friend. I digg what I find interesting.
- Shuk, on 11/12/2007, -0/+11People will digg based on certain key words as well. For example: *ahem*
  
  "Ron Paul makes motion to impeach Dick Cheney through his new hacked iPhone running Ubuntu. Naked girls and a funny cat rally in support of the motion! [PICS]"
  - jkoke, on 11/10/2007, -0/+4You forgot CONFIRMED!
    - andycr512, on 11/08/2007, -0/+1And "#1 Best EVER!!!"
  - justAnother9, on 11/10/2007, -0/+3Maybe you should write that article. Sad thing is it probably would get a lot of traffic.
stickyhoney, on 11/08/2007, -0/+3It's also be interesting to see how things have changed with the introduction of "shouts" since this article was written.
ThinkBox, on 11/10/2007, -4/+42I am with Supernova17's legal team, we are going to sue you for unlicensed use of his logo.
supernova17, on 11/10/2007, -4/+106Nice icon choice.
- ThinkBox, on 11/08/2007, -3/+24What? Ok, we need to have a sit down, you just called me ranting and raving about, this guy! I wanted my damn commission... that's it, you find yourself another lawyer!
- BryanJK, on 11/08/2007, -3/+8Is anyone going to remember supernova forever on digg now?
  - dilibau, on 11/08/2007, -2/+1kudos...but they'll remember to bury supernova's articles ;)
- m00nmaster, on 11/09/2007, -2/+1If you're gay.
lkv87, on 11/10/2007, -2/+12*sigh* time to make a new account with a better name...
- notque, on 11/12/2007, -0/+9And a better icon. ;)
  - lkv87, on 11/08/2007, -0/+8haha...smart ass.
    
    umm...be my friend? lol
    - notque, on 11/08/2007, -0/+5Not even if you promise to digg all of my submissions :)
      - BryanJK, on 11/08/2007, -1/+6This is turning into Myspace :(
      - lkv87, on 11/12/2007, -0/+3heh, I had a look at your profile I dont think we have much in common; its probably better this way :P
      - sleepwalkers, on 11/12/2007, -0/+3Wow that was a very strange comment thread... I'm not sure how I feel after reading it.
totorototoro, on 11/10/2007, -1/+11damn, that sounds like a lot of work.
- joshuaer, on 11/08/2007, -1/+1i agree i have i digg account well my 2nd i was banned for talking smack about Kevin Rose about 5 months ago, any way i submit my own stories and get about 4 or 5 diggs on them, i do not want to force diggs just to get people to my site. It would be nice for digg to make it harder for people to get on the front page, yes that is allot of work but i bet at least 10% of the people are trying it right now.
  
  My idea have an active digg account for at least 2 months, have at least 45 comments ad at least 100 diggs no more then 5 a day to get any thing on the front page. On my beta site which has some digg features i have something close to this and i suck at PHP.
KraftDinner101, on 11/12/2007, -0/+55Why does anyone care about becoming a digg power user? Is this some sort of popularity contest?
- m4rk0551, on 11/10/2007, -0/+5What is a Digg Power User? Where's the page listing top diggers? (no, i'm not new to digg).
  - trogdoor, on 11/10/2007, -2/+2There actually used to be such a page, I didn't realize that they had gotten rid of it.
- darnit, on 11/08/2007, -0/+1I wonder about this too - think your gonna get a slice of that 300 million pie?
- MenthiX, on 11/12/2007, -0/+3Spammers care.
  power user = getting their story on the frontpage faster = more visitors on their sites = more clicks on their ads = more money = more sucky articles flooded with ads on digg.
joemofo214, on 11/10/2007, -5/+1i guess ppl dont like me, i have like 3 friends :(
not that i would care, but, it prevents ones story to ever get dugg
- xMedic, on 11/12/2007, -1/+2I have 139292 friends, and they're all girls. On MySpace.
  
  /sarcasm
- joshuaer, on 11/08/2007, -0/+1if be my friend and digg my stories i will be yours
  
  if xmedic = friend, vote up
  else vote down!
  
  end if
  end
  
  /sarcasm
- AceLy, on 11/08/2007, -0/+1I have you blocked from before -- I don't remember why.
Nick2632, on 11/10/2007, -0/+56How to get to front page: Submit a story about getting to the front page.
- geekchic, on 11/08/2007, -5/+2*sniggers*
umbriago, on 11/10/2007, -4/+1Great. Aim high, chum.
sepllcehck, on 11/10/2007, -1/+15I have no friends... and I like it that way. I don't mind being a leech. I'm just part of the eco-system..
- misterRobot, on 11/08/2007, -1/+10I have no friends and I like it that way too. Hey I guess we have something in common then, wanna be friends? :-D
- joesmeat, on 11/08/2007, -0/+0Same here. No friends.
terrya64, on 11/08/2007, -2/+22Should have been titled, I have an ego I need stroked and no life.
aflaks, on 11/10/2007, -1/+10don't people have anything better to do with their lives then increase hit counts/friend counts/shout outs/digg power. There is a whole world out there people!
bingobongony, on 11/10/2007, -3/+6The question has never bene HOW. It has always been WHY.
brombomb, on 11/10/2007, -1/+9Why is it a game? I just don't buy that. Sorry I don't buy into the whole friends and digging stuff. I read digg everyday but don't submit, but this seems like a lame attempt at making money. What is this all about:
"This post was made possible by: 1Cover Travel Insurance & Shop Online Australia" ?
Digg has helped me find good reliable sources. If there is something that I haven't seen on digg I'll think about submitting it, but a lot of front page stuff is crap these days because of people doing stuff like this.
- p0ss, on 11/08/2007, -0/+2not just front page stuff, upcoming stories are absolute trash. I am kind of scared of looking at them. add, blogspam, add, clone, add.
  
  its bad.
itchcity, on 11/08/2007, -3/+7Hmm yes very interesting, A++ would digg again
tuxidomasx, on 11/10/2007, -0/+18digg has a friend system?

geez. half the time i dont even notice when they add features. all i do is log in, read stories, and occasionally digg something

otherwise i'm digging around in the comment threads. i think i checked out digg labs once. but it looks like i'm playing games when i do it at work, so i tend to stick to the comments
sdigroup, on 11/08/2007, -0/+5Or just post something with Facebook in the title and your golden.....
- Buzzby, on 11/08/2007, -0/+3or...
  
  Photo of Naked Teen found on Facebook using new Apple Macbook Pro
- ParticleMan420, on 11/08/2007, -0/+2dont forget:
  Mac
  Apple
  iPhone
  iPod
  ubuntu
  etc....
- LeoChan, on 11/08/2007, -0/+0my golden what?
- FrankButcher, on 11/08/2007, -0/+1Ron Pr0n?
soot, on 11/08/2007, -0/+18Too much work for something so pointless.
happytron, on 11/08/2007, -2/+7sounds like they left off:
16. ???
17. Profit!
- nullnvnvnv, on 11/08/2007, -1/+1Ad revenue is the ???
Shuk, on 11/08/2007, -7/+1"Witty comment from the article!" (Now digg me up!)
dip03, on 11/08/2007, -3/+1Very interesting indeed.
Being able to make the front page when i want.....Hmmm there is so much I could do with this power. I hope this guy is at least making his share of money since Internet is mostly about traffic!!
twotimesthru, on 11/08/2007, -0/+13This is weak. Digg isn't about submitting loads of stories to get on the front page. Often users look for the content, not the user. So, the POWER DIGGER is the only person getting what he wants out of this. I think becoming a power user is easy, be part of the site, read the stories, digg what you like, and try not to force feed users your stories so you can get front-paged and tell your friends. And even they probably won't care very much.
misterRobot, on 11/08/2007, -1/+6Wow I didn't realize this was a game...I just come here to read about Ron Paul and look at [PIC]s :-P
- ParticleMan420, on 11/08/2007, -0/+2i come to watch for stories pertaining to someone noticing an extra using an iphone on some tv show
thebrawl, on 11/08/2007, -0/+616. Quit your day job
ggrav, on 11/08/2007, -8/+0Great advice. Many thanks. I went to the SMX conference in NY last month. You pretty much summed up in one article what they tackled in 2 days. As a Digg newbie, I appreciate the brevity. See you 'round. G.
mcnearcj, on 11/08/2007, -2/+2I never really cared if something I post or submit gets dugg.
Shaman760, on 11/12/2007, -3/+4Well now aren't you a fart smeller?
jaymulder, on 11/08/2007, -0/+2How to beat the system? Someone sound the Dan uberban alarm!
Zedizdead, on 11/08/2007, -1/+3Well, that seems like a lot of work just to get a story on the front page. I guess I'll never be on the front page seeing that I have a life.
gbarberi, on 11/12/2007, -0/+3My biggest problem with digg is the "shout to all" feature. Why is that there?
I don't mind getting shouts from mutual friends. I added them as such because they digg what I digg. But, the "fans" are annoying.
Frostman3D, on 11/08/2007, -0/+1Why would you want to be a "power user"? Is it THAT important to be on the front page? It's not like you did the actual reporting or anything, you just post a link for people to check out. Being on the front page doesn't make you special or anything.
- Frostman3D, on 11/08/2007, -0/+3They're not going to give you a cookie or anything.
jake7457, on 11/08/2007, -1/+1make sure you friend Digg on Facebook!
poturta, on 11/12/2007, -0/+3If you want to be cool and have "on-line friends" who are only there because they can be to make your ego as large as a barn I would suggest Facebook.
I would rather Digg didn't get spammed just so people can look cool on the internet
juventusc, on 11/08/2007, -0/+1most "new" blogs pay to be on the front page, that's the true. check forums like sitepoint they have a section specially for this. MOST BIG blogs(consumerist,techcruch.lifehacker,etc) hire SEO people to be on sites like digg all the time.
binaryloop, on 11/08/2007, -0/+4Wow. Aren't you special! Dirty rotten spammer.
Exclip, on 11/08/2007, -0/+2who cares?
docsmody, on 11/08/2007, -0/+3I'd rather not be a power digger and have a life.
jkoke, on 11/08/2007, -0/+8God. This just proves the Internet is the ***** basement of real life.
bleutuna, on 11/12/2007, -0/+7Um? Seriously? Who gives a crap? Digg's purpose is to give us interesting news - not to make you popular.

The desire of users to be popular and have friends and the like is probably the reason why I just skim through the vast majority of Digg now. God, I remember when Digg started, I would actually READ most of what was linked, because it was all amazingly interesting.

Now some guy jacks off on camera and it makes the page.
- SirReally, on 11/12/2007, -0/+2Really? I missed that one - can you reply with the link?
mysteryberto, on 11/08/2007, -0/+2Buried to fight the power!
emomakesmecry, on 11/08/2007, -1/+7If you're doing all this for the sole-purpose of becoming a so-called "power user" then here's what you need to do.
1. Turn off your computer. I know it's scary but you'll be okay.
2. Go outside. If your skin hasn't seen the sun in a few millennia then wear a jacket.
3. Meet people of the opposite sex and have what science calls "coitus uninterruptus"
4. Watch your self-confidence soar.
- Akaricloud, on 11/08/2007, -0/+1You fail for step 3. Do not call it coitus uninterruptus. It makes me sad in the pants.
  
  I have been here at digg for IDK how long (probably in my profile somewhere) like every other digg user who isn't a douche, I just come on once or twice a day, read a few articles, drop a few comments and maybe digg an article if it was worthwhile. Thats it. I rarely even get friend invites because I just don't whore the site.
slashbot, on 11/08/2007, -1/+3This article is hilarious.

It is almost as if he believes he is of any importance simply because he got a couple stories front paged. Talk about thinking much of yourself.
sjljomo, on 11/08/2007, -4/+0Terrific post. Great info. Thank you for sharing it with us.
68024, on 11/08/2007, -0/+3Pff.. all that 'friend' stuff is not really what I'm interested in here at Digg. I don't see digg as a social networking tool...
Th0rus, on 11/08/2007, -0/+1Lame
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