The Shoutocalypse

nubi came to the Master one day, tormented and afraid. It seemed Digg was changing severely, yet again. "Master, the Powers That Be are taking away our voice! How can we ever share stories with our friends?"

"Fear not, nubi. Do you remember what I told you about your friends on Instant Messengers?"

"Well, yes, but that's only some of my friends!"

"Calm yourself, nubi. I'm not finished. As before, they are your most important friends. However, to make something more like shouts, we have to journey to a new land. That land is the land of Twitter."

"Twitter? I do have a berth there, but it is unfamiliar to me."

"As it will be unfamiliar to your friends, yet it is the best way. A Twitter post is very similar in nature to a shout on Digg, if used that way."

"So, how do I use it?"

"I will contemplate and talk more on this subject soon, but something needs to be said now. First of all, tell your Friends, in a Shout, where your feed is. Also, follow any who shout you their feed."

"Alright... and hopefully they will follow me?"

"Well, yes. This diaspora from Digg's communication lines should be helpful. It should also make the site faster to load."

"That will be nice. So, should I treat Twitter posts like shouts?"

"Not exactly, nubi. There is an Art of Twitter, that you will have to learn, over time. However, at first that should be sufficient, while you learn the ropes."

"So, you will guide me in this, Master?"

"As much as I can, nubi. I'm still learning the Way of Twitter myself."

By this, nubi was enlightened.
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To my Digg friends: Please post your Twitter account as a comment, and tell me your Digg account as well so I know who you are. I WILL follow you.

The Digg Bar

The land of Digg, ever changing as it is, has had a new major change lately. This new major change has allowed other social media networks to interact more with Digg, specifically Twitter and Facebook. The change is known as the Digg Bar. nubi came to the Master to discuss this new change.

``Master, what do you make of this new Digg Bar?''

``It allows for easier and different sharing, using Twitter, Facebook, and instant messaging. Once again, it is showing the fact that your most important Digg friends are not the ones in your Digg friends list.''

``Does this truly change the game here, on Digg?''

``Not yet, nubi, but it will over time. It almost forces us to start to use other networks more, to promote our stories, and also allows us to change the Digg nature faster, if we succeed.''

``Change the Digg nature? Why would we wish to do that, Master?''

``To promote the things we truly like, of course.''

``I've noticed that you seem to have an agenda like that, Master. What is it that you're trying to promote?''

``Thought, nubi. Simply coherent thought.''

At this, nubi was enlightened.

The Master's Travels

nubi was now becoming truly successful in the world of Digg. However, he was greatly troubled when the Master, one day, vanished, almost without a trace. ``Travelling, Digging when I pause'', said his nameline, but that was all of the information he gave. He vanished, in this way, for the better part of two months. Then, one day, he returned to the land of Digg, making a splash by frontpaging again immediately on returning. However, nubi wondered what had happened to the Master that kept him from Digg. He asked for the tale, and was granted this explanation:

My life has been a very interesting one, in my time away from Digg. I've been travelling, visiting and staying with friends, and generally looking for a new lease on life. I'm separated from my wife, and now live a very long way away from where I used to live.

At this point, nubi interrupted him: Master, it sounds like it's been a very hard time for you. I see why you haven't been around. So, how does Digg look different, coming back?

The Master replied: The algorithms change a little, but in the end, Digging is about two things: real friends, and good stories. If you have that, you'll be successful.

At this, nubi was enlightened.

A personal note, from the author

I have been currently travelling, and am possibly going to be a little slower with the updates than my one per day schedule that I have been keeping. I do intend to continue, of course, but at the moment I may take this next few days off. Rest assured, however, that there will be more updates, and the new series, entitled "Zen and the Art of Reddit", will begin soon as well. I thank you all for reading my work, and will likely make my next update about Monday morning or so. Until then, keep Digging, and enjoy yourselves!

P.S. Just to be clear about one thing, I certainly don't mind if people submit my blog to Digg. I will likely no longer be submitting it, unless I think a post is particularly relevant at the time.

Part Ten: The Digger's Nature

Although he was thoroughly enjoying his time Digging, nubi was again troubled. What troubled him this time wasn't directly a problem with Digg and getting his stories to the front page, though. It was more of an existential problem. He realized that sometimes he felt a little much like a robot, Digging only his friends' stories, and submitting the same sites again and again. He went to the master for counsel.

"Master, although I've been digging a while, I'm confused as to what it really means to be a Digger. Are we just robots, trying to frontpage our stories and that of our friends?"


"That's an interesting thought, nubi. Tell me... since you've been Digging, has the frontpage looked different to you than it did before?"

"Actually, yes. I notice that it appals to me more, and has more stories that I enjoy."

"Could a robot make that happen?"

"No, of course not."

"Well, there you go."

Yet, nubi was still troubled. He continued: "Although this is true, it still makes me wonder what the true nature of a Digger is. I mean, what are we?"

"Well, Digg is considered a sort of a news site, correct?"

"Well, yes it is, Master. But what does that mean for my question?"

"Everything. You see, nubi, we are people who report the news."

"So, we're reporters? That's an interesting thought. Yet we also Digg and Bury the stories of others, and comment upon them, which seems not very like reporting."

"Quite true, that is the realm of the editor."

"We also seem to promote ourselves and our friends, which would make us advertisers as well. Is that correct, Master?"

The Master smiled. "Quite so. It seems you are becoming truly enlightened about the nature of a Digger, nubi. I'm glad to see you have given this much thought."

Part Nine: Sharing a Story

Although he was glad of his own success, nubi often felt a little bad that many of his friends had less success. He often shouted for them, just forwarding the link, and yet some of his friends started to complain about the shouts they received. Once again, he came to the Master for help.

"Master, I often see stories that are not mine, but I believe to be worthy of the frontpage. How do I get these stories to the frontpage, like I do with my own?"

"First of all, nubi, do they have the Digg Nature?"

"Some do, some don't."

"I'd suggest that, unless your friends particularly enjoy a specific type of story, that you stick to stories with the Digg nature in your reshouts, first of all."

"Yet even then, it doesn't always seem to help much. Also, my friends complain if I reshout very much."

"What do you tell them in your reshouts?"

"I let the story speak for itself!"

The Master looked agitated. "So, you don't mention a thing about the story, or that you are shouting for a friend?"

"Well no, but..."

"But nothing! First of all, the shout is an art form, as we discussed before. That is where you can put your opinion about the story, without being gauche and commenting on a story you're promoting. Secondly, it is truly good form to tell your friends that you are shouting for a friend, and poor form not to."

"But why?"

"When they receive the same story multiple times, it bothers people if they don't understand why. So much that they may even un-Digg the story and Bury it. This is not what you want, is it?"

At this, nubi was enlightened.

Part Eight: Know Your Audience

Pondering the problems of audience more, nubi couldn't help but find more questions for the Master. As always, since nubi was always kind and polite to him, the Master replied honestly, to help as best he could. Here is another of the many conversations they had.

"Master, I don't understand your submissions. Some of them seem almost doomed to fail from the start, yet you submit them anyway. Why do you do that?"

"It all depends upon the goal I have for that story, nubi."

"Goal? I thought the goal was to have your story Ascend?"

"Not always. I have many other goals, and one even more important than the Ascension of any given story."

"What could be more important than Ascension? What else could matter so much?"

"Many things, nubi. One of them is that I like to shape Digg so that content I like is looked upon more often by many Diggers, even if it doesn't hit the frontpage."

"In other words, you simply submit stories you like."

"Yes. That is only one goal, however. Sometimes, I will submit a friends' blog post, purely to get that friend more views, if I enjoyed the post. This makes the blog more known, as well as the friend happy, and any friend who writes good things makes me happy."

"I see. But the post that makes me wonder was neither of those things. In fact, it was your own blog. Wouldn't it get more success if you asked a friend to post it?"

"Yes, but I don't post it to reach Ascension."

"Why do you post it, then?"

"Because my friends like to read it."

At this, nubi was enlightened.