Digg Changes Algorithm; Top User Resigns

Just last month Digg surpassed the 500,000 user mark, but the celebration has been stifled by the resignation of Digg’s top user. Digg was launched less than two years ago as a technology and science news site that gives users editorial control. Registered users vote or "digg" each other’s stories. Stories with the most votes are promoted to the front page. This model has been very successful. Digg has become a top site on the Internet rivaling traditional media outlets. It has prompted hundreds of copycats including Netscape and received millions in venture capital. Kevin Rose, the site creator, was featured on the August BusinessWeek cover.

Earlier this week a blogger accused top diggers of gaming the system. He watched the top stories over a couple of days and concluded that “a small ‘aristocracy’ controls the vast majority of the content that gets on Digg.” Digg has been accused of this before, but this time it struck a nerve. Kevin Rose responded by announcing a new algorithm. According to his blog, the “algorithm update will look at the unique digging diversity of the individuals digging the story. [To get promoted] a more diverse pool of individuals will be need to deem the story homepage-worthy.”

Digg’s top user, p9s50W5k4GUD2c6, responded to the changes by angrily announcing his resignation, “I bequeath my measly number one position to whoever wants to reign.” P9 has submitted 1,344 stories over the past seven months and half of them have been promoted to the front page. His resignation is significant because diggers are extremely loyal. Two months ago Jason Calacanis offered top diggers $1,000/month to post their stories to Netscape instead of Digg. Only three of the top twelve took him up on the offer. Most top diggers rejected the offer citing the strength of the Digg community. P9’s defection may signal fissures in the Digg loyalty.

Another top 5 user, Derek van Vilet, has also publicly expressed concerns about the algorithm change, “it sounds like it will take longer for stories to be promoted than it currently does and there are already so many great submissions that miss the boat….” In addition, he thinks that Rose has mishandled the algorithm change announcement, “I was particularly shocked at how he didn’t defend the top users against the flame war… he all but validated the idea that the top users are gaming Digg…” Several top users have removed their avatars in protest and support of P9.

This comes at a time when another popular social networking website, Facebook, is facing user rebellion. The democratic nature of social media is their biggest strength yet can also be their biggest problem. How should sites respond when their user base turns against them?