Anyone who uses social news sites knows that any news submission basically winds up in one of three places:
a) the site’s “front page”, where it gets maximum exposure
b) the site’s “upcoming” or “new” section, where it stays until it gets enough votes to get promoted to the front page, or:
c) the “bury” status, whereby the story either becomes invisible to the general population
Social news users cast votes to get the story from b) to a) while hopefully avoiding c). Votes clearly have value, but do they have more value at any given point in time in the process?
I have a couple of questions for all social media users and I would greatly appreciate it if you would respond by comment here on this blog or at the social news site that where you are probably seeing this article.? I think this knowledge could be valuable to a lot of people.
1) Is a “vote” (i.e. Digg, Stumble, Sphinn, etc.) more valuable to you when it’s cast before a story becomes popular before the story hits “front page”, after it hits “front page”, or does it matter?
2) If someone casts a vote for your story, are you more likely to check out their submissions if they vote for you during the “upcoming” phase or during the “front page” phase?
3) Do you place any value in votes on your submission after it’s been buried?
I would really appreciate any feedback that you can provide to these questions. Thanks for reading!
It depends: On Mixx I do not care for the front page and as I often get targeted by the bury brigade so that my old posts end up -2 or something for no reason I appreciate any vote even a week after submission.
I don’t use reddit, it’s an elitist club where the people spit at you if you don’t fit in to their tight regulations. Reddit is the borg collective of social news.
On Sphinn I do care for the front page! And one day I want to be on top of most popular there.
I rarely use the Apple fan community Digg and never submit there, as I don’t like Apple exploitation in China, toxic waste and DRM.
@TadChef – thanks for your input. Your comment about Digg as the “Apple fan community” is hilarious, although you might not have intended it! So is your comment about Reddit (“You will be downvoted… resistance is futile.”)
Mark … votes are much more valuable to me in the ‘upcoming’ phase than after they’ve hit hot. … on any social media. Absolutely … if someone votes for my submission in the first 24 hours on Digg, I’m much more likely to check out their submissions, and follow them if they’ve got a good trend going.
@Jeff – thanks for the reply. It’s the most logical answer
Our group’s focus is on both content and quality of our services and simultaneously targeting potential customers and users with a public interface. I don’t follow most of the communities out there one by one. Therefore, I don’t pay much attention to the “front” or other pages. My natural inclination is to first bond with others who express an interest in what I have to say and vice verse–but not a requirement. I am no giant fan of Digg–as it is obvious that they are driving an agenda. Mixx is quite sophisticated in use and also seems to value quality and content w/o the bias.
@DerivativeRe – interesting perspective, thank you