Broadcasting Brain

Catch the Brainwaves is our ongoing series of interviews with a variety of folks participating in blogging and social media. I ask them ten questions and they respond with their brilliant answers and insights! Today’s Q&A features a master of social media who really knows how to “Digg” his way to the top.

 Today we’re featuring Andrew Sorcini aka Mr. BabyMan of Digg and The Drill Down podcast as our guest.

Are you ready to catch his brainwaves, including:

The TRUE story behind his user name?

Then let’s begin!

1. I’m sure you’ve explained this one million times, but what’s the origin of your user name?
It’s actually a pet name given to me by my girlfriend at the time (who’s now my wife). It’s a reference to my arrested development and general refusal to grow up and act like a serious adult. I began to use it as a username (for lack of a better one) when I would go online. Honestly, if I knew it was gonna be so notorious, I probably would’ve picked something more intimidating.

2. Do you get hit by millions of messages, E-mails, Digg requests, etc. the minute that you go online?
Less than you’d think, but mostly when I show up on IM. I’m open to all emails and Digg shouts, as long as they’re not spam.

3. Some might say that you are an on-line celebrity. That brings up another question: why do you think people put so much value in being a celebrity?
Former Photobucket marketer MJ Kim once told me, “Andy Warhol said that in the future everyone will be famous for 15 minutes. Well, when you’re ‘internet famous’, you’re famous to 15 people.” While I certainly don’t consider myself a celebrity (even an ‘internet famous’ one), I think celebrity is significant to some people as a public validation of success.

4. Does being the top Digger something you cherish or is it that big of a deal to you?
I’m proud of the honor, but I never sought out to be top digger. Many people consider Digg to be like a game, where the goal in competition is to try and get the most submissions to the front page, or to have a perfect submission record, or to be the most prolific thread commenter. Digg has never been about that for me. My only goal in submitting to Digg is to find the most interesting sites & articles and expose them to the broadest audience possible. In that respect, there is no goal of completion for me. I’ll keep submitting to Digg as long as there are great stories to submit.

5. Can you single out any one Digg submission or story that will be etched into your memory for the rest of your life?
Oddly enough, the stories that really stand out for me are the ones that I really felt passionately about, but failed to make the front page. The real tragedy of Digg is how many amazing stories are submitted, but never make the front page for one reason or another. I would recommend to any digg user that they take the time to look past the front page and onto the Upcoming page, where the real gems are.

6. Is it easy for you to keep up with all of your social media contacts? Do you use software, a notebook, or memory exercises to keep track of it all?
Keeping track of my social media contacts is actually my weakest point. I seem to be often too overwhelmed to engage in regular communication with my social news contacts. I don’t IM that often, so if you’re not on my friends list, the best way to get my attention is to email me or ’shout’ to me.

7. What’s the next step for social news? What is it going to evolve to be?
You’re going to see social news become more ubiquitous and more integrated into mainstream media. The walls between the two will eventually break down completely. User commentary will share space on the page with journalist-written articles in The New York Times. CNN video coverage of momentous events will share space with live video streaming from users’ cellphones of the same events. As people realize they can contribute to the collective voice and be heard, the news space will evolve to be richer, more eclectic, and better informed.

8. Pretend the Internet is destroyed overnight. What do you do the next morning?
Focus my free time on my other passion, watching and studying movies. It would probably mean going to Blockbuster instead of Netflix, but what are you gonna do?

9. Do you hope that your social media work will have a legacy? If so, what kind of legacy do you want to be remembered for?
More than any one particular act, I would hope the body of my work would serve to highlight the significance of the social bookmarker. A tremendous amount of time and effort is volunteered by scores of talented people with the knack for uncovering the best content, and it’s very easy to forget that it doesn’t just anonymously appear of the front pages of everyone’s favorite social news sites. Content is always king, of course, but the social bookmarker is the one who delivers it.

10. What one piece of knowledge, advice, or wisdom do you have to share with our readers?
The most often question I’m asked regarding social bookmarking is “what is the best way to get my stories seen?” To which I say two things: Be choosy about what you submit, as you will be judged by your content. And make lots of friends and support each other by promoting each others’ stories. Often this is the only way to insure your story rises above the scores of other submissions.
The other advice I’d offer is not to take it all too seriously. It’s supposed to be fun.

Thanks to Mr BabyMan for sharing his brainwaves!

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