Blog, Digg, Ideas, Social Media, Software

On resurrecting Digg’s Top Users page

My restoration of Digg’s Top Users page yesterday got a lot of press around the Web:

Both the list and my blog post about the list were submitted to Digg, but both were buried off of the front page. (Buried, or manually removed?)

Michael Arrington mentioned the list at TechCrunch, and the readers commenting on his post inexplicably turned against Netscape. Even though my actions had nothing to do with Netscape, the fact that I write code for them as well apparently makes my reproduction of the list “lame”:

“If this would have come from someone NOT at a competitor (in this case Netscape), I would have thought ‘cool!’ The fact that this comes from someone at Netscape makes me think ‘lame!’.”

Deep Jive Interests (a personal favorite of mine) was the first to wonder how long it would be until I heard from Digg’s infamous legal team. Nothing yet, but I’ll blog about anything that comes in.

This blog somehow decided to go with the headline “Netscape Bringing Top Digg Users Page Back.” I think if Netscape was sponsoring this effort, they’d want some kind of mention somewhere on the page. What? It only links to Digg? That’s awfully strange.

Like many others, Technacular incorrectly reported that I was scraping user profile pages for the rank number that is displayed there; kudos to them, however, for being the only ones to update their post after I sent them a clarification on how the script actually works.

Additionally, my blog was linked from Techmeme, blurbed on Download Squad, and mentioned at ValleyWag.

Oh, and there’s one question that I’ve been asked a few times that I’d like to address here: Sorry ladies, but I’m already taken.

Standard

3 comments on “On resurrecting Digg’s Top Users page

  1. ryland2 says:

    You need to fix the issue of correct sorting. I should be 96 on the list but i am instead 98 because it is not organizing by profile views like diggs did. Great work anyways!

  2. Chris, I think your story getting buried was likely the result of the hatred many Digg users have for the top 100 users. They seem to think that because they have risen to the top of the heap that somehow they must have manipulated there. Also there is a strong current of “they have no lives”. That’s simply inaccurate. I’ve risen into the high 200s just by paying attention to the news and submitting stories when I found them interesting.

    Anyway, that’s a bit off topic. My point is that I think your story illustrates the TRUE problem with Digg… the Bury Brigade. Digg needs to make buries public, rather than allowing people to constantly target users or topics to bury without recourse.

    Anyway, sorry your story didn’t survive long on digg, however, it appears our mention of your list has sent some decent traffic your way. I realize it’s nothing compared to the Digg effect but hey, it’s something…

Leave a Reply to Christopher Finke Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *