Posts
I had also never visiting Digg.com prior to reading the chapter from Levinson’s book. I find the idea behind the site to be very interesting. It’s important that individuals declare which stories they are interested in and get the opportunity to share them on Digg. The site is a refreshing change for discovering stories other than those broadcasted on television news. This way, individuals are able to share stories untold on the news that they feel are important. This assigns a more active role in promoting idea or change through sharing a particular story of interest. Although I am fascinated by the idea of Digg, I do agree with many prior posts that it should be used with caution. It should be a used as a starting point to discovering stories that should then be further researched on more reliable news sites.
It is also sad to see that the freedom in sharing stories of interest on the social news website is manipulated. Just like anything else, too much of something will be taken advantage of. The fact that companies pay for stories to be submitted to the site or to have their product advertised is truly pathetic. These companies are willing to replace bigger headlining news with their own stories simply in attempts to advertise and market themselves. It makes you wonder what people really value.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
There has been a sense of idealism attached to new media, and especially social media, that goes back to the pioneering days of the early 90s, and before that, but we are dealing with human beings, after all. For me, one of the important points is that much of new media generates a game-like involvement, so "gaming" is part of the bias of the media.
ReplyDeletePersonally, it is more troubling when companies or political parties digg their stories to the front page to gain media attention. I would think this is more common than regular citizens gaming the system just to be disruptive. As a result, it is important to be skeptical about some of the articles that have made it to the front page.
ReplyDelete