You never really know who is behind some of the usernames on Digg, I didn’t. An old friend that I hadn’t spoken with in a long while called up and wanted some advice on a server configuration issue he was having. During the conversation, I had mentioned how I read some Linux articles on Digg. Right away he yelled into the phone “you digg?” I’m not very active and some people would call me a “front page digger” meaning I mostly digg stories that are on the front page. We then got into a two-hour conversation about Digg. I asked him if he would do an interview for our blog and he said no. Instead, he came up with this confessions idea, as long as it was anonymous. Diggers can be like that, they often want to keep their real identities private.
7) Mutual Friends
I will never add you as a friend on Digg unless you are a very active digger. I don’t mean 25-50 diggs in 48 hours what I’m looking for is 100-300 diggs every 48 hours. I submit a lot of articles and I need a core base of friends that will digg my submissions, every day. BTW, if you add someone and they don’t make it mutual you can un-friend them and try it again at a later date. Every time you add them as a friend they will receive an email alerting them of this. If someone hasn’t made a friendship mutual within a few weeks the chances are they never will, so un-friend them and try it again.
6) Don’t Over Shout, Tweet or IM
If you shout at me more than 5 stories a day, I will un-friend you faster than cheetah hunting down a prairie dog. I keep anywhere from 175-300 friends at any given time on Digg. Every one of them has stories they want me to look at and Digg. If you are shouting more than 5 stories in a day it gives me no time to spend on my other 299 friends’ stories.
5) I’m Very Selfish
I’m selfish and this is why I’m a top digger! I’m selfish because I get paid to submit content and help make it popular on Digg. I have a handful of clients that are on contract for social media marketing. Not every story goes popular but it doesn’t matter, I get paid on a monthly basis by helping promote their stories on websites like Digg, Reddit, StumbleUpon, and a few other websites. Anywhere from 15% to 30% of the stories I submit go popular. I often submit other news stories so it doesn’t look like I’m submitting from the same websites over and over again.
4) AIM & Twitter
I use AIM to get many of my submissions going. I have a list of about 200+ active diggers on it and I will give them a shout-out on AIM so they can digg my submissions. Many of these AIM digg buddies are not eve Mutual Friends on Digg. However, we help each other out and send messages via AIM and Twitter to spread the word that we need diggs.
3) It Takes Time and Lots of It
I live on Digg. I do not use any automated scripts and I spend anywhere from 4 hours to 8 hours per day on Digg. If you want to be a power user then you need to put in the time it takes. Sure you can take shortcuts but Digg is getting better at catching people that use automated scripts. I don’t want to risk it, it’s how I make a living. I’m very careful that I stay within the TOS of Digg, and to do that, becoming a power user takes time. Anyone can become a power user they just need to put in the time it takes.
2) Friend Maintenance
I constantly (3-5 times per month) maintain my Mutual Friends on Digg. If you have not been active in the past three weeks or you are not digging my stories I will remove you as a mutual friend. I constantly look for active diggers that are willing to reciprocate my diggs, this is how it works. I often use websites that were created just to tell me who is digging my submissions and who hasn’t. Why should I keep someone as a Mutual Friend if they do nothing for me?
1) I Don’t Actually Read Your Crappy Submissions
I don’t read every story that I have dugg. If I did I would never get anything done! I do read some stories but let’s be honest, at least half of the stories are total crap. For example, nobody including myself wants to read the score and summary of some game played in India in a sport I have no idea how to play. I only digg it so you will digg my submissions.
