Scripting News: Why the users of Digg got pissed

Scripting News, the weblog started in 1997 that bootstrapped the blogging revolution.

Why the users of Digg got pissed

I hate to say it but Ed Felten doesn't explain why the users of Digg got so upset.

He thinks it's a technical issue. It's just a number, and who can claim ownership of a number?

What if it were Ed Felten's social security number, plus the number of his VISA card, driver's license, mother's maiden name, a couple of pieces of data, enough to unlock a bank account of Ed's that has say $50,000 in it. Suppose the publication of those numbers was done by the same guy who published the code that cracks HD movies on Linux? Would he be less justified in publishing those numbers? Hard to imagine Felten going along with that.

I think I understand why the Digg users got so upset. They weren't consulted. They weren't included in the decision. Their opinion, the core value that Digg "owns" if they own anything, wasn't sought. That was the source of the anger.

If instead of deleting stories and users, silently, they had written an open letter to their users explaining what was happening, and why the lawyers felt they needed to respond quickly; I think that would have worked much better.

The people who man Digg want what everyone wants, respect. To be listened to. To be considered. Solicited. I think that's where the disconnect was.

Last update: Thursday, June 3, 2010; 4:00:45 PM

~About the Author~

Dave Winer, 55, is a visiting scholar at NYU's Arthur L. Carter Journalism Institute. He pioneered the development of weblogs, syndication (RSS), podcasting, outlining, and web content management software; former contributing editor at Wired Magazine, research fellow at Harvard Law School, entrepreneur, and investor in web media companies. A native New Yorker, he received a Master's in Computer Science from the University of Wisconsin, a Bachelor's in Mathematics from Tulane University and currently lives in New York City.

"The protoblogger." - NY Times.

"The father of modern-day content distribution." - PC World.

One of BusinessWeek's 25 Most Influential People on the Web.

"Helped popularize blogging, podcasting and RSS." - Time.

"The father of blogging and RSS." - BBC.

"RSS was born in 1997 out of the confluence of Dave Winer's 'Really Simple Syndication' technology, used to push out blog updates, and Netscape's 'Rich Site Summary', which allowed users to create custom Netscape home pages with regularly updated data flows." - Tim O'Reilly.

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Apr Jun