Legalize Pot and Save the Economy!

Today's Digg leader features neither silly pictures nor references to Barack Obama. Instead, Digg users have selected a commentary from CBS News concerning the legalization of marijuana. Here's why it works:

1) Support for marijuana legalization: Being that the article is commentary and not a hard news piece, the writer is well within his bounds to subjectively support or oppose the topic he's writing about. In this case, he supports the legalization of marijuana, which goes over extremely well with the Digg "fanboys" who wildly agree on the subject.

Remember: Digg is a San Francisco-based company, so what's popular in San Francisco is what will be popular on Digg.

2) Brevity: The article's entire text can almost fit into one browser window. This is much different than, say, a New York Times article -- you know the type: you get to the bottom of the page and see links for pages 2, 3, and 4; and all of a sudden you lose the urge to read the entire piece.

3) Easy reading level: The author obviously did not have an audience of his lawyer peers in mind when he wrote the article. It's easy to read and he gets right to the point, making the article suitable to pass along to others of all different education levels.

See A Fish With A Transparent Head

Today's Digg leader is a rather interesting article about a fish with a transparent head. Check out this crazy picture:

Here's why the article is popular:

1) It's unbelievable, but real: I'm not a zoologist, but I'd have to say there's probably not too many animals on the planet with transparent heads. Animal pictures generally work well on Digg, from dogs making funny faces to cats sleeping on top of each other; but showing people a creature they've never seen, or probably even thought of before, is sure to generate that "wow-I've-got-to-pass-this-on-to-others" factor.

2) Pictures: I can't stress this point enough: Digg loves pictures. It's so much easier to look at something than it is to read about something. And this article uses clear, semi-high-resolution images, as opposed to muddled, grainy, underwater-cam photos -- which certainly would not have not generated as much Digg-buzz as the post has now.

1,671 Diggs: Obama Shocked During A School Visit [PIC]

It appears I've unearthed a new Digg motif: pictures with Obama in them. Here's today's Digg leader, followed by why it works:

1) Obama-ism: I've covered this in the past and I'll probably cover it in the future: Pictures or web pages about Barack Obama work very nicely on Digg. Agree or disagree with his politics, you have to recognize the fact that much -- or at least some, particularly the demographic of Digg users -- of America views Obama as a veritable rock star.

2) News: I know -- it's a funny picture, not a news story. But have you ever seen Obama with that sort of expression on his face? From a guy that's generally one cool cat, this genuine look of fear/craziness is a brand new, unseen side of Obama, which is certainly news to most people.

3) It's a picture: It seems pictures get Dugg more than textual web pages do. Does that have something to do with the fact that web users have low attention spans and like to ascertain the overall message of a web page as quickly as possible? Here's a hint: Yes.

You'll find the original Digg page here.

1,672 Diggs: 65 Trillion - U.S. Debt Exceeds The GDP Of The Entire World

Today's Digg leader features neither comedy nor celebrities, and, quite frankly, I'm surprised at how many Diggs the page has received. It's a thoughtful blog post (from a blogger on blogspot.com, nonetheless) about the current economic crisis. Here's why it works:

1) News: People like to learn things, and, just like comedy, when someone learns something they like they'll want to pass it on to others. Even though the page is commentary and not a hard news story, it begins by informing the reader about a fact -- in this case, that the US government is 65 trillion in the hole; and, in addition, the author provides a link to the news story that substantiates his claim, which is a very important blogging practice.

2) Severity: News works -- but important news works even more. The story is about the fall of the United States due to the economic crisis: I think that's worth reading and Digging, don't you?

3) Easy to read: Almost every paragraph on the page consists of only one sentence. This makes the page easier to read and process, and it encourages readers to finish the story -- as opposed to long, convoluted paragraphs that most readers will skim and immediately forget.

The original Digg page is here.

8,717 Diggs: Hello .. Ladies of the Internet | Find the love of your life

The U.S. economy is crumbling, the job market is dreadful, and now more than 10% of Americans are part of the federal food assistance program; but today's Digg leader is proof that Americans are truly light-hearted people -- or, rather, proof that Digg users are predominantly affluent and don't care about economic news. Here it is:



Here's why this picture works (by the way, the entire page is actually just a JPEG file; so when I refer to it as a "picture" I'm referring to the entire content, not just the photo of the kid):

1) Comedy: It's a very funny picture on several levels (that is, if you're not the kid from the photo). Comedy is a great tool for getting Diggs because there's some mysterious part of the human psyche that just urges people to pass along a good joke when they hear or see one. Remember, a few years ago, the video of the monkey sticking his finger up his butt and then passing out after smelling it? I'll bet if you saw that you at least got one other person to watch it. I rest my case.

2) Believability: The picture's a fake, right? Or is it? That's certainly a photo of a real person at the bottom, so maybe the whole thing is indeed real. In either case, it adds a layer of excitement to the picture; and I'll bet it was one of the first thoughts that crossed your mind after you finished viewing it for the first time. If it totally crossed the line of believability the joke wouldn't work as well, and wouldn't have the Digg-status it currently has.

3) Audience: Remember, the Internet -- or at least Digg -- is dominated by nerdy white men, so if you're going to tell a joke, make sure that nerdy white men will understand it. This picture, with its references to Asian culture and video games, meets that requirement nicely.

You'll find the original Digg page here.

4,062 Diggs: Obama is Kind of A Hero (PIC)

One of the beautiful parts about Digg is the diversity of the content submitted: From thoughtful opinion pieces to hard-hitting news stories to stupid Photoshopped JPEGs, you'll find it all on Digg. Today's winner falls into the formerly-mentioned third category and comes in with a whopping 3,000-plus Diggs. Have a look:

That's right, no bookish insight on this one -- just a funny photo of President Obama throwing a shoe at former-President Bush. Here's why it works:

1) Left-wing politics/Bush-bashing: The Internet is not exactly a haunt for conservatives. While there are some popular right-wing websites, like Hot Air, Digg is certainly not one of them. Submitted content supporting Bush or John McCain (or any Republican, for that matter) probably won't make it too far; but submitted content supporting Obama -- that's a sure winner. For a country that's split pretty much 50/50 conservative/liberal, I don't exactly know why the most Digged stories tend to lean Left. Perhaps it's because Digg was founded in, and is still based out of, San Francisco, the modern-day Gomorrah in the eyes of the Biblically-inclined; perhaps it's because most web users tend to be young and most young people tend to be liberal; perhaps it's because there's a massive conspiracy to advance left-wing causes via the Internet. I don't know. But I do know if you want to succeed on Digg -- keep it liberal.

2) Comedy: Obviously, it's a funny picture; and, like all good comedy, it's funny whether you're conservative or liberal. (Note: if it's not funny to you -- lighten up.) Comedy works very well on Digg, because when people see something really funny they want to pass the word on.

3) Brevity: Obama throws shoe at President Bush: It only takes six words to fully explain the content and theme of the picture. Most web users don't have all day to sit around and analyze web content. Keep it pithy and your Diggs will rise.

You'll find the original Digg page here.

3,746 Diggs: Olympic gold medal winner Michael Phelps caught with bong

Digg's reigning champ today is a picture of Michael Phelps smoking marijuana from a bong, as reported by England's News of the World. Let’s analyze its most Digg-worthy elements:

1) Pictures: Remember, most people’s web attention spans are just shorter than a cat playing with a fake mouse toy. If you can’t grab their attention immediately, you’re probably not going to get their Digg. That’s why pictures are golden – especially juicy pictures of celebrities doing illegal activity. And the picture layout of the page is great: a small preview at the top of Phelps smoking the bong; followed by two pictures of Phelps in the capacity he’s known for, as a swimmer; ending with the large, unadultured image everyone wants to see at the bottom. It’s an easy, straight-forward flow for the eye to follow.

2) Celebrityism: I don’t understand it – and it’s certainly not my thing – but people love to read and gossip about celebrities. The celebrity, in this case, is Michael Phelps, a 14-time Olympic gold medal swimmer, and, some would argue, the greatest Olympian of all time. And he’s got a killer six-pack, so the chicks dig that; also, the chicks Digg that. Posting pictures of your friend Bob won’t get you Diggs; posting pictures of your celebrity friends will. So go get some celebrity friends.

3) Source (or, in this case, lack thereof): Have you ever read News of the World? Me neither. But fortunately for them, sources don’t matter to Digg. A great story is just as viable on nytimes.com as it is on angelfire.com/~joes_place/blog/. That’s great news if you’re an up-and-coming blogger; not-so-great news if you’re a media giant. But you’re not a media giant, are you?

Read the titular story here.