Three Reasons Why Social Bookmarking Is About To Get Ugly
Over the past year many nifty sites such as digg.com, reddit.com, and del.icio.us all have become almost iconic in their ability to not only aggregate news but to also provide a way for the users to choose what news they like in the form of a ratings system. Unfortunately what has started as a great idea has now become the 800lb gorilla for web publishers in the form of the traffic these sites can generate. Just like the first internet bubble things are about to get ugly for these sites as they are quickly becoming victims of their own success. Although I could list many reasons why these sites face an uncertain future the three I list below are maybe the biggest problems facing social bookmarking so far.
Technorati Tags: commentary, digg, reddit, social
1. They Can Be Manipulated – By far the largest issue facing these sites is the simple fact that they can be “gamed” no matter what technical wizardry they attempt to put into place to stop such attempts. Unless they decide to implement a human element into the editorial process (a la Netscape?) there does not appear to be any possible defense against large numbers of individuals pushing a story up onto the main pages of these sites. Of course some might say that this is exactly what is supposed to happen, large numbers of people decide something is news-worthy so it then becomes news. Well, what if this initial group of people all belong to the same company or social group, and the story they push up to the main page is something they (and maybe only they) think is important. Or even better, what happens if small to medium numbers of users begin to exchange “votes” on each other’s stories in order to improve rankings. Starting to sound familiar? It should, since this is the same tactics used by internet marketing firms who are paid to improve web sites rankings in the search engines. The bottom line here is that there does not appear to be any technical means of fighting this type of manipulation other than simply banning anyone even remotely suspected of collusion with other users and this will only hold things off for so long.
2. They Depend On Good Content – So lets assume there is no way to “game” these sites, what else might become a problem? How about large numbers of stories being submitted that are nothing but spam or just plain random noise? Already this problem is starting to drastically affect reddit.com where there are routinely large numbers of worthless stories that manage to make it to the main page. I can’t imagine users bothering to read these sites if every second story is basically a advertisement for something or links off to blurry photo or video. So maybe this is a universal problem with user-generated content and these sites are going to be no better off than any other site but one has to admit that it does raise some fundamental questions as to just how viable these sites will be long-term. Bottom line here is the old adage that content is king and if you lack enough good content folks might go elsewhere to get their daily news fix.
3. Anyone Can Do It - I have always had a rule that has never once failed me. Never waste my time pursuing something that anyone can do. Sounds basic but trust me, it really makes sense in the context of technology. If anyone can build a digg.com or reddit.com type of site then it stands to reason that it will be only a matter of time before the internet is populated with thousands of knock-offs diluting the whole experience. Already we are seeing previously established sites (eg. Netscape.com) implementing the “social bookmarking” type of ratings systems in a “me-too” approach to marketing their own sites. Recent critical articles from cnet.com have driven home the fact that the established media sites are aiming their phasers at sites such as digg or reddit and trust me they are not set for stun. Bottom line here is the ever present problem of technology making it possible for everyone to play at the same pool. Once this happens it is only a matter of time before you need to find a new pool to play in or face the consequences.
Of course it is entirely possible I could be completely wrong and digg.com will replace cnn.com as the place where quality news is found the instant it happens. But something tells me this is not going to be the case and if recent indications are telling I think the worst is still to come. Ultimately I do hope someone comes up with a way to make social bookmarking sites better and less prone to the problems above so we all can continue to enjoy being a part of the news-making process!
Ah, but does the problem not lie with there only being less than a handful of these ‘established’ sites?
If specific niches could develop their own versions along similar lines then you very well may solve the problem as opposed to exacerbate it.
I do agree there’s a problem with gaming and content though. But, where there’s brass, there’s muck.
I think your right. It’s about to get ugly like the first dot com boom, but that doesn’t mean we can’t have fun before the bubble bursts, if indeed it does. I for one thought meta search engines were a fad back in the day. Hey, now look at Google.
I quite like social bookmarking sites. Yes, you definitely have to separate the wheat from the chaff, but I’ve learned a lot from strangers on subjects I didn’t even know existed. There’s a wealth of knowledge out there.