The Effects Of Digg on My Blog

September 24, 2007 · Comments

digging The other day, I was fortunate enough to make the front page of Digg.com. I also made the top of del.icio.us. Somewhere in my mind, I had the vision that this would dramatically change my website. I figured I’d get some awareness, and that this would really build on the community of amazing people who’ve been with me over this last year. I’ve never wanted bodies for bodies’ sake. I’ve wanted more sharp minds for all of us to engage here. I think we’ve seen a few, and I’ve met some new names on the site, but here’s the truth of the numbers:

diggeffect

From before the big day to after, the net effect? Nothing. Neither on my web page directly or subscribers to RSS. Nothing.

Why This Matters, or Doesn’t

My experience tells me this about me and my content: you’re already here. I’m gaining 50-100 new friends a week. And that’s just plenty fine. It means we get to know about each other in a more organic way. And it also tells me that “fake” fast growth doesn’t do much to change my core community.

I feel good about this. It means that tricks don’t matter. Good content matters.

Rising Tide

We are at the heart of a social media and social networking revolution. And this might not be a money revolution, but it is most certainly a communications revolution. We’re now able to reach out to people, communicate in a rich fashion, and build stronger relationships using these tools. As such, I’ve found that my conversations here, with you, are pertinent to the revolution. We’re all figuring this out together, right?

So, to Digg’s front page, and any new folks who’ve stuck around, welcome. I’m glad you’re here. And to you who’ve been here for a little while, I’m glad you’re still here and still participating.

And for folks who haven’t said a word on this blog yet? Drop a comment. Peep. Say hi. : )

And if you’re enjoying this blog, please consider subscribing for free.

Photo credit, SarahCartwright

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  • Chris,
    Happy to have found you. I've just subscribed. Keep the great content coming.
  • Peep!
  • Chris, My experience was exactly the same when I was first dugg 2 years ago because of some photographs I had taken during an ATM crashing and rebooting. I still get a bit of trickle in from digg, but not much.

    -Jeff
    http://blog.zemote.com
  • Chris,

    Your findings match the same I've seen at least a dozen times with various properties over the last year or so. Sites I've been involved with have been both Dugg and BoingBoinged, wreaking havoc for a day or two. But after tht, the traffic has normalized much to where it was prior to the spike. Several friends of mine have noticed the same on different sites, like getting the featured position on the iTunes Music Store.

    Death of the blockbuster? Or just what we've known for a while -- it's more important to build meaningful long-lasting relationships?

    E.
  • Chris,

    We hear a lot about "The 60 Minutes Effect", "The Oprah Effect" & "The Diff Effect". I used to work for a guy who was featured in a positive story on 60 Minutes and 6 months later was on Oprah. Both resulted in temporary (a few days) spikes of interest, but things always returned to "normal". However, in the long run, his notoriety improved steadily through hard work.

    The appearances probably helped, but I know very few people who've "made it" who did it overnight because of an appearance on Digg, Oprah, del.icio.us #1 on Billboard or whatever.
  • Thanks for the insightful report, Chris. I'd be interested in what the steady state # is. I've just added Google Analytics as a curiosity (and probably a great procrastination tool)...
  • Chris,
    I've had clients mentioned on Fox News Network or BusinessWeek and got huge bumps, but quickly returned to previous levels. Curiosity seekers don't hang around, they're on to the next thing. You're dead-on to build a quality, engaged audience who seek your insights and opinions. Keep up the good work.
  • Hi! :)

    I've found your blog this weekend, and I have to say your 100 Blog Topics list is amazing. That article alone made me want to subscribe to your feed, and here I am... saying "hi", as you requested. ;)

    As for this Digg experience of yours, it proves once again what's been said by many others: Digg users don't stick to a site, don't click on ads, don't subscribe... they just enter, take a quick look and go away (some will even say bad things about you later on). Unless a blogger is able to produce at least one weekly piece with real chances to make it to Digg's front page (therefore ensuring a consistent trafic flow), I'd say he/she shouldn't put too much effort in using that site as a promotion tool.
  • Digg is notorious for sending untargetted traffic who would prefer to use Digg to read their daily news than use Digg to find quality news sources to read.

    My experience is that traffic and RSS readership usually settles down to a level a little higher than before the 'Digg' but that's not always the case.

    At the end of the day getting on Digg gets you bragging rights and a pat on the back, while the hard work you put in day after day is what's growing your community long term :)
  • Wow, I am *really* glad a lot of you came back and reported similar experiences to me. I was worried at some level that you'd all come back and say, "No way, dude. Digg doubled my traffic. You must just be a loser." But nope. I'm doing the same as what you did, or so it seems. Phew. : )

    Thanks for all the thoughts.

    And for those of you who peeped, great to see you!
  • Cameron Reilly
    Chris, I wrote almost the exact same post a year ago:

    http://gdayworld.thepodcastnetwork.com/2006/11/...

    Since then I haven't really bothered much with Digg. You can't build a business model on 15 minutes of fame.

    cheers
    CR
  • Yeah, Chris I think that developing readership or growing the network in an organic way to be best. It's kind of like your closest friends in the real world. Most of the time it's a long-term relationship that has many events, conversations and a deep understanding involved within them.

    Getting huge amounts of traffic might be cool, but it would reduce the chance for you to interact with your network as much as you do now. It may be inevitable as the scope of what you do grows, but I'm interested to see how you adapt.

    Thanks,
    Rick
  • I was one of those who came in from Digg, and hung around. I've had the same experience with things like StumbleUpon; a big spike in traffic, and absolutely no perceptible difference after. Nice for the ego, though...
  • I've read similar reports from John Gruber (DaringFireball.net) and Jason Kottke (http://www.kottke.org). Both have reported the same Digg effects and that this kind of traffic doesn't stick around for the rest of the conversation.
  • Digg does not really have an affect on websites any more. I think gone are the days of the "Digg effect".
  • Merlene
    I've been subscribed to your feed for a few months now although I'm really not certain how I got here the first time.

    What I do notice is that I rarely read your posts within Google Reader as I do most others. I always find something in them that I want to take time to read and ponder so I open the post in a new tab. This morning I checked my tabs and found I had 53 open, several of them were from this site. Many get bookmarked to come back to again.

    Ultimately content is king. Digg is kind of like carnival food. Always something interesting and perhaps even tasty in bites but the things that feed us and sustain us are the good hearty meals we get when we settle in at the bounty provided by those blogs/sites that consistently serve up good fare.

    Ok now I'm hungry. Peep.
  • Merlene
    I've been subscribed to your feed for a few months now although I'm really not certain how I got here the first time.

    What I do notice is that I rarely read your posts within Google Reader as I do most others. I always find something in them that I want to take time to read and ponder so I open the post in a new tab. This morning I checked my tabs and found I had 53 open, several of them were from this site. Many get bookmarked to come back to again.

    Ultimately content is king. Digg is kind of like carnival food. Always something interesting and perhaps even tasty in bites but the things that feed us and sustain us are the good hearty meals we get when we settle in at the bounty provided by those blogs/sites that consistently serve up good fare.

    Ok now I'm hungry. Peep.
    /off to stalk some others for a while...

    ~ Merlene
  • Chris you are as always; spot on. I may not post regularly on your blog but I read daily and have a special foldr called CB- Social Media where I put the ones I want to bookmark.

    Keep up the good work!

    Mike
  • Steve Coulson
    No, this is completely normal Chris, not just for Digg, but all similar traffic drivers. My site once made the front of Digg, Fark, Delicious and a couple of others all on the same day. That one day my traffic spiked from it's usual 10-15k a day to over 100,000 visitors in one 24 hour period. Yes, you read that right. Within a week - back to almost normal levels.

    One spike isn't going to change your traffic. A month of spikes, one every day, may have more of a lasting effect.
  • Jon
    To be fair. Digg, fark, slashdot, del.icio.us all serve the same purpose. For people to waste time on the internet because they've already been EVERYWHERE. I know thats what I do. Now, I might be a little different from other Digg'rs because when I find an interesting article linked on to a blog - I go and check out the rest of the blog. Sometimes I favorite them (like your site), sometimes I move on.

    All in all, thats a cool lookin spike.
  • Thanks for providing the data I'd long suspected. Slashdot, Digg, etc. don't provide much more than drive bys...

    FWIW, I came in off a link on http://bestengagingcommunities.com/ - which is a blog I read regularly. Niche affinity means more engaged readers, I suspect.
  • Hi Chirs...

    before Digg got big (pardon the pun!) you could get the same effect if you were "Instalanched" (as in linked on Instapundit) or Slashdotted (I heard that one at a confernece two years ago)--basically, it's being linked on any really huge big traffic site.

    In '06 I got both Instalanched and then, six months later, Kos'd. Both were great spikes, but really didn't send over any long-term readers--probably because I'm not a political blogger.

    For me, most readers that subscribe come thru Techmeme (not big traffic hits, but quality ones) and thru Google search (oddly enough.) I also find that subscriptions go up when I end up linked on blogs of very influential people. These folks might not have huge traffic, but they have influence. And, for me, at the stage where I'm at in my career, getting those links are like gold.
  • I found you recently through twitter. Has anyone experienced the twitter effect yet?
  • Chris,

    John Chow swears by getting dugg. I hope to achieve the same with my website.

    signed by oasisfleeting.tk and epsteins mother.
  • Sarah
    Thanks for the credits. =) It's appreciated!

    Interesting results about digg to...
  • Idetrorce
    very interesting, but I don't agree with you
    Idetrorce
  • The best way out is always through.--Robert Frost (1874--1963), US poet
  • Politics is a form of astrology--and money is its sign.--John Leonard, U.S. journalist, in Esquire, 1969
  • hi, good i am also will start digging here after

    visit my site too
    http://www.leopix.com

    thx
    leo stanley
    blogger
  • Very interesting observations from 2 years ago. The beauty of the internet is that my search for digg and some other content brought me here, to your page. I have enjoyed learning some of the finer points of blogging and coming to your site is just a stepping stone along the way. -1-
  • rrd11
    i googled 'how do i use digg for my blog' and this is the first hit.... very helpful... could u do the same for other sites as well? :) tanx....
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