July 29, 2007

Interview #13 - dirtyfratboy - Top Digg User

As of this writing Henry W., aka dirtyfratboy, is #16 on the list of Top 100 Diggers with 496 front page stories. Below he speaks on Digg as a marketing war, working at Netscape, and tips on getting your content noticed.

1. For those of us who are unfamiliar with you, could you briefly describe who you are and what you do?

I’m a Netscape Scout. I submit stories of interest to Netscape, help in the endeavor to remove all spam from Netscape, redirect stories breaking the middle-man rule to their original source, and generally serve as leaders in the social news space. However, I wouldn’t have gotten my job without the help of Digg.

2. How long have you been digging? Why did you get started?

I registered my username in August of 2005. I lurked around the site for a while before that, but finally joined the site to submit a story that I thought was interesting at the time. Even though it only got 7 diggs, I was hooked.

3. What’s more important in being a successful Digg user: Building friendships with other users or writing catchy headlines and overviews?

I think of Digg as a marketing war. Your product (story) will be grow or disappear depending on if your title and description catches the eye of the user, if the content is appealing, and if your reputation is good. You should have a good mix of these attributes to have a popular story.

4. Where do you source your submitted articles from?

I get my stories from a wide range of RSS feeds. I try to not limit myself to mainstream stories, since it’s most likely that someone else has already submitted the story before you.

5. Where do you think the line is drawn in what is ethical or not when charging for digg services? (ie. offering advice on writing diggable content, digging a story solely because you’ve been paid, etc.)

I don’t agree with the idea of paying for votes, but as long as it doesn’t break the law (the terms and conditions), people should be allowed to do what they want to make their story popular. The internet is a democracy, right?

6. What have been some of your biggest frustrations with Digg?

My biggest frustration is the number of stories that never reach the frontpage. The ironic thing is that the site was created to recognize all the great content that was Slashdot didn’t feature. Maybe someone should do the same for Digg

7. What should someone definitely not do, when submitting to Digg?

NEVER WRITE IN CAPS LOCK TO ATTRACT ATTENTION or **use symbols**!!!! You don’t even need to know how to spell or use correct grammar and punctuation, just avoid looking like spam, since many people are hardwired to press the delete button at the sight of spam. One other thing is submitting something in a language other than english. Those stories are doomed from the start.

8. What’s the best thing someone can do to get their great content noticed on Digg?

There isn’t a magic shortcut to having a popular story. If you find something interesting and want to share it with other users, just go ahead and submit it. When I first registered, it took me a hundred days before one of my stories finally made the frontpage. Just keep with it.

Thanks for taking the time to share your insight with us. Just one more question: When are you going to Digg all of these great interviews?