TechWag

Mashible (whom we love) has an interesting story on Kevin Rose and the whole Digg saga, and where they want to go next. Apparently, it seems to center on audio, video, and restaurants, which is fine. Nevertheless, this sentence caught our attention

But a big shift in demographic can happen: Facebook proved it. In order for Digg to go mainstream, they’ll need to find a way to break the cycle of geeks inviting more geeks. Digg will never be a major news property unless the audience itself is mainstream. Source: Mashible

So the idea of geeks inviting more geeks, that’s ok, given that we run an alternative to Digg (check out our story here), and while Digg was cool, the question we have is can Digg, or does Digg really want the credibility of being CNN, or say Google News, or even Slashdot?

Given how they do things, and what they do, if they want to be there, then yes they need to change their entire audience and in some respects their operating model. If they start doing restaurants, I am not all that interested in reviews from deep inside McDonalds or Denny’s, let alone IHOP.

With Digg having trust issues (check here and here), and our own friends experience with Digg, it is needed, but it is more like having an obnoxious boss.

We need Digg because it provides a quick and easy way to supplement a search engine.

We want Digg because it can be interesting

We have issues with Digg because it has developed the appearance of not being something that we all thought it was.

If Digg really has aspirations on being a news outlet aka major player, they need to brand themselves that way, and they need to start branding with trust.

Marketing is all about branding, you would not ask Maxwell House to open a series of stores like Starbucks, the market would balk and do damage to the brand. Now if Maxwell house bought out Tulleys, then that would make more sense.

Digg’s brand has taken a lot of damage lately as people poke holes into the process and what they do. The stand against the AACS censorship, well done, but does anyone really know what Digg is all about?

I would love to be the PR person that gets to handle this one, its going to be one long road, but when Digg comes back out of the change, it might be a good powerhouse of info, and all the rest of the “Diggers” will need to find someplace else to go.

Tags: education, idea, business //