Reddit, Slashdot, Digg: Social News Websites March 2, 2012 by Sarah Bauer BA English Literature

The Internet is bloated with content. Skimming through the rotten chunks to get to the good stuff takes the time and patience that you might reserve for leisurely spring Sundays at garage sales. It’s a luxury.

So the solution for those who need to get on with their lives and still feel connected to the rich and informative Internet land rests in social news websites.

Reddit, Slashdot, and Digg remain the best and brightest, though Digg has experienced a recent sag in user participation.

These sites allow users to submit content, which then appears on the page in order of popularity rank.  With Reddit and Digg, the more votes a submission receives, the higher it will rank.  On Slashdot, system editors decide which are best for first page appearance. Both systems characterize the first page links as relevant, useful, and entertaining.

In other words, it’s the good stuff.

Users can create accounts to customize what content topics appear on their homepages, and submit links and comments to the site. If you’ve got artwork to show off or a hot news story to share, a Reddit account provides the place to post. And with comment sections breeding new memes and communities on Reddit every day, the chance to connect with fellow industry players and Leonard Nimoy enthusiasts is sure to be found here.

Lunch break laughs are easily found through social news websites, as categorized sections separate the international news from the Keanu Reeves memes.  Need some current world politics anecdotes to gear you up for a dinner party? Try the Politics reddit. With over 67,000 reddits (the actual term for categories of links on the site) available, you’re likely to find just the right tidbit to tide you over any awkward social encounter.

Reddit.com fosters incredible social communities and encourages creativity in its users. From an entrepreneurial standpoint, Reddit provides the possibility to gain exposure for an idea or product. We’ll talk more about that in the next blog post on Marketing Your Brand Through Social News Sites.

Slashdot.com treads the tech and science waters, bringing users content they can trust.  Although monitored and ranked by administrators, the submissions are based on user initiative. The comment section is where discussion thrives, particularly in the Ask Slashdot category. Users open up questions to fellow tech enthusiasts, and can expect hundreds of responses.

Digg.com was once the reigning social news website, enjoying massive popularity early after its launch in 2004. Users vote for the material they find useful or interesting, and vote down the crummy bits, creating a dynamic first page of well-dug resources. While still harbouring around 4.3 million unique American visitors a month, Digg.com experienced a traffic decline following the August 2010 version update (Digg v4). Removing functions like “bury” [ing] poor content resulted in a drop in user participation. Some claimed that the soul of Digg.com was stripped in this version update. No longer king, Digg.com has settled modestly in the noble court of social news websites.

Reddit, Slashdot, and Digg are three of several resources for user-submitted news. Take a browse through a few and get familiar with the platform. In our next blog post, we’ll discuss using these free tools for spreading brand awareness and promoting dialogue about your business.

There are marketing opportunities to harness in social news websites. We’ll uncover the steps to get started.

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