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i’ve been using the new digg (social networking features included, see inside for details) for a few hours now and like most of the features on the site. the one concern i have, one that a friend (mark/aidenag) pointed out, is the mandatory use of zip codes for all users wanting to add a location from the united states or canada. you can’t just choose country, or country and state/city, you have to tell them exactly which neighborhood you’re living in.

why would they do this?

the first thing that comes to mind is that they might use it for local-social-networking but then why is it mandatory and why just for users in the u.s. and canada? i should be able to decide how much information i want to put in and how local i want to go when networking online. what makes more sense is that they would use this for zip-code-based targeted advertising (this is speculation of course).

but i can fake the information!

of course you could fake the information and in fact i would’ve recommended it but here’s an interesting gem from the ‘new and improved’ digg terms of use:

you shall provide digg with accurate, complete, and updated registration information. failure to do so shall constitute a breach of the terms of use, which may result in immediate termination of your digg account.

and while both the terms of use and the privacy policy repeatedly mention that you can choose not to display certain pieces of information, have a look at the following from the digg privacy policy:

1. digg personnel: digg personnel and authorized consultants and/or contractors may have access to user information if necessary in the normal course of digg business.

2. business transfers: in some cases, we may choose to buy or sell assets. in these types of transactions, user information is typically one of the business assets that is transferred. moreover, if digg, or substantially all of its assets, were acquired, user information would be one of the assets that is transferred.

at this point i can’t specifically confirm that they are using zip codes for targeted-advertisements but that seems to be the more logical conclusion since it’s mandatory if you want to display any geo-information at all.

Technorati Tags: digg, zip code, advertising, privacy

back in february when digg removed the top diggers list from the site, kevin promised,

as for what’s next, we’re currently working on designing and refining the technologies required that will help enable our nearly 900,000 registered users to make real connections that we believe will greatly enhance the digg experience – whether you’re brand new to the site or have been on digg since the beginning. we plan on rolling this out in the coming months along with features and programs that do a better job of rewarding positive contributions to the digg community.

almost 8 months after that, digg is finally ready to deliver on that promise. as businessweek points out, today’s announcement of social networking integration into digg is reminiscent of what you would expect to see on facebook or myspace, but the functionality is equally at home on digg. with the addition of social networking functionality and and the upcoming release (mid-october) of a picture section, digg aims to be your one source for social news, networking, photo and video sharing.

the official digg blog has a video walkthrough of the new features to be launched later tonight.

Technorati Tags: digg, social news, social networking

as promised, the netscape social news site has made the switch to its new branding and is live at propeller.com (netscape itself is redirecting to the portal as previously announced). while the rest of the blogosphere is chewing on their hats, the propeller community is ready to get social. but that’s not all, the director of netscape (now propeller) had this to say,

also, we are not happy to simply stand pat with our existing features. in the near future, we will be able to share information about our new social news platform, which we are extremely excited about. It will bring together the best of all worlds: a world class design team, an advanced website platform, and a host of new and interesting ways to enjoy social news.

(emphasis added)

as always, the entire propeller team (including myself) is here to serve you so if you have any comments, questions, concerns, please feel free to share them with us and we will try to resolve them as best we can.

Technorati Tags: netscape, social news, propeller

a survey conducted by emedia finds that almost two thirds (62%) of all users of social networking sites are worried about the safety of their personal information on these sites and to protect themselves, about one third of these users (31%) enter false information.

original image: tall chris

findings of this survey echo the results from an earlier study by pew internet & american life project, and the most important implication of both studies is the underlying mistrust that users have for social networking sites. as more people sign up for these sites and enter their demographic information as well as their likes and dislikes, these sites become highly valuable resources for data-miners who can ultimately sell this information to the highest bidder.

andrea simmons, consultant security forum manager at british computer society comments, “as we become citizens of cyberspace and with social networking sites making details of members visible through public search engines, we need to learn how to use privacy settings in better ways and use computers safely.”

social networking sites certainly make it easy to stay in touch with co-workers, friends, and family, but the fact that they can be abused by employers, marketers (pdf), and even by the government, is limiting many from enjoying the benefits. at the same time, i’ve always implicitly trusted some networks more than others - for example, i trust linkedin the most, then facebook, and don’t trust myspace at all.

how safe do you feel, how honest are you, and how much do you reveal online?

Technorati Tags: social networking, linkedin, facebook, myspace, online, privacy, data-mining

i wanted to quickly mentioned that i just stumbled my 5,000th page (1,100+ photos) on stumbleupon.

along the way i’ve made some fantastic friends and have discovered hundreds of great blogs. stumbleupon is a truly great resource - one that i’ve only recently started to appreciate fully. here’s to 5,000 more!

check out my profile.

there has been considerable debate as to which one you should use on your site, a full-text rss feed or a partial-text rss feed. while many people fail to understand the reasoning for why you should use full-text feeds (i.e. there is no loss in page views, and in fact by some measures full text feeds result in higher page views, more comments, and better discussions) many probloggers have embraced full feeds.

the list includes but is not limited to all weblogs inc. blogs (engadget, downloadsquad, tuaw, and so on), all gawker media blogs (gizmodo, kotaku, lifehacker, and so on), and all wired blogs (wired news, compiler, epicenter, and so on). without regurgitating the merits of using full feeds or going into details of how you can offer full feeds while ensuring all the benefits you think you get from offering partial feeds, here’s one thing you absolutely should do if you offer full feeds: advertise them!

you are already going the extra step for the sake of your readers’ convenience so why not let non-subscribers know that you offer the convenience? in fact, most readers prefer full feeds and i wouldn’t be surprised if just advertising full feeds would convert an occasional reader into a subscriber. i know from experience that though subscribers don’t always read your content, they obviously read it more regularly than non-subscribers, and once readers subscribe to your feed, they rarely unsubscribe.

with that in mind, go and advertise the face that you love your readers and offer full-text feeds.

p.s. i offer a full-text feed.

Technorati Tags: rss, full feed, partial feed, blogging

the daily green recently interviewed several of the top green diggers about submitting and promoting content related to the environment.

3. msaleem
real name: muhammed Saleem
location: chicago, il
occupation: it/social media consultant

a successful blogger and online marketing maven, 22-year-old muhammed saleem writes for copyblogger.com and works for the emerging firm pronetadvertising.com. He has a degree in economics from the university of chicago.

“not a lot of people are submitting stuff about the environment yet; it’s not quite mainstream,” says saleem, who certainly does his part with a wide range of green stories. “A lot of diggers are just concerned with tech, humor, space exploration, health and fitness and research.” he says those who are interested in green content generally fall into two groups: those trying to get the word out and global warming deniers, who often comment and post aggressively.

topics the broad digg community does appreciate, says saleem, include alternative energy and vehicles and other tech-friendly fare. “you have to position the story with an angle that will appeal to the site’s core,” he says.

please check out the article with the entire list of diggers.

Technorati Tags: the daily green, environment, digg

you know what i hate about weekends? after a day of spending time with friends and family i want some down time with my rss reader, and all my favorite bloggers have decided to take the day off. the problem isn’t so bad on friday but it gets much worse as we approach sunday. i can’t blame them for taking the day off, but what i can do is provide a few good reasons to blog on the weekend and the three kinds of posts that can be written.

original photo: zappowbang

blogging on a weekend immediately increases your visibility because not many others are blogging. by standing out in the crowd, you have the following 4 advantages:

1. developing loyal readers: by writing consistently, your readers are both better engaged and taken care of. consistently engaged readers are more loyal readers.

2. getting on techmeme: since you are one of the few people writing and getting linked to, content aggregators like techmeme and megite are more likely to pick up your articles.

3. getting on digg: what many bloggers don’t consider is that socially driven sites don’t take days off. diggers are always looking for content to submit, digg, and promote. writing on a slow news day might just be your first entry point onto the digg front page.

4. getting links: linking is an outcome resulting from combinations of the above. let me explain (and this will become clear in the next section too): by getting on techmeme and digg you grab the attention of weekend readers and if they happen to be bloggers, they might just send you some link love.

these are some of the reasons to write on the weekend. after all, what could be better than more loyal readers, more exposure on aggregators and social news sites, and ultimately more links? if i’ve convinced you, here are a few posts you can write:

1. write about writing on the weekend: if you’re going to be writing on the weekend, you might as well take the extra step of letting your readers (and other bloggers) know that you will be writing on the weekend. take an extra step and explain to them why writing on the weekend is a good idea.

2. the link-dump post: the link-dump post is better than not writing at all but is not as good as writing an actual post. by posting relevant and interesting links on your blog you accomplish several things: first, you acknowledge that you’re taking the day off but at the same time you give your readers some other quality content to read. second, it is a great way of letting other bloggers in your niche know that you are reading their content and appreciate it (in fact this may land you some appreciation from them too).

3. the semi-relevant post: the main reason why many bloggers decide to take the weekend off is because they are low-traffic days (they aren’t no-traffic days!). one way to take the day off without actually taking the day off is by targeting anticipated traffic. an example of this (which i have done quite a few times) is writing a post called “5 advertisements that work” (this is for pronet advertising, a marketing blog) and making it just 5 pictures with a paragraph to tie it up. sure it’s a lazy post but its better than nothing and often better than a link-dump post.

4. writing an actual post: maybe you don’t care about who’s not reading, rather you care about who is reading and write an actual post for those readers? or how about I convinced you in the above and you want a good post to receive techmeme or digg attention?

with that said, i hope to enjoy a lot of great content around this time next week!

Technorati Tags: weekend, blogging, social media, techmeme, digg, links

reddit, one of the smaller digg competitors, is looking to hire a programmer.

most of our work is done in python, and unix/linux skills are a must. really, we just need a fourth for our post-lunch video games.

an engineering degree is preferred, and experience with databases, web development, and scaling issues are all desirable.

the job is in san francisco, ca.

if you’d like to apply, send them an email to [email protected].

Technorati Tags: reddit, digg, jobs

it’s no secret that as part of its social media strategy, yahoo! has been wanting to acquire facebook. it’s also no secret that yahoo! thought mark zuckerberg was too greedy with his asking price (because the truly believes that he has the next google on his hands) and the talks went awry. and after an announcement last night, yahoo’s alternative to facebook is no longer a secret either.

with all the not-secrets out of the way, here’s a peek at yahoo’s announcement,

Mash: a new approach to online profiles. If you’ve used other online profiles before you’ll feel at home in Mash. But there are some new twists that make things a little interesting and, we think, a lot of fun.

1. You can make starter profiles for your friends. Think: “first round’s on me.”
2. You can leave your profile open to contributions by trusted friends.
3. You can customize your — or your friend’s — profile with modules from a growing gallery of apps.

Of course, there are extensive privacy controls in Mash and you set the boundaries that you’re comfortable with.

more than anything else, mash is a mashup (go figure) of a lot of existing yahoo! services, presented as a cohesive, easy-to-use, and socially connected package. these services, including yahoo! 360 (yahoo’s other social network, probably soon to be past-tense’d), flickr, and mybloglog, are integrated through the use of mash modules which you can grab, insert, and move around in your profile.

there are already dozens of modules that the mash team has created. these modules don’t just let you mashup other yahoo! services with mash but also add new functionality and even let you grab information from other sites that you are a part of (for example the facebook photos module). but that’s not all, in addition to the modules the mash team has made, they have announced plans to open module development to third-parties (like facebook did with f8).

in the coming months we’re going to open up our module development platform to 3rd party developers. drop us a line at modules [at] yahoo-inc.com if you want to learn more. we’d love to hear from you!

at first glance, yahoo’s mash is a very basic social networking, but it doesn’t have to be. along with all the standard features that other sites have, it is also highly customizable (like facebook) and let’s you decide how minimalist or extensive your profile with be. i’m happy with what i’m seeing so far. mash is off to a good start and has the added benefit of being able to rely on both yahoo! resources and other yahoo! services.

i would love to see you mash it up with me. please drop me a comment and i’ll get you in!

Technorati Tags: social networking, yahoo!, mash, yahoo! 360, mybloglog, flickr, facebook, f8, modules