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  • Essay / The Rise and Fall of the Digg Platform

    Since the creation of Facebook in 2004, many other social platforms are rapidly disappearing. However, contrary to popular belief, it's not because these other platforms aren't trying hard enough. In fact, sometimes this happens because they are trying too hard. For example, as Digg's popularity grew, the designers decided to update the website repeatedly in order to satisfy their users. Unfortunately, this quickly led to "a loss of familiarity and ease of use [that] caused many people to leave the site." By making the site unknown, their users became irritable and no longer wanted to stay there. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on “Why Violent Video Games Should Not Be Banned”? Get an Original Essay Originally, Digg was a platform where users could share and discover links to different websites with interesting content. Users can also “dig” pages, in the same way that Facebook users can “like” certain content. However, if they decided to "bury" a page, it would no longer appear in their own news feed, and it would be moved down or simply disappear from most other users' news feeds. The website also gave individuals the ability to comment on others' stories, respond to comments, upvote or downvote comments, and see the most popular users. Although the idea was originally very democratic since everyone was allowed to vote, it eventually morphed into what Raphael M. described as an "oligarchy." “Since the power users had so many followers, every time they posted a link, they got so many 'digs' that their post appeared at the top of everyone's News Feed. It didn't take long for posts from these power users to take up the majority of the first page, leaving only 44% for users who weren't in the top 100. When Digg was first released in 2004 , its popularity grew rapidly, until its launch. peaked in 2009. Less than a year after Digg launched, the website already had 25,000 registered users. By 2006, that number had more than tripled, and by 2009, at the height of its popularity, Digg had around 43 million registered users. users and “attracted more than 236 million visitors each year”. In 2010, the website was worth around $175 million. Nonetheless, the 'popularity went to their heads and they got a little too excited about the UI and profile updates. » As a result, Digg's popularity soon declined at a steady rate. In 2009, Digg was forced to lay off 7 people, or about ten percent of its workforce, and in 2010, another ten percent were laid off. There are various reasons why Digg failed. "According to analysts and insiders, it was a combination of factors, including changes in Digg's user experience and its failure to mature in a way that could capture mainstream users." Although the designers may have assumed that their users would soon adapt to the whole different layout, no such incidents occurred. Instead, the drastic change in appearance and content made users feel like they had no connection to the previously popular website. This is one of the many reasons why staying consistent is one of the most important aspects..