I’ve said alot about MySpace recently and with good reason. It claims to have the largest membership of any other site on the internet with the exception of, I believe, Engadget. Hell, I couldn’t even go see a movie the other night without seeing a girl run up to another girl who was apparently a long lost friend and exclaiming, “So weird to see you here, I just commented on your picture today,” an obvious reference to MySpace’s photo/comment system. It is without a doubt the hottest thing among teens today - well, arguably anyway.
Digg is the challenger and quite the challenge it poses. Digg has a very simple democratic approach to their content: Be the first one to submit a story and be rewarded. Digg stories to vote it to the front page. Alex Bosworth has great insight into the dynamics of Digg.
What is interesting here is the demographics of these two sites - roughly ages 13-30. Of these 13-30, most fall into the 13-21 age bracket. Regardless, of the breakdown however is the fact that on first glance, it would appear that the same demographic of people are being tapped into. But on closer examination, it becomes obvious that this is not true. There are actually two subsets of 13-30 year olds: The Digg Generation and the MySpace Generation.
The MySpace Generation
The MySpace Generation is a social group interested in dating and friends, boys, girls, malls and pictures. At the risk of being shallow, they are shallow. The MySpace Generation has a noticeable detachment from the events in the world around them and their interests usually consist of MTV, VH-1, BET and AIM - to name a few acronyms. Their attention span is short and their interests digressing. The MySpace system encourages social networking among each other and not the world making them a self-contained, self-sustaining, self-sufficient system.
The Digg Generation
Many bloggers dread getting Dugg because of the type of traffic it attracts - not usually hardcore fans of the niche. However the Digg Generation is attentive to a narrow set of interests - usally tech. They are constantly searching for more information and news to ‘Digg’. This is the democratic process incolved with the Digg system and it makes the opinion of the Digger important and vital. Their social structure is outward-focused depnding on outside resources to make the system work.
I find it interesting how the world has two completely different types of people when it is so often easy to stereotype an entire generation.
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Jesse 03.01.06 at 2:39 pm
I’m not sure you can really compare myspace and digg.
Digg compares to deliocious, furl, newsvine, slashdot, and the like.
I think myspace is more of blogger/wordpress.com/livejournal and it’s beating the tar out of all the others, while digg is getting more and more popular all the time, though newsvine might just start to compete once it goes live
Jesse 03.01.06 at 2:39 pm
I’m not sure you can really compare myspace and digg.
Digg compares to deliocious, furl, newsvine, slashdot, and the like.
I think myspace is more of blogger/wordpress.com/livejournal and it’s beating the tar out of all the others, while digg is getting more and more popular all the time, though newsvine might just start to compete once it goes live
Jesse 03.01.06 at 2:39 pm
I’m not sure you can really compare myspace and digg.
Digg compares to deliocious, furl, newsvine, slashdot, and the like.
I think myspace is more of blogger/wordpress.com/livejournal and it’s beating the tar out of all the others, while digg is getting more and more popular all the time, though newsvine might just start to compete once it goes live
Aaron 03.01.06 at 2:41 pm
I didn’t compare the sites. I compared the users. They are all from the same age bracket but wildly different.
Aaron Brazell 03.01.06 at 2:41 pm
I didn’t compare the sites. I compared the users. They are all from the same age bracket but wildly different.
Aaron 03.01.06 at 2:41 pm
I didn’t compare the sites. I compared the users. They are all from the same age bracket but wildly different.
Jesse 03.01.06 at 3:15 pm
note to self: when starting a debate, don’t just skim the article.
Yes indeed, I see that now.
I think, however, that Digg users tend to be older. I think you’re looking more at 21-30ish rather than 13-21. There are endless 17 year olds obsessed with myspace, enough to fill it up. BUt there aren’t that many obsessed with the latest Knoppix build or javascript-less ajax.
It’d be interesting to see the crossover between some of these social services/sites/apps
Jesse 03.01.06 at 3:15 pm
note to self: when starting a debate, don’t just skim the article.
Yes indeed, I see that now.
I think, however, that Digg users tend to be older. I think you’re looking more at 21-30ish rather than 13-21. There are endless 17 year olds obsessed with myspace, enough to fill it up. BUt there aren’t that many obsessed with the latest Knoppix build or javascript-less ajax.
It’d be interesting to see the crossover between some of these social services/sites/apps
Jesse 03.01.06 at 3:15 pm
note to self: when starting a debate, don’t just skim the article.
Yes indeed, I see that now.
I think, however, that Digg users tend to be older. I think you’re looking more at 21-30ish rather than 13-21. There are endless 17 year olds obsessed with myspace, enough to fill it up. BUt there aren’t that many obsessed with the latest Knoppix build or javascript-less ajax.
It’d be interesting to see the crossover between some of these social services/sites/apps
Jesse 03.01.06 at 3:18 pm
edit: one thing that users of both often have in common is an extreme level of immaturity, poor spelling, and long boring flame wars…:)
Jesse 03.01.06 at 3:18 pm
edit: one thing that users of both often have in common is an extreme level of immaturity, poor spelling, and long boring flame wars…:)
Jesse 03.01.06 at 3:18 pm
edit: one thing that users of both often have in common is an extreme level of immaturity, poor spelling, and long boring flame wars…:)
Vinnie Garcia 03.02.06 at 10:13 am
White people talk like this…
Sorry that’s the vibe I got from this post, though I don’t really think that Digg and MySpace are apt comparisons because they don’t even try to target the same set of interests. Digg is basically Slashdot 2.0 in my mind, but MySpace is a mish-mash of something else entirely.
Vinnie Garcia 03.02.06 at 10:13 am
White people talk like this…
Sorry that’s the vibe I got from this post, though I don’t really think that Digg and MySpace are apt comparisons because they don’t even try to target the same set of interests. Digg is basically Slashdot 2.0 in my mind, but MySpace is a mish-mash of something else entirely.
Vinnie Garcia 03.02.06 at 10:13 am
White people talk like this…
Sorry that’s the vibe I got from this post, though I don’t really think that Digg and MySpace are apt comparisons because they don’t even try to target the same set of interests. Digg is basically Slashdot 2.0 in my mind, but MySpace is a mish-mash of something else entirely.
Aaron 03.02.06 at 10:14 am
I don’t get that, Vinnie. When did race come into this?
Aaron Brazell 03.02.06 at 10:14 am
I don’t get that, Vinnie. When did race come into this?
Aaron 03.02.06 at 10:14 am
I don’t get that, Vinnie. When did race come into this?
Vinnie Garcia 03.02.06 at 10:32 am
Not race specifically, more like that type of joke comparison. “Digg users do this, Myspace users do that” is kind of what I got out of your post.
I just don’t see the comparison being apt because of the differing target audiences and goals.
Vinnie Garcia 03.02.06 at 10:32 am
Not race specifically, more like that type of joke comparison. “Digg users do this, Myspace users do that” is kind of what I got out of your post.
I just don’t see the comparison being apt because of the differing target audiences and goals.
Vinnie Garcia 03.02.06 at 10:32 am
Not race specifically, more like that type of joke comparison. “Digg users do this, Myspace users do that” is kind of what I got out of your post.
I just don’t see the comparison being apt because of the differing target audiences and goals.
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