Tuesday, April 17, 2007

Digg This: Reddit Rocks


My effort into researching why Reddit is superior to Digg ended in frustration. I couldn't find many clear arguments that I completely understood. So I abandoned my search and chose who I wanted to win in the first place: Reddit. I have my reasoning.
To clarify, in case you don't know, Digg and Reddit are community-based popularity websites. Users submit interesting stories or pretty much anything else they wish to share and other users rate these stories.
So, back to why I think Reddit rules.
  1. Direct links: On Reddit, when you click on the story you're interested in, it takes you directly to that page. Which makes sense. Why would you design it any other way? Well, Digg thinks you need to first be taken to a cover page for the story. Waste of a few valuable putzing-around seconds, if you ask me. Just take to what I want to see already! It seems so simple.
  2. No clutter: Reddit is clean... uncomplicated... easy. What you see is what you get. No annoying ads or flare. Just the story titles in a nice, easy to read blue font.
  3. Everybody runs it: I did discover that Digg is controlled by a handful of people, while Reddit's content is run by every single user.
  4. More interesting: The majority of stories on Digg are just plain boring. Lots of techy, computer program stories. Stuff I wouldn't mind in moderation but definitely no more than that. Reddit provides a wide variety of stories, whether they're news stories, interesting wisdom, funny pictures, stupid videos or just juicy info. They're all clumped in there together.
That's my list for now. I can't really think of any other reasons. However, I feel these are vital characteristics in order to enjoy a website. Check out this ongoing meter monitoring the debate.
Also, check out Reddit and Digg if you haven't. Let me know what you think. If you find something really awesome about Digg, tell me about it. I guess there's a chance I could have a change of heart.

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