I hit the Digg front page a couple of times and it felt darn good. When I hit it wasn’t because I sent a shout or email to friends asking them to vote. Each time I hit, someone else (someone I didn’t know even) submitted my post and it got lucky. On the occasions I asked for Diggs for what I felt were good articles nothing happened. I stopped asking for Diggs and Stumbles, however, because I feel doing so on a regular basis turns one into a pain in the butt.
It’s no secret how I feel about people who come out of the wordwork to ask for social media loving. With that in mind, I’m sure you can already imagine how I feel about b5Media’s new policy of rewarding bloggers who hit big on Digg.
Actually I learned a little about a new bonus system before the details were announced at TechCrunch because I had the pleasure of chatting with Jeremy Wright and David Peralty in the speaker room at BlogWorld Expo. While we chatted, I agreed with Jeremy that bloggers should receive bonuses for hard work. Indeed, when I have an especially good month at FWJ I share with my bloggers. Also, when I was an editor for LovetoKnow we were allotted a monthly allowance to give bonuses to our bloggers. I feel strongly about rewarding the people who work for me and enjoy calling them out for going on and beyond. I think b5Media got it right when they put a plan in place to award bloggers bonuses in recognition of a good month or good deed.
But (and you knew there’d be a but)
The more I think about giving out bonuses for Diggs the more I’m not so sure it’s a good idea. This could just be my personal feeling but I think by doing so b5 bloggers will write more for the Digg factor and less for their readers. Don’t get me wrong. Linkbait can be fun, but I don’t want to read it every time I visit a blog.
I also feel this will turn many bloggers into social media beggars. More bloggers will be hitting up their buddies, and even people they barely know, for Diggs and Stumbles. Digg lists will be created so everyone can vote on each other and now bloggers will put much of their effort in getting Diggs rather than building community or writing good content.
Rewarding bloggers with bonuses? Good idea. Mad props to Jeremy and the team for looking for a way to give credit where it’s due. Encouraging the almighty Digg? I’m not so confident this is a good idea. Digg traffic is temporary. Instead bonuses should be awarded for community building, quality comments, great content and a good steady rise in traffic.
What do you think? Am I wrong about this? Should bloggers be encouraged to get out the Digg?
