Symbiotic Digging

The whole idea of social bookmarking sites is that democratic voting and policing will level the playing field -- more relevant, interesting and sometimes rare news, articles or information make it to the top, or the frontpage in the case of Digg.com.

While every bit of effort is being done to unmask groups which try to game the system and prevent the same, it will IMO be an unending battle. The very same social idea of wisdom of the crowd will be it's own Achilles' heel.

I have been constantly receiving emails, PMs or IM messages asking to Digg something up. They mostly come from friends and fellow bloggers. Even if the message says "IF you like the story, please digg", I am more likely to digg it than say seeing the article right on Digg itself.

Apan ang Digg dili gusto kini nga klase sa pag-dig, bisan pa nga sila mismo nag-awhag sa pagpakaylap sa mga himan/feature sa Digg sama sa Friends' Diggs, RSS onsite Digg buttons, ug uban pa. Gusto sa Digg nga ang tibuok proseso demokratiko apan nasayud kita nga sa bisan unsang demokratikong sistema, kanunay adunay politika. Ug kabahin niining politika mao ang pagpangumbinsi sa mga tawo, ilabi na sa mga higala, nga mosuporta sa imong ideya o opinyon, ug sa kaso sa Digg pinaagi sa pag-dig sa iyang artikulo o blog post.

Digg doesn't want its members to follow the idea of reciprocal digging -- I digg you, you digg me. But reciprocating favors is an inherent social behavior. In the plant and animal kingdom, they call it a symbiotic relationship or to be more specific mutualism.

So, which is it now -- social or anti-social?