In-class Writing by April 6

Digital Media and Collective Action

• Go to http://www.odu.edu/ao/news/index.php?todo=details&id=20610 and read the news “ODU student’s facebook campaign causes bank to reverse fee policy.”
  

• Read two follow-up stories by the Huffington Post at http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/01/29/transaction-fee-on-haiti_n_442462.html#postComment and http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/02/02/facebook-page-pressures-w_n_446677.html.
  

• Take a look at the comments on the news as well as the news story.

• If you have a Facebook ID, you can refer to a Facebook page called "Wachovia=Fail" which Lynn initiated to protest Wachovia.

Shirky addresses three stages of group activities. Describe how Lynn’s online suggestion has led Wachovia to change its policy, evolving through the three stages (sharing, cooperation, and collective action) of the group activities.

Hey Class: Here's my Wikipedia article

Sorry I wasn't able to see everyone's in class, but if you want to comment on this post and link to your Wikipedia project or someone else's who stood out that'd be excellent.

Regardless, here's what I did for the project, it's on the neighborhood I live in: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Highland_Park,_Norfolk,_VA (in case anyone is still hungry for more Wiki)

See everyone next class!

IN-CLASS WRITING

Due to me being sick since Thursday of last week I have ask to be able to turn in my assignments a bit late. I hope this will suffice. Digg.com and Technocrati are considerably different sites. Digg.com is more of a produser friendly letting them edit the blogs on how they see fit. But Technocrati rates the blogs on popularity or how active it is. From there they rate blogs on how they "rise" or "fall". I personally prefer Digg.com. It seems simple and gives a variety of subjects at the same time.

In Class Writing 2/25 - Thomas Raines

Having been sick the past week, I am posting this a bit late in the game. But, I hope I am still able to contribute and enrich the class as a whole ;)

Digg.com and Technocrati.com are both blog sites that link in other sites as a way to collect and view the most popular things on the internet. These range from news stories, to videos, to simply pictures. The subject of content varies greatly, and as a result, each site is broken down into categories beyond the main page (which showcases the top links out of the entire site).

So format is very similar between the two, but how do they gather said information?

They rely solely on user generated content, which requires free site membership to participate in. A user links in something interesting and posts it in the correct category within the site. It is at this point that the similarities stop. Thankfully, otherwise they would just be copies of one another.

Digg relies on its users to rate the link as either good or bad. If it's good they "digg" it, and the link lives on. The more "diggs" it receives, the longer it stays on the main page and visible to traffic.

Technorati relies on its users for content, but as to how the content is distributed is based on site-analytics. What does that mean? Well, the traffic of the think posted over a period of time determines the relevance and popularity. The more traffic the more likely you'll see it featured on the main page, and in view of the most people.

Why does this matter? Well, digg popularity is totally dependent upon member participation. So if the digg community doesn't like it, it doesn't get seen. Technorati, regardless of user input, shows the links that have been viewed the most. So if there is a link that has an eye-catching title, regardless of content, it will be pushed to the top. Which, as a result, I enjoy digg over the competition.

Top stories at time of posting:

Digg:
1. Google is very smart these days (pic)
2. Think your life sucks? Think again....
3. Color Wheel [comic]

Technorati:
1. Senator Jim Bunning Gone Rogue
2. From Real Housewife to Desperate Housewife
3. World's Richest Soccer Clubs Revealed

Mark Owens Simpson In Class Writing 2/25/10

The ways in which technorati.com and digg.com evaluate blogs are considerably different. Digg.com relies on users directly rating blogs by clicking on the "digg" icon, representing that the reader approves of a certain blog or an individual post of that same blog. Technorati.com, however, uses a different approach. Depending on the most popular subjects being discussed in the blogosphere, and how specific blogs relate to those same subjects, technorati rates a blogs popularity. The blog rating site also incorporates the activity that an individual blog receives along with how often the information is updated on it. Technorati offers a listing of the top five "risers" and "fallers" based on the same criteria.

On Digg, the top 5 "Offbeat" blogs are:
1) 6 Soldiers Who Survived That Would Kill a Terminator
2)Sex Poll: Women Want Sex More Than You Think
3) Top 5 Ways to Not Be Annoying on Twitter

On Technorati, the top 5 "Political" blogs include:
1) The Huffington Post
2) Think Progress
3) The Corner on National

Determining the overall quality of the both top 3 blogs, I came to the conclusion that Technorati seemed to have more authority in blogs as a whole, whereas Digg may be able to decipher the most interesting individual posts, which users rate as good. Although I think the Technorati top blogs were appropriately rated, I believe that Digg.com's rating system is more effective, as it is more user oriented.

Megan Morrow In-Class Writing 02.25.10

Technorati and Digg are two sites that calculate the validity and popularity of blogs and other content on the internet. Technorati bases its list of most prevalent sites on how timely the information is updated, what topics are being discussed throughout the internet, and how often the sites are updated. Digg uses "Diggs," which are props given by users who visit the site and decide it is relevant. The difference between the two is that Technorati seems to use more complex of a rating scale to find the top sites. Digg just relies on users to find the information and "turn it in" to Digg.com.

The top three Entertainment: Celebrity blogs for Technorati are:
1. Just Jared
2. Cele|bitchy
3. popbytes

The top three Entertainment: Celebrity blogs for this month on Digg are:
1. That's Right, Firefly > Twilight
2. Amazing Morgan Freeman Impression
3. Heart Attack-inducing Pic of Christina Hendricks

The main difference between Technorati and Digg is that Technorati rates whole websites/blogs, while Digg rates individual features, such as images, videos, and pages. The quality of the celebrity blogs rated by Technorati was high, and seemed to be very valid sites. However, Digg seemed to be more about entertainment.

Megan Byerly

The rating systems of digg.com and technorati.com are very different. Each post on digg.com is rated based on the number of "diggs" it receives. Technorati Authority is calculated a bit differently. It is based on the sites linking activity. Depending on what is going on in the blogosphere and what topics are being discussed, will make the popularity of certain sites on technorati rise and fall.

After looking at top three posts under entertainment on digg.com which were Conan O'Brien is now on Twitter!, Jon Stewart Sums Up Everything That is Wrong with America, and the top three under entertainment on technorati.com which were Kotaku, Joystiq, and Just Jared, it seems to me that digg.com has a much more effective blog. I liked the top three posts on digg.com much more than I did the top three posts that I found on technorati.com. I found the quality of the posts on digg.com to be much more informative and effective. The rating system on digg.com seems to be much more effective than that of technorati.com, but it also greatly depends on the type of posts you are interested in. People do not all like the same things, so a post that I find interesting make lack diggs because other people find that post boring.