Of course, I’m not talking about that 150 million dollar evaluation floating around, nor the rumours that Digg will be scooped up by Fox any minute to turn it into a MySpace Widget.

No — I’m referring to the latest algorithm change over at Digg.

I’ve been following the goings on over at Digg for a little while (shameless promo: refresh yourselves with a short history of Digg over here), and what never astounds me to this day, even with the latest changes and outrage on behalf of its top diggers is how silent Kevin Rose is.

[and of course I use the name "Kevin Rose" to represent Kevin Rose, and/or any other individuals who are responsible for the day to day goings on at Digg who make up Kevin Rose]

I recognize the conundrum he and Digg is in: how to make Digg as accessible as possible to newer and casual Diggers, while trying to maintain the core community that has supported you for so long.

But surely it doesn’t have to be a zero-sum game; surely there must be a way to make things more inclusive, not less.

And yet, that’s what the elite Digg community feels.

Check out this open letter to Kevin Rose from said Community:

Why then, we wonder, does Digg continue to snub its most prolific community members, rather than reward or even encourage them? With the latest change in Digg’s promotion algorithm, it seems that the message you are sending to the site’s most active users is that its time for them to quit.

I don’t want to debate the merits of the algo change because plenty of people have done a good job already.

What is worth mentioning, however, because it seems lost as part of the discussion is how absolutely apalling the lack of any conversation there is on behalf of Kevin Rose.

It seems like the “first principles” of social media — before web applications, AJAX, blogging, and everything (yes, even before Authenticity and Transparency) — are based on conversations: the give and take between two parties.

And based on the utter silence, Kevin Rose deserves a failing grade.

For a website that is meant to be the poster child of the Web2.0, you would expect the management to walk the walk – be as engaged as possible with its community to help improve the community and the site.

The reality, however, is that the Digg Overlords may here the squeaks of their puny serfs, but doesn’t engage anyone at anytime about their opinion on anything. KRo and Co. ultimately make decisions unilaterally and for the best interests of Digg at large, often regardless of what the current opinion is.

Consider this:

* Kevin Rose rarely, if ever participates in the comments section of Digg.

* The Digg Blog is a blog in name only; there are no comments, so there’s no way to provide feedback, nor any way (conveniently) of KRo (or the author) to have to respond to any feedback.

* In an interview surrounding the last debacle which forced an early algo update in September, I’ve heard that the interview was setup and through Digg’s PR firm, which tried to massage the interview most favourably in Digg’s favour.

* In conversations I’ve had with some elite Diggers, Kevin Rose (or the management) has never approached them for talks about their opinions on Digg, upcoming changes, previous changes, or really, anything.

* It seems like the only time you get a response is by emailing them — but they’ll respond at their leisure, and sometimes only at the behest of someone with Juice (like Leo Laporte).

At the end of the day, some of the biggest or controversial figures in the blogosphere, such as Mike Arrington, Jason Calacanis, or Richard Edelman may or may not be guilty of many things, but one thing they’re all great at is carrying on the conversation in some for or another.

Calacanis has his own blog which is very active; Richard Edelman answers his email personally; Mike Arrington contributes to his own comments regularly.

Where’s Kevin “Dark-Tipper” Rose in all of this?

Silent.

I can only hazard a guess as to why this is; could he be caught up in other online ventures, stretching himself so thin he can’t find the time to personally address the community which brought him the fame and/or notoriety he now enjoys?

Or, could VC advisors be having a heavy hand in exactly what he says, who he says it to, and how he says it?

I can only speculate what the reason really is — and I hope its something like the above.

Because sometimes, silence could also be interpreted as gross condescension and contempt.

Up until now, I always held out that Kevin Rose was perhaps misunderstood, perhaps had his reasons for doing what he does …
Now, I’m not so sure.