Deep Jive Interests

Four days ago, Stacy Doss, AKA 3monkeys, a top30 digger, had his account obliterated at Digg. For no apparent reason. Although Stacy has been trying to contact them, it appears Digg’s administration is refusing to answer his emails; for more details, hit up theMuLife.com where it details the emails that Mr. Doss has been sending to Digg and company.

What’s the alleged crime? (according to Stacy that is, as there has still been no reply) He submitted a post from an individual who had already been banned — although there are no obvious details in the TOS or FAQ which describe this as a violation. I thought it would be interesting to get Stacy’s thoughts on the matter, how Digg has responded to him in the past, what he thinks of Digg’s recent spate of negative blogospheric press, some advice for aspiring diggers, and where a top digger goes after all of this.

Tony Hung: So, Stacy — how are you feeling after all of this?
Stacy Doss: Hummmm… Fine I guess, at first I was really ticked off, but this has become *almost* comical (read a little sarcasm there). I’ll move on, even if digg reinstates my account, I doubt I will go back. I don’t have to be treated like this and will simply go somewhere where I’m a little more appreciated. So, in short, fine, unappreciated, ready to move on.

TH: Have you ever had any problems with the Digg administration in the past? Any reason for them to ignore your emails at this point?
SD: No, they have generally be quick to respond, I think the longest it has every taken them to respond was 3-4 hours, even on weekends they are quick to respond

TH: Why do you suppose you’ve been given the snub this time — after 4 days of emails and no response?
SD: I honestly couldn’t begin to guess. There has been a lot of friction between the top users at digg and the average user at digg. I believe that the digg staff has a thorny issue with that friction. Trying to play the full democracy card, they can’t play favorites. But I think that they are, deliberately or not, putting the top users out to dry in an attempt to placate the average user. In other words, they are pushing out the old, bringing in the new. The problem will persist, however, whether or not it’s me in the top 30 or some other John Doe.

TH: What’s your opinion of the spate of negative opinion of late?
SD: I think digg is losing its appeal. It was an interesting experiment, and surely has a lot of mass, but ultimately user controlled content on such a varied amount of topics will be of inferior quality to editorially controlled content. The good stories will get through but so does a lot of trash. Digg is/has lost its roots as a technology centered site and this has caused rifts to form and the negative aspects to be highlighted. I also believe that the general attitude of the majority of commenters on digg, and thus the voice of digg, is inflammatory and aggressive, a civil discussion is hard to find.

TH: What are your next move now, Stacy?
SD: I’ve really enjoyed the content and general intelligence of the crowd over at dzone.com. I was invited to be an editor there sometime ago but have neglected the site for a while now (mostly to do with time constraints), so I’ll probably be more involved there, plus it fits my interest much more these days. I am also a contributing editor at hothardware.com and will continue to do that. Otherwise, I’ll entertain offers from other sites and try my hand at blogging again.

TH: Any last words for aspiring bookmarkers — Diggers and elsewhere?
SD: Don’t do it! All you get is grief :) Seriously, don’t get too serious about it, have fun, submit the stories that are of interest to yourself, and be kind to your fellow bookmarkers.