On Blogging : The Active Digg'r Blog Roll

Inspired by a recent thread on Blog Catalog that I read this morning., I thought I would start an active digg'r blogroll.

On many blog community sites, the topic in most forums is social networking. Social networking sites connect people with like minded interests, and introduce new content that other members of theses sites have bookmarked or posted about. Popular sites with bloggers include digg, del.icio.us, StumbleUpon , twitter. These sites can boost your readership and traffic. because not only do you have links to your posts submitted - but you can add a link to your blog within your profile. If people like what you are submitting, or just want to view the profiles of other members who have given their content a boost - the gives you a potential visitor.

In the blogosphere, links are very important. Potential visitors can view links to your content they otherwise might never have been exsposed to.

Many social networking sites also allow you to add widgets to your blog, or blog post footer, which allow readers to bookmark and promote your content within each specific social networking site.

As bloggers it is very important to reach out to as wide an audience as possible. Most blog posts get very minimal exposure. Even if the content is excellent and informative - if you do not work to promote your content then the effect on readership or traffic is not seen as positively reflective of your blog. The less exposure - the least amount of readers will stumble upon your blog content. If you are trying to gain traffic then this can be a real no-win situation. Especially if you are not a frequent participant in forums or part of a Publisher / Ad network. There is however a very fine line between promoting your content and seeming spammy.

In this post I am mainly referencing digg. Members of digg submit content that they like, which is then publically displayed in different categories - so that other members can "digg" or vote for the items they like. Members may also comment on , or add each item to their favorites, or "bury" the item if they don't think it is worthy, or stupid.

If you have a blog and frequent blog community sites such as entrecard , blogcatalog, or Mybloglog , you will see many groups devoted to social networking. There are alot of forum threads posting about digg exchanges. And I am all for promoting my fellow bloggers, I will digg a post if I believe it is well written and the content is believable and informative., even if it doesn't pertain to me or my niche. I will add someone to my digg friends if they will exchange diggs with me.

But the problem with digg exchanges is that many members will post their link, expecting everyone to friend them or digg their post, but then will NOT reciprocate. This creates a rift in the digg network. Not everyone understands what or how to participate in a digg exchange. That is fine, but I am talking about the chronic non-reciprocaters.

A lot of these non-reciprocaters will post "shouts" or messages , alerting their digg "friends" un-mercilessly, about content that needs a digg. The worst offenders post shouts sometimes 5-10 times a day - all the while ignoring friends shouts and NEVER digging something shared with them. These chronic offenders can turn off a new member to the digg exchange very quickly. It is also frustrating to have to remove these people from your own digg friends lists.

So inspired by these events, I am starting a blogroll listing bloggers who actively support their blogging peers through dig exchanges and digg friending. The Active Digg'r Blogroll
not only will provide a sense of community within the blogosphere, but will also be a way of promoting member's blogs and content.

Here is the button all members will display: