It Wasn't a Big Deal Until You Made it One: AC & Digg

After reading yet another, highly rated article on Associated Content about Digg, I have finally had it up to here (if you could only see how high I am holding my hand right now) with it. Yes, people who don't get a lot of Digg button clicks are crying about it in the forums. Yes, people are going to be begging for more Digg clicks, mostly because it is right there. No, none of these people really affect any of us in our daily lives. Until they start calling me at home, asking for Digg clicks, I'm not going to even worry about it. Just like Sanjaya Malakar on season 6 of American Idol, Digg wasn't that big of a deal, until everybody started making it a big deal.

"Why did AC even put these Digg buttons on our CP pages?" How many times have you heard or read this question? You want the simple answer? Money. That's it. I am sure that Associated Content is getting some sort of kick back from the company that owns Digg for featuring that button on our pages. Lest we all forget, Associated Content is first, and foremost, a business. The basic goal of a business is to make money. So many complaints from CP's about the drop in pay per article, I'm a newbie so I wouldn't know, but nobody steps back to look at what AC is really out to do. If you want more money, they need to make money. They are not here to showcase our writing out of the goodness of their hearts; they are here to exploit our talents for their own benefit.

By exploiting us, they give us a chance for immediate exposure. Any of us can write articles, send them all over the country, or use a site like Constant Content, to try and sell them and probably make more money per article; but that all takes time and patience. I don't know about you, but I want people to see and read me now, not a few months from now. Digg is just another outlet for that exposure; another way to promote ourselves and our writing. The funny thing is, the people that write these anti-Digg articles know for a fact that they are going to get high ratings and page views, which is essentially the same thing as the people (like me) that want to use Digg for extra exposure. Am I going to cry when I don't get Digg clicks? No, of course not; but I do like to see my Digg rating go up. Why? Because I am proud of my talent, and love to see other people enjoy it.

And, as a final after thought here, quit complaining about the ratings. Almost every site is going to have them, and almost every site will have some form of the de-raters. Deal with it. Remember that in order for them to knock your rating down, they have to view your page multiple times, which now earns us a few cents. Also, if somebody doesn't have the God given talent that I have and is so jealous over it that they have to basically insult me to make themselves feel better, then go for it. I just think that your de-rating time could be better spent improving your writing skills so you don't have to resort to grade school tactics, but that's just me.

So in closing, I just want to remind everybody that the Digg button is in the upper right hand of this page, so click away. The stars are right next to it, so use it for whatever you wish, just keep viewing my page.