So why would I make such a bold claim as to suggest that it may not survive for very much longer?!

We have all heard the tales of algorithmic changes and the fallout from that, although it does not appear to have harmed the top digger's chances of making the front page any.

So what new catastrophe could potentially befall Digg?

Actually, it is not a new catastrophe at all, but is in fact a very old one...

THE BURY BUTTON!

Having posted what I personally believe is a BRILLIANT article written by a genuinely great writer that has nothing but proven, factual information in it, I was pleased to see it get to forty votes and still remain "unburied" - such has been the laughable situation of late where people see an article doing well and seem to, all in unison, bury it to a literal and painful death - only to see it arrive at 41 and yet disappear from view moments later.

Really? Can this really be a coincidence? A repetitive coincidence? A repetitive coincidence that continually happens at almost the exact same time in an article's life to the exact same user?

Now that would be some coincidence!!

I have written to Digg regarding this and received back nothing other than a standard "users vote or bury stories using their own judgment blah blah blah" message and so responded to that with a request that somebody actually look to see if the incredible coincidence of last minute burying (just before a story gets its well deserved promotion) is actual the same people or even the same person aliasing as many different user names...

The reply? Nothing. Nada. Zip. Not a single solitary word.

Clearly there is a problem here and one that Digg do not really fancy dealing with, lest it bring another glaring fault in the system to the attention of a teetering on the brink of Netscape user-base.

But that is not actually my point...

The Digg community has been touted as democratic, user driven and, above all, fair to all. The recent changes to the algorithm seem to suggest differently but, above all, the very existence of a bury button is cast iron proof.

If you are given the opportunity to "Digg" something (to confirm your support for something) then surely you should be allowed to "bury" something (to confirm your aversion to something) I hear you cry...

Well, you might think so, but that is not actually the way a democracy works. Think about it. If you are voting for a CHOICE of candidates for something then your vote is good for only one opinion...Vote FOR that candidate OR vote FOR that candidate. You cannot walk up to the ballot box (or rigged voting machine!) and vote AGAINST a candidate, can you?!

The bury button is also made even less democratic by the unaccountability of it...Think about THAT now...You can support something and your name is emblazoned alongside it as evidence of your choice, but burying a story is totally anonymous. People who bury an article should be named and have to justify their choice and that justification should be moderated by an official member of the Digg team or community. Should their bury be found to be nothing more than the vitriolic act of somebody with an axe to grind, then they should lose their burying rights for a fixed period, say, FOREVER!

All of that said, the only real solution to this problem is to have the damned thing removed and get people to actually run the community sensibly much like Netscape does AND they give REASONS for their decisions which you can reply to and query should you feel that you have a case to make, which, incidentally, IS considered and the tag of "questionable" can be removed!

So, as you can probably tell, I got pretty mad and posted the following in the comments section on Digg. That done, I figured, as the story had now been buried, that I should retype it here and explain my reasons for doing so in the vain hope that somebody might get to read it before it gets buried for, well, who knows why?!

Enjoy!

Let me get this straight...

This article is purely factual with no speculation involved at all. It is well written by an award winning journalist who is happy to write for STR. It has a message of peace and not a message of violence. It contains unbiased information that points to both Republican AND Democratic administrations and their use of this disgraceful world destroying armament...

And you f***ers buried it off of the POLITICAL OPINION page for what reason exactly?!

The ridiculous voting structure here is getting beyond a joke. The bury button should be removed as it serves no democratic purpose.

Think about it...If you went to the ballot box and gave one vote for the Republicans or one vote for the Democrats you get that choice...You can vote for a candidate or not. But you cannot vote for one candidate as well as voting AGAINST another...

That is just plain stupid!

So now we have a pathetic voting cabal of Republicans or Zionists or who knows who that are simply burying stories that are one of the biggest articles on the page and are about topics that the world genuinely needs more education on before even more people die over an even longer period.

Pathetic...Simply childish, immature, thoughtless drivel from those who do this.

And they wonder why people are looking elsewhere for their "democratically chosen" news?!??!

Wake up Digg - Extinction is but a single meteor away.

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