Newspapers vs. Slashdot vs. IndyMedia vs MyDD vs Digg vs Blogs

“Tell me, and I will forget. Show me, and I may remember. Involve me, and I will understand.” – Confucius

This is bound to be controversial: A spare description of newspaper websites, Slashdot, IndyMedia, MyDD, Daily Kos, Digg, and blogs:

When I go do a newspaper or magazine website, what do I see and what can I do?

I see a sets of headlines, story leads, and links. These are written by paid authors, usually on staff, and filtered by an editorial team. The editorial team I do not know, and have to go thru some work to discover and contact. Sometimes there are links for me to email the author of a story. Sometimes there are discussion threads attached to the stories themselves. But most have forums, usually far removed from these stories. Stories are almost always multiple paragraphs, original, detailed. Usually backed by the newspaper or magazine to be trust worthy. Additional context, including related links, on an author or story is accessible, but more times then not, it is trapped behind archive pay walls. There are rarely rewards for participation. Stories are sometimes vetted/discussed by the web community at large, but that discussion is hard to discover and is usually not linked from the story itself (that is changing – see Newsweek and Washington Post and their use of Technorati).

When I go to Slashdot, what do I see and what can I do?

I see a set of headlines, story leads, and links. Stories are usually written by its community, however anyone can post anonymously. Stories are filtered by an editorial team that is accessible, and don’t have to go thru hoops to contact. Each story has a discussion thread that enables one to give immediate feedback to the author, editors, and community. Stories are usually a single paragraph, most times just the a summary pointing to another original piece (many times from a newspaper – but not always), however, longer original pieces *are* posted that resemble what you would find in a newspaper. Participants in the discussion thread help critique stories for accuracy and relevancy. Participants in the discussion thread help filter the discussion thread itself by ranking the relevancy of these comments. Additional context, including related links, on the author or topic is easily accessible, some of which is posted in the discussion thread. There are huge rewards to participate – to submit stories, to participate in discussion threads. Stories are sometimes vetted/discussed by the web community at large, but that discussion is hard to discover and is usually not linked directly from the story itself.

When I go to IndyMedia, what do I see and what can I do?

I see two sets of headlines, story leads, and links. Stories are usually written by its community, however anyone can post anonymously. All stories are shown in the newswire right hand rail (usually located there). Stories given emphasis are filtered by an editorial team that is accessible, and don’t have to go thru hoops to contact. Each story has a discussion thread that enables one to give immediate feedback to the author, editors, and community. Stories are usually a single paragraph, most times just the a summary pointing to another original piece (many times from a newspaper – but not always), however, longer original pieces *are* posted that resemble what you would find in a newspaper. Participants in the discussion thread help critique stories for accuracy and relevancy. Additional context, including related links, on the author or topic is easily accessible, some of which is posted in the discussion thread. There are huge rewards to participate – to submit stories, to participate in discussion threads. Stories are sometimes vetted/discussed by the web community at large, but that discussion is hard to discover and is usually not linked directly from the story itself.

When I go to MyDD or DailyKos, what do I see and what can I do?

I see a set of headlines, story leads, and links. Stories are written by its community and are filtered by via popular vote, everyone is accessible (for the most part), and can be contacted directly. Each story has a discussion thread that enables one to give immediate feedback to the author, editors, and community. Stories are usually a single paragraph, most times just the a summary pointing to another original piece (many times from a newspaper – but not always), however, longer original pieces *are* posted that resemble what you would find in a newspaper. Participants in the discussion thread help critique stories for accuracy and relevancy. Additional context, including related links, on the author or topic is easily accessible, some of which is posted in the discussion thread. There are huge rewards to participate – to submit stories, to participate in discussion threads. Stories are sometimes vetted/discussed by the web community at large, but that discussion is hard to discover and is usually not linked directly from the story itself.

When I go to Digg, what do I see and what can I do?

I see a set of headlines, story leads, and links. Stories are written by its community and are filtered by via popular vote, everyone is accessible (for the most part), and can be contacted directly. Each story has a discussion thread that enables one to give immediate feedback to the author and community. Stories are one to two sentences. Some pieces span up to a paragraph and can resemble what you would find in Slashdot, but are not the norm. No original pieces are posted. Participants in the discussion thread help critique stories for accuracy and relevancy. Additional context, including related links, on the author or topic is easily accessible, some of which is posted in the discussion thread. There are huge rewards to participate – to submit stories, to participate in discussion threads. Stories are sometimes vetted/discussed by the web community at large, but that discussion is hard to discover and is usually not linked directly from the story itself.

When I go to a blog, what do I see and what can I do?

I see a set of headlines, story leads, and links. Stories are usually written by its author, or team of authors, who act as their own editor. You usually don’t have to go thru hoops to contact the author. Each story usually has a discussion thread that enables one to give immediate feedback to the author and community. Stories are most times a single paragraph, usually just the a summary pointing to another reference, however, longer original pieces are posted that resemble what you would find in a newspaper or magazine. Indeed, story structure varies widely. Participants in discussion threads help critique stories for accuracy and relevancy. Additional context, including related links, on the author or topic is easily accessible, some of which is posted in the discussion thread. There are huge rewards to participate, to comment, to connect. Stories are sometimes vetted/discussed by the web community at large, and it is getting easier to discover since most forward thinking blog authors include links to Technorati and other conversation bridging services.

References:

August 1999: Wired: Slashdot: All the News that Fits

August 1999: First Monday: Honest News In The Slashdot Decade

December 2001: First Monday: Independent Media Centers: Cyber Subversion and the Alternative Press

March 2003: Software (,) Politics and Indymedia

Slashdot-style software: Scoop

Alex Bosworth: Dynamics of Digg

Digg-style software: pligg-o-rific

O’Reilly Radar: nat: Digging The Madness of Crowds

digg.com: O’Reilly writer Steve Mallett has stolen digg’s code

Steve Mallett’s linuxfilter

Yahoo!’s Jeremy Zawodny: Slashdot is Going out of Style in 2006