Digg Labs

I must say that the new Digg Labs function that was added to the site yesterday is pretty cool. Let me give you my two cents on the matter.

Swarm

I was beginning to wonder when major websites would start to catch on to visualization structures like this. I've seen history programs that connect history this way and thesaurus programs that connect synonyms and antonyms this way, but I knew that anyone could use the functionality to help people visualize connections. In the abstract world of computers and the internet, any tool that allows people to easily see and interpret connections really helps the human user.

Stack

This here is like a horse race for Digg stories. Line up a bunch of stories and watch them go (kinda like that carnival game where you shoot water into a target to make your thing go). It is a great idea for keeping people on the site because it continually is moving and engaging the attention of the user. I think it would be really funny to set this up with a bunch of friends, take bets on which story will reach a certain point first, and then talk trash like it's the Super Bowl. A fun way to use the feature.

Also funny to me was the fact that Digg managed to crash ITS OWN SERVERS when they released it. I mean honestly, after watching hundreds of sites crash because of the Digg phenomenon wouldn't they have realized that once it hit the front page every stinking Digg user would visit it and start playing around with it? Hello! Anyway, I thought it was hilarious.

Noteworthy

I just read a story that is has an interesting take on the Digg Conspiracy.