No matter whether Digg appeals to a huge audience, the concept is exactly right: let readers vote on the best stories. The top vote-getting stories go to the top of the page. The personal newspaper gains a new tool. Check it out. Peter Van

June 11, 2006
Digg This: Soon, Not Just for Geeks Anymore
Rob Hof
Digg, the collaborative tech news site, will soon branch out beyond geekdom. At a Web 2.0 panel at the eBay Developers Conference today, President Kevin Rose said that in the next month or so, the popular site--where people vote on stories submitted by others, with the highest vote-getters moving to the top of the front page--will add coverage of world news, entertainment, politics, and more. Major redesign is in the works.
It'll be interesting to see if Digg, and other nerdy sites like Techmeme.com that are trying to branch out beyond tech, will appeal to the general population. I think what they're doing--generally tapping into the zeitgeist using people's own opinions of the best articles and posts--has great potential value beyond tech news. But I wonder if the sites themselves can stretch their brand that far.