You Digg?

     
     The book Groundswell has inspired me to explore unconventional social media sites. Lately, I have been overwhelmed by the sheer volume of news stories I come in contact with throughout the day.  There are talk shows, news programs, newspapers, peer groups and internet sites all trying to win my attention.  As a college student, it is difficult to find time to search through the bulk of news in order to find a few articles that are relevant to my life.  
    Groundswell suggests Digg.com as a great social media tool. This site is similar to the "like it" button on Facebook.  It expresses approval, and more approvals lead to higher  ratings.  Stories on Digg are essentially ranked by popularity. 
     Digg.com seems ideal for a girl like me, so here goes nothing.  Today I joined the Digg World. My first impression of this site is very positive.  The fact that articles are grouped by category makes maneuvering around the site incredibly easy.  The Business section and Lifestyles sections are most relevant to my life. In the next few weeks I look forward to reading top rated stores from these categories.  At first glance, I  also enjoy the section denoted "Hot Stories on Dig." Under this particular heading, I found an article called, "The Safest Countries in the World." After Hurricane Katrina, the earthquake in Haiti and the Tsunami in Japan, I am curious which places are the most prone to disaster, and which are least prone.  "The Safest Countries in the World," lists Storrs, Connecticut as the safest state in the United States.  Overall, this site names Estoni,a Qatar, Bahrain the United Arab Emirates and Andorra the safest place to live.  Ratings are based on disasters in the past century. All of the countries listed have not experienced any monumental disasters in over 100 years. I found this article to be fascinating.  Hopefully the rest of my experiences with this site are as fruitful.  
    My question to my readers is this: Do you Digg? If not, is there a site that you prefer for discovering top news stories? Keep reading my blog because for the next week I will be checking Digg daily and make sure I report back with my satisfaction level. Thank you all for taking this social media journey with me. My hopes are to eventually master alternate media outlets in order to compete in the field of Marketing.