Update: DIGG did the right thing and turned a bunch of spammers off. The spammers are upset--total non-issue. Rock on TeamDigg... and don't let the bastards get you down!

Gosh I love/hate the blogosphere... Mena was right, you're all a bunch of #$%@#$% and we should all just be @#$%@$#% nice to each other! :-)

Today's candidate for hate: Digg!!!

It's funny... the reward for being successful in the blogosphere is now pure hate (check Scoble, Gawker, Engadget, MySpace, etc). The Internet industry used to be competitive, but because the freak contingent didn't have blogs you could basically ignore them.

Today, as a startup, the freak contingent (aka haters) can take over your life if you let them. They bait you all day long, they look for your weak spots and attack them, and the facts are--of course--secondary to the splashy headline. Anything social runs the risk of being taken over by the bastards... look at Wikipedia. It's becoming a field day for flammers, haters, stalkers, and freaks. The whole thing is on the verge of coming apart. It's total chaos.

To be honest... I kind of like.

These freaks are the best focus group you could ever have, and frankly people are learning who the freaks are who the cool people are. I don't know all the details of this case, but we all know DIGG does have some issues. Anyone doing something innovative is going to have problems.

The "wisdom of crowds" quickly becomes "the madness of the mob" in this world. DIGG is learning the hard lessons around these issue and they're are going to be just fine. However, they are going to be *first* (along with Delicious) to many of the mistakes... the person who makes the mistakes first tends to win. Finding the right solution is often a process of elimination--and you eliminate based on your mistakes.

I can't say I blame him... blogging is a grind and it takes over your life. In some cases it even becomes your life.

Burn out is, of course, an issue too. Dave blogs everything, and I'm sure as a result of that a significant portion of his communication occurs via his blog. This can get very alienating over time. Fred and I spend more time blogging together than we do hanging out. We got to hang out at eTech, and it's much better to hang in person.

On top of all this is the undeniable fact that blogging is at it's best when there is conflict. Debating on blogs is just so effective in terms of moving ideas forward and drawing people into the discussion. Of course, you can easily get caught into this trap of only blogging when you feel strongly about something--it's polarizing for sure. Heck, I have to remind myself to throw in five non-aggressive posts for every passionate one I do.

I encourage folks to use the "say it to my face" rule when they post, or place a comment. You simply ask yourself "would I say this to the person in public and to their face?" If you can't answer that question instantly with a yes you should hold off on hitting the publish button.

The best moment in the history blogging was Mena Trott, from SixApart, giving a passionate speech calling for civility in blogging. During the talk she goes postal on someone on the backchannel, calling them an a-hole to their face and saying "what the f$%k!?!?!" Ahhh.... the irony. Mena really sweet of course, but she proved the point that blogging is about mixing it up not civility. A recap here.