Social Media’s Dark Side Revealed

Social media is supposed to be democratic, right? It's supposed to enable a sharing of ideas with a larger group than would be possible on email. Well, not all social media operates under that supposition. Some act with an authoritarian decisiveness that would make the Chinese kerfuffle with Google seem like child's play.

Take Digg, for instance, where my blog was recently delisted - perhaps de-Digged is more appropriate - because it violated the social media tool's overly broad terms of use, which if used hawkishly could probably apply to 95% of all blogs on the Internet. I found this out the other day when I tried to Digg my last blog post to help spread its visibility through traditional social media channels. I was informed that my URL was persona non grata at Digg.

When I emailed Digg support I got this response back:

"Hello David,

Sorry, but we can't help as requested. Please reread the Terms of Use to which you agreed when you registered for a Digg.com account, paying careful attention to 5, which states, in part, that users cannot use the site to "advertise to, or solicit, any user to buy or sell any products or services. It is also a violation of these rules to use any information obtained from the Services in order to contact, advertise to, solicit, or sell to any user without their prior explicit consent;"

The full TOU can be found at

We also address this issue in our Community Guidelines: "Digg is not for commercial use. Please don't use Digg for selling or promoting products and services. If we discover that you're involved in Digging for profit we reserve the right to terminate your account permanently."

This refers to a page's naked domain -- in this case, thesagecloser.com

Thanks,

- Digg Support Team"

Now, I for one do not know what a "naked domain name" is, nor have I ever heard of the term. It certainly never occurred to me that my "naked" domain name of www.thesagecloser.com could somehow violate Digg's terms of use.

A Snake-Oil Salesman?

A careful - heck, even a hasty - review of my blog clearly shows I'm not hawking any products or services. Seriously, I blog to HELP my customers and readers learn about PR and marketing in the age of new media. I tell them about how to be more effective at utilizing social media tools so they can gain more attention, target prospects, etc.

The fact is I've never asked a reader to buy something from me. I wouldn't insult their intelligence by doing so. Yet Digg thinks my "naked" domain name is too commercial and my blog is shamelessly soliciting business. Since when is providing FREE marketing and PR advice a direct sales solicitation? How bizarre!

There’s now way around it. I've discovered a dark side to social media. One I'm only too glad to share with my readers.

Here’s the nub.

Not all social media tools are as democratic as you might think. Some enforce their terms of use in ways that seem arbitrary, ill-considered and down-right unfair. And when you try to get them to tell you why, to reconsider, they retreat behind a monolithic and opaque exterior known as “The Digg Support Team”. So much for the "customer engagement" era that social media was supposed to usher in.

Am I mad at Digg? Not at all! They've taught be a valuable lesson. Not all social media is fair and equitable, or as transparent and easy to use as represented. I've seen that there are real limitations to social media, that the power of social media is only as good as the tools that support it. But, I've also learned that despite these limitations the true power resides in the voices of the users. In other words, as long as we're willing to keep talking, others will listen and, perhaps, heed our advice.

I'm not suggesting you stop using Digg. Far from it. If you use it and it works for you, then more power to you! I'm saying that there's a darker side to Digg, and for that matter, most all of social media. You may experience it yourself one day. Perhaps you already have and would like to share your experience? That would be great.

Where do I go from here?

Now that I've been de-Digged, I guess I'll have to use my own terms of social media use and say "good riddance" to a social media tool that's been anything but social with  me. The unfriendly Digg icon is coming off my blog. I'm going to DIG a hole 6 feet down and bury it. RIP DIGG!