Gizmodo Initiates "Digg Policy"

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Gizmodo Initiates "Digg Policy"

June 13, 2007 3:18 PM Posted by mac

Gizmodo has initiated a new "Digg Policy."

"No badging of articles unless they have original content, new reporting, treatment, or photos.
It's not fair when we get the Digg for someone else's work."

I applaud this move and hope other major blogs follow suit. Smaller publishers (disclosure: I'm one of them) often pitch to Gizmodo, Engadget, Boing Boing and other A-list blogs as a way to drum up exposure and page views for their original work. On paper it's an ideal scenario: small-fry bloggers get a moment in the sun and big-time blogs get a fresh batch of new content every day.

But sometimes the system breaks down (I've had this happen, so try to look past the oncoming bitterness): If a major blog uses too much of a smaller blog's original material or buries the reference link, the smaller blog loses exposure, opportunity and, worst of all, credit for the original material. The wave of traffic that typically comes from an A-List blog is lost. Worse still, the secondary links that often follow A-List exposure end up going to the A-List blog, not the smaller blog.

I certainly don't think big blogs aim to screw small publishers, but their place in the Web ecosystem demands a high level of respect/responsibility toward their content sources. Gizmodo's Digg policy is a step in the right direction.

Thanks to Jason for the link.