Bad Astronomy

Can you Digg it?

Astute readers may have noticed that posts on this blog now come adorned with a yellow icon at the top left that says “Digg This!” and has a number in it. I’m guessing that most folks reading this blog don’t know what this means. Let me explain.

Social networking is a driving force on the web now. People’s sites live and die on the word of others. When you have an incredibly good site, like, say, Bad Astronomy, it rises to the top. Other people like it, they mention it on their site, and links pour in. Life is good.

But not good enough. I’m really glad to have the readers I do, but I always want more. I want to spread the gospel of science and astronomy! Well, you know what I mean. Flagrant self-promotion is my only option, which I do all the time. But despite the snarky silliness I usually use (did I mention this is an incredibly good site?) I can only do so much.

But there are some amazing sites out there that do a fantastic job of getting the word out. One of the most popular is Digg.com. There, people can see what sites/blogs/pictures/whatever other people like, and vote on them, up or down. I look at Digg pretty much every day; the space section is really good. And I find that usually at least one or two of the Top 10 stories there is worth reading.

If you see a story you like, you submit it to Digg, and others can digg it. The problem is, that can be a bit tedious, so I have made it easier for you, O My Loyal BABloggees: hence the yellow button. If you click it, you will be swept away to Digg, where you can easily go through the process to submit the blog entry. And even better, if someone has already done it, all you have to do is click the button and it will be Dugg automatically! One caveat: you need to register with Digg, but that only takes a sec, and they won’t do anything with your email, etc etc.

Remember my Top Ten Astronomy Images of 2006 post? It got submitted to Digg and within two days had hundreds of diggs and got over 200,000 visits! That’s what I’m talkin’ about.

Not every post deserves to get Dugg (like this one certainly doesn’t; it’s just a public service announcement), but if you see one you really like, give it a shot. I’d appreciate it.

Digg it, baby.

Optional other titles for this post: Baby Can You Dig Your Man (with apologies to Steven King), and Can You Digg It, Yes I Can (with apologies to Chicago).