Lab 5

This week is a discussion about Digg, StumbleUpon and Reddit, and how they can be used to a firm's advantage and market gain.

Digg: This is a very interesting resource to me. I had never been to Digg before today, but it can definitely be used by a firm to follow certain groups as well as allow other Digg users to keep up on their own products and services. Digg allows the firm to post articles that it believes fellow Digg users would find interesting and useful. The firm can also use Digg to keep tabs on its competitors by following the articles that they post. Digg can also be used as an interest gage. A firm could use Digg to see what its followers are viewing as well.

StumbleUpon: This is a resource that is mostly used for when boredom strikes. StumbleUpon is definitely not the best promotional tool out there, but it can be used one way. If a company has a website (which hopefully it does if it wants to be successful) then they can have their page be in the database for StumbleUpon. With their page in the database then people who are stumbling can come across their page eventually and make it a favorite, which will then increase the likely hood of them coming back across another one of the firm's pages later.

Reddit: This can be used as a buzz generator as well as a gage for that buzz, if present. A firm can submit a link in Reddit which will put it up for vote on the main screen. If enough people vote your submission it will rise on the voters page and eventually be in the top section, making it visible for everyone who comes on the Reddit site. Reddit in my opinion is definitely a form of a hype site, one that will generate a good buzz if you have an interesting submission. Unfortunately, the ones that are on the top revolve around humor and don't truly allow for gripping articles that will inform the masses about useful information.