Digg made a huge mistake in 2010, one that happens a lot but is never really addressed. Apple hasn’t made this mistake, Microsoft has in some regards. Other companies go down this route. So what am I talking about? Companies that isolate their fan base by selling out.
Any site would be happy to have the following the Digg had. However, making a site profitable for investors is another issue they were having. So what happened? They sold out to “the man.” Companies can now easily promote articles using a paid service. This takes control out of consumers hands. Essentially, they ignored what made them popular and decided that profits were more important.
In the same period, Reddit was sort of the new kid on the block. This change helped in Reddit growing 230% in 2010, taking users from Digg because of this blunder. And you know what? That may be a mistake that Digg can never return from.
The reason Apple has so much success is because they don’t appear to have sold out. Steve Jobs has a great vision on how products should be, and who is going to use them. He doesn’t isolate his base, he makes them users for life. There’s even been news that Apple is trying to move more into corporate sales, but is keeping it secret. Apple needs to expand to this segment because it is practical, but doesn’t want to appear to be selling out to its end users.
Microsoft has made a grave mistake in trying to create a product for business and end users. To make this easier for them, they took out Drive Extender, probably to please small business users. There were enthusiasts (like myself) who loved Windows Home Server, and was excited to see them take it to the next level. In one blog post, Microsoft killed something that many thought was revolutionary.
What’s the lesson to take? Your user base is most important in any decision that you make. Twitter did it right, they created a better Twitter and users still have the ability to use the old interface while they are getting used to the new one.
Without your fans, you are nothing. Digg, you lost users because you sold out. How is that profitable?
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