MySpace Takes on Google News and Digg

cyberianpan writes "According to a Times Online article, MySpace is going into the news business. They'll soon be premiering a service that will scour the internet for news stories and let users vote on which ones receive the most exposure. This approach blends elements of Google News and sites such as Digg and Netscape, which rely on readers to submit stories and determine their prominence. One could see where this might be the 'holy grail' of internet news. Not only will you be able to tap into the wisdom of the crowds, but ultimately your recommended stories could be influenced by the likes and dislikes of your friends/heroes."

Comments

Inflated hopes

[Aeron65432]

I think the very fact that we are all posting on Slashdot shows that user-driven-content isn't necessarily good, there needs to be some kind of editorial control. I read Digg for a while, it had some cool postings and seemed like a good idea. But it has just turn into pseudo-mob-rule now. Diggs trolling for advertising show up all too often (and while a similar story may appear on Slashdot we generally bitch it into obscurity) and it's news stories, IMHO, have watered down significantly. It's no longer a news site per se, I certainly wouldn't go there to read insightful comments. (Complain about /. moderation if you will, but Digg's comment system is awful and not worth reading)

So not only is user-driven news sources inherently flawed, but as we all know, giving any sort of voice or power to Myspace users just screams OMG PONIES, "OMG NEW SHOES AT ABERCOMBIE" and "People- DO U ACTLY THINK IM HOT?" all over the front page, daily.