Social Media: Is It Viral, Or Just A Virus?

Much praise and adoration has been lauded on the alleged marketing and inbound link potential that social media sites, Digg in particular, present to companies looking to increase their incoming traffic and search rankings. Social media was the all the rage around the conference circuit in late 2006, specifically PubCon and SES Chicago. Many search engine analysts predicted that social media would present the new pinnacle in word-of-mouth marketing, generating seemingly limitless possibilities for both incoming traffic and inbound links. Digg seemed to catch the largest amount of social media praise, with prognosticators everywhere dubbing the social news site as the epitome of citizen journalism. Those who blindly heap acclaim upon piece: [M]ounting evidence suggests that Digg traffic in particular is less like networking with like-minded individuals at a social event and more like getting attacked by a pack of wild dogs, who leave nothing of value in their wake, other than lessons learned on closing comments and crashed servers. Kim Kraus Berg has also had some less than savory experiences with Diggers. She details the ordeal in her Murdok. Visit Murdok for the