Netscape VS Digg ... where's the popcorn?!

**nado** · 07-26-2006 01:47 AM

This is a hilarious battle going on between these guys: Digg and Netscape ... it gets even better when the guys behind the two companies, i.e. Kevin Rose and Jason Calacanis, go head-to-head

If you hadn't heard, Netscape decided to clone Digg, but instead of keeping the community in control they're employing editors to dictate what gets displayed on the front page (a bit like a combined Digg and Slashdot).

So that was controversy enough.

But recently, the CEO (i think) Jason Calacanis had announced that he reckoned the top 100 Digg users contributed (so in a way controlled) 50% of the stories that made the front page of Digg.

So Jason also announced that he would pay a couple of them $1000 per month to go over to Netscape to submit and promote stories there.

Here's the latest blog post wars from this Digg story with over 2500 diggs so far:

Jason: http://www.calacanis.com/2006/07/25/...on-the-debate/
Kevin's reply: http://krose.typepad.com/kevinrose/2...calacanis.html

I think Calacanis sparked some very viral PR. The Digg community is pretty damn strong... I've seen it destroy whole businesses and tarnish people's reputations. So I definitely think he's treading on very thin, barbed wire.

But I'm fairly biased having been a Digg user and Diggnation viewer since almost the beginnings.

What do you think?

cheers
nathan

**archiebolo** · 07-26-2006 04:11 AM

lol after an hour of reading this post
the netscape website is hacked
there are pop up messages saying

"f#uk"
then
"hello to all you diggers out there

"

i first thought i got some kinda spyware on my comp but nah its the netscape website lol

**akula** · 07-26-2006 05:13 AM

netscape will probably win

aol knows how to build a business

rose only knows how to be cool

he will lose because he doesn't understand the average web user

his customers are like him - geeks and hackers (a minority). he's never gonna cross the chasm and win the mass market.

aol is gonna kick their ass because they understand the nature of long term distribution channels. digg only understands word of mouth which is not contractually assured. this is probably the same reason why msn will beat google in search over the next 5-10 years.

there isn't a fortune company out there who's gonna do business with digg because they're a nuisance cruising for bad pr.

**nado** · 07-26-2006 05:28 AM

Originally Posted by archiebolo

lol after an hour of reading this post
the netscape website is hacked
there are pop up messages saying

"f#uk"
then
"hello to all you diggers out there

"

i first thought i got some kinda spyware on my comp but nah its the netscape website lol

Ouch, funny like crazy, but bad rep for Digg.

True akula, Digg will maintain it's tech following but Netscape will probably win the rest of the categories.

AOL has a track record of being able to scam the average person

(screens attached if anyone's interested)

**akula** · 07-26-2006 06:38 AM

it's a great thread nado

calacanis has a fantastic modus operandi

he creates controversy to generate publicity and place him self in a win/win situation

if every one goes against him, he's the underdog and can get support that way...i.e. "digg is unethical, evil - just look what they did to our site etc"

if everybody cheers him, he wins because everyone expects him to win

he did the same thing with weblogs inc. and now he has saved aol at least $10 million because in a week or so the whole world's gonna know that netscape now does user generated content. this incident is gonna get coverage in every major newspaper in the world.

and guess who is responsible for getting him all the pr? the exact people who are supposed to be suppressing it.

the more digg users twist and behave like idiots, the more they tighten the noose calacanis has conveniently roped around their necks.

he's great at setting traps.

it's simple: he needs editors. to get editors he needs people to tell people that he needs editors. notice that you're a digg fan, yet he has trapped you into advertising that netscape is paying people to submit articles to their site. it's brilliant, and that's why they'll win.

Scott Taylor · 07-26-2006 07:32 AM

Originally Posted by akula

it's a great thread nado

calacanis has a fantastic modus operandi

he creates controversy to generate publicity and place him self in a win/win situation

if every one goes against him, he's the underdog and can get support that way...i.e. "digg is unethical, evil - just look what they did to our site etc"

if everybody cheers him, he wins because everyone expects him to win

he did the same thing with weblogs inc. and now he has saved aol at least $10 million because in a week or so the whole world's gonna know that netscape now does user generated content. this incident is gonna get coverage in every major newspaper in the world.

and guess who is responsible for getting him all the pr? the exact people who are supposed to be suppressing it.

the more digg users twist and behave like idiots, the more they tighten the noose calacanis has conveniently roped around their necks.

he's great at setting traps.

it's simple: he needs editors. to get editors he needs people to tell people that he needs editors. notice that you're a digg fan, yet he has trapped you into advertising that netscape is paying people to submit articles to their site. it's brilliant, and that's why they'll win.

good post

(characters)

**sicnarftea** · 07-26-2006 07:36 AM

thats some heavy pwnage going on.

But Rose is right about being community driven without monetary motivation. Kinda ensures that the content is geniune

**akula** · 07-26-2006 08:09 AM

Originally Posted by sicnarftea

thats some heavy pwnage going on.

But Rose is right about being community driven without monetary motivation. Kinda ensures that the content is geniune

something definitely is going on and looking at jason's history, he most likely just paid somebody to "hack" netscape.com

if he hadn't, then he would have looked like an evil corporation trying to destroy a startup.

but now - he doesn't. it's digg who looks like an uncompetitive and illegal monster

it probably cost aol 50 bucks to hack their own site - but it's gonna benefit them in vast millions of dollars in marketing exposure

quite frankly - that's what I would have done if I were jason

**CP Mr Ofevaw** · 07-26-2006 08:24 AM

I hate AOL (and any part of them)... they fucked me over (and millions of other Americans - just look up the class action suit). It could be Jason who had someone hack the site, or it could be one of the millions of Americans that have a burning/passionate hate for AOL.

While Jason and Kevin duke it out, a smaller site like Reddit will come in and take the cake.

Anyway, this is the first time I've heard the Netscape name since the dot-com burst ... I thought they were officially in the "browser graveyard"?