I've always preferred editorially controlled news sources like Fark and the Drudge Report. I'm more likely to find links that I think are interesting. On "social news" sites like Digg, readers get endless Ron Paul and Apple links, as fanboys constantly vote for their preferred subjects. Occasionally though, something else makes it to the top of the social news pile.


Yesterday, a video of a pug puppy licking a screen got more than 14,000 Diggs. This from a website where a link is considered popular if it gets more than 1,000 Diggs. I'm relieved to have finally found the purpose for "social sites" like Digg or YouTube: the 21st-century version of America's Funniest Home Videos. Nothing meaningful ever happens, but it's a fun diversion.

For what it's worth, America's Funniest Home Videos remains massively popular and profitable. But no one mistakes it for the future of news. And what are the odds someone would pay $300 million for an online version of it?