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Some Digg Functionality is Broken … Ohhhh It Hurts.

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Its true ... some of Digg's functionality appears broken at the moment. Fortunately, its not critical functionality, so we will survive. It is a pain however.

Accordingly, in the remainder of this post, I'll identify the problem, show the symptoms, discuss the implications, and propose a solution ... much like an old boss said to me once; "don't come to me with problems, come to me with solutions!". I still live by that motto to this day!

The Problem:
The problem is simply that Digg 'fails' to update a user's Diggs or Submissions in important indicator charts, which makes the user appear relatively inactive, and makes it almost impossible to tell that when friends have submitted stories. The system seems stuck or frozen ... perhaps as long as a week ago. It bodes well for those who had a number of Diggs or submissions at that time, but actually works against all those who had less favourable numbers when the system broke.

To see the problem:

Symptom #1: Profile Page
goto your profile page, and look at the section titled 'Most Dugg Topics (Last 30 Days)' (see screenprint below). Then, go Digg a few stories, refresh your page, and note that the numbers do not change. Personally I've dugg well over 1000 stories, but only a fraction actually appear.

Symptom #2: History Page (under 'Filter' section)
Now, goto your 'History' page, and look under the 'Filter' section. Once again, its showing only a very small fraction of the Digg's I've made, and is showing no submissions or comments though I've been quite active recently.


Symptom #3: Friends Page (under 'Friends')

Finally, on the 'Friends' page, if you track it over some time, you'll see its not updating or changing. Its stuck! Some friends are showing more submissions that they've actually made, some less, and many none ... wow this hurts!

Why Does This Matter?
It matters for a couple of reasons:

1) if you've been alot more active lately, than in the time leading up to the freezing of these stats, your new efforts are not being reflected. You will therefore be viewed as a 'less active' friend, making you less attractive as a friend.

2) for those with few or no submissions in the 48 hours prior to the freeze, your friends and followers are going to be led to believe that you've had no submissions recently, when in fact you have. Of course, this makes your submissions less visible, and less likely to reach the all important Digg homepage.

Short Term Solutions:
If you have new submissions, this is the time to 'shout it' out to your friends if you haven't already.

Hopefully Digg will have this problem corrected in no time, and the Digg world will return to normal.