During Michael Arrington’s interview with Kevin Rose, the Digg-founder states, “I believe that it’s time for Digg to get a little bit more real-time in nature. And we need to be a living and breathing site.”  He goes on to say that he expects Digg to see these changes somewhere in the next six months.

There’s no denying the fact that most future web services will instinctively adopt a real-time functionality.  Just one look at microblogging and/or activity streaming, and one notices just how useful the real-time web can be.  Digg’s current offering definitely lacks this dynamic, so it is an obvious and necessary next step.  One can only wonder just what exactly this new iteration will include.

In regards to Arrington’s inquiries involving the future direction of Digg, Rose explains: “…new directions for us that you will look at and I guarantee you would be like that’s a ballsy move.”

So what will the “New Digg” be like?

You can safely bet that the site will become more interactive by nature.  Most likely, the site will develop a real-time platform for ‘digging’ content while showing activity feeds of Digg members (not unlike Twitter/FriendFeed).  I presume that content will extend beyond just news into all sorts of categories.  In fact, the interview had also mentioned (pretty unclearly, however) thoughts of digging certain advertisements/campaigns.  Overall, I see the service eliminating certain barriers, becoming even more transparent.  I can even see them utilize the tools they have developed in Digg Labs, like Stack [pic], for example.  Used effectively, this could bring a new dynamic to the sometimes-static nature of Digg.

It is definitely time for Digg to become more social and interactive.  I just wonder if it will be enough to grab the attention of the masses, something that Kevin Rose so desperately wants to achieve.

“I believe that it’s time for Digg to get a little bit more real-time in nature. And we need to be a living and breathing site.”
-Kevin Rose

Editor’s Note: The author of this article is an avid Digg user and a contributing writer for a major Los Angeles news publication. This is his unfiltered rant.

The Diggbar is terrible. Now that that I got that out my system! What ticks me off more than anything is the unfavorable trends occurring with Digg.com. It is what has me recently shying away from this amazing resource of great (sometimes reoccurring) information. It’s this secret society of intelligent and money hungry, tech savvy robots in the digg community. Who are these people exactly, Kevin Rose? Loved you on Late Night, but we both know Jimmy Fallon had no idea about what you were talking about.

Look, I read articles all the time. I love to Digg. I find it is a great way to find new and interesting articles in a most timely fashion. I can consume everything on the site with no problem. The only issue stems when I try to share my stories with the Digg community. Posting a story to share on Digg is so easy to do and always impossible to make the front page, regardless of the quality of the content.

This is when I realized that Digg.com is the central hub for the secret society known as:

The Diggalotti.

Daa Daaa Daaaa! Don’t recognize the term? The Diggalotti are members of the Digg community who work in the ways of the secret order of the Illuminati. This all-controlling group of power hungry domineers run the world that is Digg. They Digg and they Digg-a-lot-i.

Power users. Names like MrBabyMan, d2002, etc. You’ve seen them. You’ve read their articles. Like information superhighway super troopers, they are able to do things that none of us can do. They manage to get to the front page with only 30 diggs. They can have a popularity ratio of 25%. Are they really that fast at posting up stories? Does duplicating other people’s stories affect their popularity? Jesus, I feel like its high school again on Digg where getting popular is easily attained so long as you accept shouts or anything that comes out their ass. If you want to have power too, you have to do what they do. I know, I know. Of course there are exceptions. There is always the random geek who gets in with the cool crowd. (See: Long Duk Dong)

They are probably great people. I have read about MrBabyMan and realize he does exist. But it also has me wondering about motives and the status of other power users. Digg is incredibly marketable. The digg effect can take a video and make it a hit viral sensation. It can take an article from some unknown blogger from Mauston, Wisconsin and make her the next bestselling author. It can take a potential Presidential candidate and make him think he’s about to take office. (Sorry, Ron)

If I was a corporation and I wanted to promote a soft drink, (maybe a funny viral video to that laughing kid who happens to be drinking a Coca-Cola) I would love more hits. Or if I worked at The New York Post, why not have a power user share the controversial Obama Chimp illustration to drive hits that day to the site. Are these users paid to spread the word about the next big blockbuster movie? Let’s say “2012.” That article by POWERUSERX about the world ending is only there to generate buzz even if it never mentions the movie. It’s strategic and it’s smart, but it makes me lose faith as an “regular” user. If I were a member of the Diggalotti, I would accept the money given to me by some marketing honcho at Universal Studios.

I’m not angry. I’m not a conspiracy theorist. I still love to Digg. I just wish I could contribute to Digg without having to think about the mystery behind the system or how to fit in. One thing is for certain, the All Seeing Eye is clearly there. The only thing I can hope is that Rick Roll isn’t behind all of this.