The "problem" of social news…
One “problem” with social news sites is that the more scandalous and crazy the story, the greater the chance in some cases that it will make the front page.
MicroPersausion talks about it here and suggests a system…. ummm, digg has a system where they put alerts on disputed stories, and Netscape has a crew of 30 folks watching out for these items.
This really isn’t a “problem” since folks understand that these system can get gamed. Just like folks know that on a life TV report someone could jump in front of the camera and yell something–but you know that doesn’t replace the anchor even though they have for five seconds.
Anyone in media can–and will–get spoofed: The New York Times, Engadget, digg, Netscape, or CNN. It’s how you deal with the spoofing and the intelligence of your users that matter. In another year folks will learn to say “it was on a social news site, but I *checked* the comments and it doesn’t seem real.” Or, “I checked CNN and Google News and they had nothing on it.” In other words, folks will take responsibility for what they read.
