Can Social News Networks Be Trusted?

G4 reports: "We all, painfully, know that it's impossible to trust the mainstream media. Many people have turned to social news sites like Digg for their daily dose of goings-ons in the world.

However, these sites are controlled by the will of the masses, and the masses are comprised of people like...people like...you and me.

Regular people.

Is "the public" a good measure of what's important in the world of news?"

[MikeGdaGod]

so i know this doesn't directly refer to gaming, but this site is a social news network and when i saw this last night on G4tv the first thing that came to mind was N4G, not Digg.

[kingboy]

For a second i thought they were going to make reference to N4G Oh well!

[BubblesDAVERAGE]

muchfaster way to find news better then gamepro...

[GaMr-]

Hate to toot my own horn but. I notice alot of my stories on other sites... Days later. I try my best to keep you guys ahead of the pack.

[TheMART]

That's with most of the stories posted here, not only yours.

Guys like DC RID3, deepbrown and others are on it. One of the biggest I miss lately, Outlaw was posting a lot in the past. He might be still around, only less active. The same for me. Looks like DC RID3R will go for that 500 dollars this month! (wasn't that the price for the most posted stories?)

[JasonXE]

Most of us in the field just get press releases that everyone gets. What get you ratings is the spicy news that feeds to the public. Something like ET or inside edition stuff...whatever get's ratings. It's interesting how n4g and the sites you're linking are the one's that are getting 'money' off you being 'contributors' unless you work for the site your linking. Oh well...

[GaMr-]

Im not stealing anyones thunder. Im just saying. I know without a doubt that I put an effort. Not just site hop and do copy and paste jobs. I will actually read an article before submitting it. Or investigate leads to find bigger stories. Im not sure who else I can possibly say that for. Thats why I spoke for myself. Im not conceited dont make me out to look like a jerk. Yea DC will probably win it for most stories submitted. Something I would never win because I write most of my own summaries and actually read my stories as oppose to constant copy and paste. I will admit sometimes their is just no other way but the ol copy and paste. But most of the time I read it and break it down in a much more reader friendly manner.

As far as hottest story of the month. Lets just say

I have yet to submit it! ; )

[Dragonopolis]

Most social news sites start with links to regular news sites then allow people to share their insights. Sometimes its comical, other times it turns in a flame war, every now and then a good discussion comes around, and even some education can come from social news sites (I've picked up a few programming/web developement info from Digg) . It is also good to see all the differences but importantly to see certain common ideas despite vast differences.

Most Social News Sites people commenting tend to ridicule (at least the Digg community does) when sites are submitted that lead to personal blogs stating opinion rather than fact with no credentials trying to pass it off as public opinion or actual news).

Of course, with it being social, there is bias. Digg has this Wii bias going for awhile and tends to post a heavier amount of news that is negative to Sony and Microsoft than Nintendo (which I tend to tune out). However, even regular news from commericial news sites has bias opinions so whats the difference. As with anything, use intelligence when determining whether the story posted is supported by a respected news source. Social News sites is a great way to get news from all over the world from different sources rather than having to go to each and every site.

Of course not all news has to be serious and Digg has posted some great YouTube clips.

N4G is pretty good and does a pretty good job at keeping the bias to minimum. It is also a quick way to view news from different gaming sites. Oftentimes, I continue to visit the specific news site that was link if I really liked the article. This makes me wonder how many news sites have "agents" that post news links to these social sites to get exposure.