The Link Gatherers Phenomenon

The Internet is vast. I’m not trying to state the obvious, but face it – you will probably never be able to see 50% of all websites and interesting pages that exist online. With an astronomic expanding rate, only comparable to the Universe itself, users are more and more realizing the undeniable truth – lack of time, lack of filter capacity and whole lot of places to go and see on the Net. It’s probably not as long as my neverending posts, but it is definitely more interesting!

This is actually something that has been happening for quite a while – it’s not as new as my introduction would lead you to believe. In fact – it is something that exists ever since the big Internet boom in the 90’s, way back in the Web 1.0 ages. Users don’t have that much time and, in that time, they want to get the most out of their internet time. That was also one of the prefaces to the growing influence of viral marketing, send-a-friend mechanics, the influence of peers in comparison to the brands influence in the purchase decision making process, and the emergence of websites focused on link gathering. That is the main focus of this article – the growing websites and tools that provide the user with interesting links and contents.

When approaching this subject it’s quite easy to get lost or mixed up – since the convergence of utilities in Mobile Hardware is passing on to the Websites, most websites are now Portals, providing not only a core functionality (for example, Myspace is primarily a Social Networking Website) but also a whole paraphernalia of utilities that are a “must” for a surviving website – rich media interaction, comments, information exchanging, feeds, subscription, e-mail accounts, amongst a whole lot of “basic website building starter package” nowadays. But we will focus on the primary function of the Link Gatherers – submission of interesting links, users voting on those links and comments that show how good or bad the reactions are. Pure Web 2.0 tools, they contain strong Social Networking characteristics, but their main focus and importance is not as a SN tools per se.

Of course, the first example and the most notorious is Digg.com. Born from the Internet Guru Kevin Rose, Digg created a model on its own – submit your links, vote on them and grow on the page rankings. It’s the Google model applied to Link Gathering – a web 2.0 engaging and real-time experience. Digg is a reference when it comes to user opinion – nowadays, it can be used as a research tool for trend watchers to analyze what is hot or not, how people react to current events and, by detecting the opinion leaders inside the ranks of the link submitters, how the tendency in the tastes of the users are influenced online and its subsequent passage into the Real World. A marketing tool on its own, there is even talk about Digg Marketing – a marketing strategy supported on Digg and its potential. Although I don’t believe in this form of marketing as it goes against my internet karma, it is fascinating to observe how important a website whose function is to tell users what they should be watching online has grown on the online community.

I could go on to other examples, but they can be described or mentioned on later posts. One final example I want to mention is a website and a tool at the same time – StumbleUpon. This Link Gathering network has gone one step forward – the links are not displayed on a page with the ranking but are just an optional component. The main focus of this website is the Add-On bar for your browser that has a button, whose functionality is to, via defining your preferences on types of contents, gives you a random website. And surprise, surprise – they are almost always interesting! But you can state that by clicking on the “I Like It!” button for Yes or No. Besides this, you can create your own profile, add friends, check their favorite websites and see an historic of your voting. It even has a Send-a-Friend mechanic to send the page you currently StumbledUpon. It is a fascinating tool and you should keep a close eye on it – it could be the Web 2.0 for the Digg type websites, but it is actually a different focus and evolution axis for the Social Networking meets Consumer Opinion in the Link Gatherer Lifestyle.

As always, all this text is not random. This is important for marketers or trend watchers alike. Link Gathering websites aren’t just a natural observation ground for online behaviors – they are the breeding space for consumer tendencies and emerging brand opinion. It’s the counter reaction to the long tail phenomenon that has fragmented audiences into a million pieces. So marketers should learn this – you don’t have to focus on Digg or StumbleUpon Marketing, but grow your marketing into the next stage of the Digital and Interactive Marketing Evolution – it is a Long Tail Marketing Reaction. But I will approach this matter on another post – I just StumbledUpon something that could be too big for this already too long post!