This post is a direct response to Bart’s 5 reasons why I don’t use Reddit for social bookmarking.

“1. Reddit is UGLY”

Reddit is not ugly, it is clean, neat and usable. When you go to the Reddit home page you see 25 stories, the same number as on Digg, but in a much more concise and reader-friendly format. Further, the Reddit home page has (at the time of this writing) only one ad, whereas the Digg home page currently has two.

In terms of user interface, Reddit could be compared to Google and Digg to Yahoo. And we all know which one delivers better quality search results.

“2. Reddit is CONFUSING”

The fact that Reddit does not have story descriptions is a positive attribute. Most of the descriptions you see on Digg are either misleading to entice users to click, or just small snippets of the article. If the title isn’t enough to grab my attention, I probably don’t want to read the article anyway.

Next, Bart claims that Reddit doesn’t show the number of points for newly submitted stories. This is false. Reddit does show point totals if you click into the Reddit listing for that article where the comments are and select the “details” tab. While it does not show point totals on main pages for new stories, this is a good thing, because — and even Bart mentions — it gives the community a better chance to judge the story. However, he directly follows with “BUT thanks to that fact its users are always forced to swim in the cesspit of all submitted news.” Again this is false. While Digg makes it 6-year-old easy to browse through their categories and find content you enjoy, Reddit takes the same mentality but evolves it much further, as the Reddit system actually learns what type of content you’re interested in and filters the stories to your liking. From the Reddit Help page:

reddit is a source for what’s new and popular on the web — personalized for you. Your votes train a filter, so let reddit know what you liked and disliked, because you’ll begin to be recommended links filtered to your tastes.

“3. Reddit is so SLOW”

No one can deny that the user base of Reddit is significantly smaller than that of Digg, and consequently the number of stories submitted to Reddit is less than Digg. But the question I would pose is: so what? Digg is littered with spammers marketers who do not seek to add any value to the community, only to get traffic to their sites. The nature of the Reddit system makes it much more difficult to game the system.

This one is kind of misleading, because although Bart was referring to the rate of submission the title somewhat alludes to speed of site. So I just want to note that Reddit operates significantly quicker than Digg, as there is less clutter and advertising (1 image on Reddit and 17 on Digg at the time of this writing).

“4. Reddit is MESSED UP”

The complaint that the biggest interest group controls the front page is true… for unregistered users. This argument is null, because Digg does the same thing. Think of the Reddit home page as the Digg home page with the category set to “All.” If you want to browse topic-specific content on Digg you click on a category. If you want to see material you enjoy on Reddit, simply log in and the system will know what you want. Not to mention Reddit, like Digg, has a search feature.

“5. Reddit is BORING”

First off, boring is a relative word. Secondly I have covered this already, but for the sake of clarity I will repeat it again as it applies here. If you aren’t finding content you like on Reddit it’s because you’re a) not logged in, or b) not using the system. Reddit will learn what you like and present it to you.

To better sum up this point and this whole article in general, let’s compare Digg and Reddit in the context of something all men can understand: women. So without further ado, I am signing off this post with this original quote:

Digg is a one night stand that will bring you instant but short-lived gratification, whereas Reddit is a commitment that in the long run will bring happiness you never thought possible.