There are two intersecting continuums on the internet. The first, primary axis is the range from broadcast (e.g. NYT online) to community (e.g., Facebook). On the broadcast end, nearly 100% of a site's content is created by that site; in the case of the NYT the only thing that isn't are "letters to the editor". The opposite of course is the Facebook, where nearly 100% of the site's content is created by the community. MySpace has been drifting away from community towards broadcast, as has YouTube (if it every really had "community" to begin with).
Digg, Yardbarker and other sites like them, curiously, fit in the middle of this spectrum. The content is added by the community and chosen by the community, but it has a pedigree more like that of broadcast editorial.
At this strange middle comes another, perpendicular axis: aggregation vs. niche. The ultimate aggregator is Google, taking content in on literally every conceivable subject and letting users filter to find what they like. The ultimate niche sites cater to only a handful of people - perhaps a family home page, with a maximum audience (barring newsworthy family drama) in the single or low double digits (I offer no comment on that last link, by the way). What the niche site lacks in broad appeal it makes up for in specificity. My axes may have to bend a little here... is an individual Facebook or MySpace page - or Dabble user page - a niche site?
More on this later...
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