Social News Websites

By Angela • December 3, 2008

I came across this article on social news websites and I’ve decided to share some of what was discussed in that article.

Social News Websites are online communities which allow its users to submit news stories, media, and articles, and share them with the other users of the network or the general public. Some of the news articles shared will be given more visibility depending on the different factors such as the number of user votes for each item.

Aside from counting the registered voters of these social news sites, other websites employ human editors to determine the visibility of each news item. Certain stories will be removed from the website while some may be even given featured positions if they are news worthy and highly relevant.

The following are just some of the most popular social news websites:

Reddit – it is a popular social news site with a large user base. It covers a wide range of news and it includes several topical sections called subreddits which focus on specific topics.
Digg – it is the largest and most popular social news website on the internet and it covers all topics including entertainment, politics, general news, technology; and it has a separate image and video section.
StumbleUpon – it is a social network and browser toolbar which allows users to channel surf the internet. It is not totally a social news site but its users can submit webpages to be rated by other users.
Newsvine – it is a website which consists of community-driven news stories and opinions. The users of the site have their own blogs and can write articles, save links to external content and vote or comment on other users’ stories.
Mixx – it is a general social news site which has a category for all types of news. The topics in the site include business, sports, entertainment, technology, and health. Mixx includes the ability to create groups to share news with other users.
Fark – it is a community news site which allows users to comment on news articles. The user submitted links will be posted on the main page once they are approved by the administrators.
Propeller – it is a social news site that covers all topics from technology to politics and entertainment.