Mixx Masters: The Heirs to the Digg Kingdom?

I've been reading a lot of different commentary about the benefits of using Mixx over Digg. It seems to get summed up quite simply into this: Mixx = lots of cool features, but no traffic. Digg = tons of traffic. I was talking to friend of mine at work, and we wondered if Digg had some big thing in the works because it seems like it's been awfully quiet on the innovation front. Right now, it seems like I can't go to Mixx without some cool new feature showing up. Like the little timer they've set up so that you can fix your entry or delete it if need be. I've already used that new feature to fix an error on one of my submissions. Meanwhile, it seems like Digg keeps getting slower on speed, suggesting that the crushing masses are taxing its servers.

I'm not going to talk too much about what Digg does or does not have, but if Mixx continues to innovate and Digg simply rides its current popularity, I can see a lot of attrition and spillover from Digg into the Mixx community. Partly this is because the Mixx community is currently much friendlier and supportive, although that will change with 20 million people running in there. However, with that many people, Mixx would probably become like Digg in terms of atmosphere, but what really gives Mixx a leg up and the possibility to be the heir of all that Digg built is the ability to verticalize. Their groups allow people to collect around the topics that they like. Sure you can customize Digg, but the Mixx grouping allows people to make private groups to keep out some of the less than savory characters out there. It also can allow for better control of the content , and in some ways, this creates an additional vetting process to ensure quality submissions.

The more Mixx does to make it easier to focus around verticals and channels, the better it's future will look. If it moves into finding easy ways to cluster the friends lists into similar interests, that will just push it further ahead in my opinion. For instance, if I have a story about weight loss, I may only want to send it to my friends interested in health and fitness. Now, people are getting even more targeted info sent their way. It can help make the whole experience more meaningful.

I don't think Mixx will replace Digg, and I don't think that should be it's goal anyway. The Internet is moving towards niche topics and focused verticals. If Mixx continues to improve their product and move that way, they've got a real shot to become a successor to the Digg world.