Cool Tool of the Week: The much-needed Digg toolbar.

Much like the useful bookmarking site Delicious that I tackled a few weeks back, Digg.com is another mega-popular Web phenomenon that I’ve just never gotten into.

The idea is great. People “digg” news articles, video clips and random other goodies they find online. The more diggs an item gets, the more exposure it receives. The resulting snowball effect can bring a huge wave of traffic to any site. (One of my recent AdFreak items became a top story on Digg, racking up more than 100,000 hits in a day.)

But actually using Digg.com can be a pain. You usually have to copy and paste the Web site you want to digg, then go through the long process of ensuring that it’s not already featured on the site. It’s not so terrible, but I just don’t want to exert that much effort just to say I like a YouTube clip of two monkeys crapping on a Ferrari.

Now things are different.

The Digg toolbar finally lets you digg an article the second you find it. And while it has its drawbacks, this is a tool that I believe will open up Digg to a wide range of new users.

How it describes itself: “The Digg Toolbar for Firefox lets you Digg, submit content, and keep track of Digg even when you're not on the Digg site itself. With a notification window built into the toolbar, you'll never miss a popular story or when friends Digg, submit, or comment on stories.”

How I’d describe it: A blessedly easy way for the lazy and busy alike to finally jump on the Digg bandwagon.

Getting started: Hate to keep saying this, but you’ll need to be using the Firefox Web browser. And if you haven’t created a Digg account before, you might want to go do that. Then just head over here and click “Add to Firefox.” Answer a few quesitons, and you’re all set.

Shortcomings: I’ll be honest. There’s a pretty big problem with this toolbar. When you hit “Digg it”, you get redirected to Digg.com, where you’ll have to click “Digg it” yet again. This is a silly, repetitive system that I hope will be addressed in a future update.

In Summary: While it has its issues, I think this toolbar really does open the doors of Digg to a whole new audience. Which is great news if you’re writing things like “5 Hot Lady-Bots You Probably Shouldn’t Have Sex With.”

Comments

[Kate Brodock]

David,

Thanks! That's actually one of the main reasons I hadn't used Digg so much either, it was just a pain. Another website that I'm waiting for a toolbar on is scour.com (I'm biased, as my business partner did the PR launch of it).... they have one for PC and she assures me the Apple version is coming out.

Cheers,
kate