Old Archive Interviews: The King Of Digg – MrBabyMan Interview

The Ultimate Digger Interview Series draws to a grand close with the interview of the ultimate champion Digger … the “King of Digg” … Andy Sorcini a.k.a. MrBabyMan.

MrBabyman is probably the best of all Digg users, he has more number of popular stories on Digg than all the users interviewed so far in the series. So without further adieu … presenting you MrBabyman.

Power User Digg – MrBabyman

1) Tell us something about yourself … maybe some quick three things that people don’t know about Mr. Baby Man??

Despite popular belief, I actually do have a full-time occupation that has nothing to do with being online. If you grew up watching a show on The Disney Channel within the last ten years, chances are good I worked on it. Although social media is a fast-growing hobby of mine, my true pastime is studying cinema.

2) I am a relatively new digger … but I have observed a lot of people seem to hate you on Digg…how do you feel and react to such opinions?

I would be lying if I said negative comments didn’t hurt my feelings, but anytime you are involved with a mostly anonymous community, and especially if you gain any sort of attention within that community, you have to learn to develop a thick skin. To acknowledge or respond to hostile insults is to validate the insulter, so typically I ignore them.

3) Besides Digg, are you active on any other sites…do you use any tools which help you manage your profile across all these networks effectively?

I’m also active on Twitter, Plurk, Reddit, UStream, FriendFeed, and Flickr, to name a few. I use twirl and Ping.fm to manage Twitter.

4) One common question pops up in mind … Can people like you who are so popular in such big communities effectively monetize your status as power users because for outsiders who are new to Digg it seems MrBabyMan is just making loads of money for Digg and other sites to whom he is driving traffic to ?

It’s entirely possible for a popular social news submitter to monetize their status if they’re already in a career related to social media, and in fact, I understand that many of my colleagues have. In my career as a film editor, however, there is no direct benefit from my involvement in these social networks, and as such it remains a hobby.

5) What benefits do you think an online entrepreneur could gather from spending their time on social media sites like Digg ? What should he really look forward to do right from the first time he sets up his profile??

Active involvement is social media sites can be a boon to anyone wanting to boost exposure to their sites. The caveat is that you can’t just pay lip service to social media, you really need to be active within these communities or your involvement will ring false.

6) What services or additional features do you think are needed to improve the nature of social media in general…because sometimes it seems nothing more than “I scratch your back… You scratch mine” phenomena ?

I think there are different levels to social media interaction. The ‘backscratchers’ communicate on their own level; that activity suits their needs, and provides a satisfying interaction for them. I feel beyond the noise-to-signal ratio, proper communication actually does gets through to those who choose not to play the backscratching game. Each group inevitably gets the interaction they seek.

7) Among all the social media sites, which do you think has the best community and is the best for getting best exposure for yourself and your site … especially if you are an online business owner?

While Digg is great for sending large bursts of traffic to sites, after the initial front page burst, return traffic is often anemic. There was a time when I would say that StumbleUpon had the best long-term ROI, and perhaps that’s still true, but nowadays social media marketers are exploring sites like Twitter and Facebook, and finding effective results.

8) How do you think Digg or social media in general will shape up the future course of the Web in the next 3-5 years?

As sites like Digg are integrated into more sites, both on the web and through portible devices such as the Kindle and the iPhone, the web will become a living entity, with people connecting with each other and building real-time conversations around everything they interact with.

9) You are really popular on twitter…what is your opinion on it…how can we use it as an effective marketing tool?

I love the sense of community and the instant, subject-oriented interaction I attain with friends and aqcuaintences on Twitter. It’s like a web-based IM, but more focused. It’s plain to see from the success of twitterers such as Tony Hseih of Zappos.com and Frank Eliason of Comcast Cares how effective a marketing tool Twitter can be to those who are willing to invest in the community.

10) If you could have gone back in time, what would you have done differently as regards your professional life or career?

I have no regrets. Knowing how much enjoyment I’ve received from social networking, I would’ve dived into social networking at a younger age, but back then, the term and the concept hardly existed.