I started this blog as an attempt to help people and share some of the knowledge I’ve learned along the way. In the beginning, one of the greatest tools I had to get this information out there was to submit my stories to the popular site Digg.com.

I had four of my stories hit Digg’s front page in a short amount of time which sent waves of traffic to my site. This story on flipping houses was a big success and so was my article on 36 ways to save money. One particular story though may be the reason why I can’t hit the front page of Digg any longer.

I posted a story entitled Nine Suggestions To Improve Digg that hit the front page quite quickly. It got a number of comments on both Digg’s own site and my own with people agreeing that Digg has a number of problems.

What Is Different Now?

I continue to post stories and add them to Digg but now I have some unusual activity occur. My stories will hit the “Hot” section of Digg’s Upcoming Stories pages and inch up. Then without notice, my story is completely gone from Digg. It doesn’t appear in the “Hot” section any longer and cannot be found anywhere in “Upcoming.” It is simply buried and gone.

Am I Blacklisted From Digg?

I suspect that I am blacklisted from Digg for reasons unbeknownst to me. I have tried emailing the Digg team a few times this month to try and reach an answer but they have yet to return any of my emails. I searched using Google to find an answer and only came up with a number of people in the same boat that I’m in.

One other method I used was to put the Digg story’s URL in the Ajaxonomy Bury Recorder. I can see my number of Diggs count higher and higher without a bury being recorded but then they suddenly stop. I check Digg’s upcoming section and to no surprise, my story is gone. I have heard many claims that the Bury Recorder is inaccurate so this may be a big waste of time. The only thing I can presume is that Digg has blacklisted my site.

What Can Be Done To Prevent This?

I’m not really sure this problem can be fixed at this point. If there is a bury brigade on Digg, posting a list of buries by user name may be a start. Cowards can bury without recourse now because they are hidden in anonymity. If their names were suddenly unveiled, would they stop their reckless buries?

Even if Digg keeps the veil of secrecy over the names of the buriers, could we at least see some statistics on our submission’s page? A simple counter showing the number of Diggs versus the number of buries would be a great help.

Where Can I Go From Here?

Since I am unable to receive a response from Digg.com, I think I will focus my attention on getting my site more exposure on Stumbleupon and Reddit. They are two fantastic sites but I really feel defeated in giving up on Digg.

I will continue to post the Digg button on my posts until I’m 100% convinced that my efforts are futile. Until that point, please keep Digging my stories and we’ll see what happens.

Have Anything To Add?

As always, I love hearing from each of my readers. Have you had trouble with Digg submissions in the past? Do you have any idea why my stories are gone almost as soon as they are posted? Please leave a comment and let’s get this worked out!