Nov

13

Free WSJ articles through Digg - but why?

November 13, 2007 |

Hat off to Kevin Rose for getting this deal done:

The Wall Street Journal Online is adding Digg buttons across the entire site, and you’ll now have full (free) access to the articles submitted to Digg. The Digg buttons have started appearing on WSJ.com articles tonight.

I guess this is one small move in modernizing the Wall Street Journal and making it more relevant on the net. How often, after all, do you see somebody linking to the WSJ? Not often, I guess. The NYTimes columnist sure got more exposure after the paywall there came down.

But on the other hand, why digg? Digg’s users aren’t exactly the kind of readers the WSJ is after. Not too many power traders are trolling the net for the 25 Most Baffling Toys From Around the World, I would guess. Newsvine or even reddit would seem to make more sense here, I think. Or does the WSJ simply built up some traffic before it goes free?

And here is one for your rumor mill: does that mean Murdoch is thinking about buying digg? For 300 million dollars?

Update: Techconsumer.com has some screen shots. 

Technorati tags: , , ,


Comments

1 Comment so far

  1. Bob Caswell on November 13, 2007 10:54 pm

    Here’s a review with screenshots:

    http://www.techconsumer.com/2007/11/14/using-digg-the-wall-street-journal-together-review-with-screenshots/

    The most interesting thing is the window that pops up after you’ve submitted. It shows one column of the recently popular stories from the WSJ.com on Digg and another column of upcoming WSJ stories on Digg.

Name (required)

Email (required)

Website

Speak your mind