Every day new social media websites are launched. Unfortunately, most of them never gain enough users to thrive or even compete. The vast majority of social media users stick with the major contenders like Digg, StumbleUpon and Reddit. Some newer sites are able to succeed by targeting a specific niche, like the 5 web design-related social networks that I wrote about a few weeks ago.
Within the last few months Mixx, a general news-related social network was launched. Mixx functions very much like Digg, as well as the hundreds or maybe thousands of unsuccessful Digg clones. Unlike 99% of the other Digg clones, I think Mixx has a real chance for success.
To start with, Mixx has a very attractive and modern appearance. It has the look that you would expect from web 2.0, without looking like some of the lower-budget clones. In my opinion, Mixx features one of the best designs of any social media website.
Much like Digg, Mixx users submit stories to different categories like business, entertainment, technology, sports, etc. Other users then vote on submissions and the most popular stories move to the front page. One feature that will make Mixx very attractive to users is that is also has separate sections for photos and videos.
Mixx also resembles Digg in that its users can choose to follow other users, which seems to function essentially the same as Digg’s friends system. Additionally, you can share a submission with others, similar to the shout feature on Digg.
What Makes Mixx Different Than Digg?
Well, the most obvious answer at this point is the amount of traffic. Mixx isn’t going to crash your server from the traffic you’ll get as a result of being on the front page. However, in a very short amount of time Mixx has already attracted a lot of seasoned social media users, and its Alexa statistics show considerable growth.
Also, Mixx has a much more positive audience than Digg. It always amazes me that even the most popular and highest quality articles can get so many negative and unnecessarily degrading comments on Digg. So far the users of Mixx have proven to be quite a bit more pleasant, something that I know will be welcomed by most users.
Long-Term Outlook
Recently, I think Mixx has been benefiting from the initial publicity and attention surrounding its launch. Many users seem to be signing up to try out the newest network and see how they like it. Before long the initial excitement of being new will wear off and Mixx’s success will be determined by the strength of the users that it has attracted. It will be interesting to see if Mixx can carry on the momentum that it has built to this point. Ultimately, it probably comes down to how much traffic Mixx can send.
Personally, I have enjoyed using Mixx during the last week or two. Not only does it feature a better and more unique look than many of its competitors, but it also offers a wide variety for users in terms of the topics covered and the formats (including pictures and video). I’ve found Mixx to be slightly faster loading than Digg as well.
Is Mixx Worth My Time?
Unfortunately, we all have a limited amount of time to spend on social networking. Will Mixx be able to convince users to spend less time on StumbleUpon or Digg? I’m going to try it for a while to decide how much of my time it is worth.
If your primary interest in social media is to promote your own website or blog you’ll probably want to know how much traffic Mixx can send. I submitted two of my own posts and neither of them drew very substantial traffic (Google Analytics shows 5 visitors coming from Mixx). Ironically as I was writing this post I saw what I thought was one of my posts submitted by someone else on the front page. Actually, it was one of my posts, but it had been ripped off by another blog, so I have no idea how much traffic that received.
If you’re interested in trying out a new network and building a profile before a lot of other users get started, sign up for Mixx. My profile is vandelay if you are interested in networking with me.
(No, this was not a paid review, nor was it prompted by anyone else.)
38 comments from readers
1 Adam Donkus Nov 14, 2007 at 8:14 pm
Sounds like a groovy site. I’ll have to check it out.
Hey I recently saw a Digg like site for environmentalism, but seemed to have lost track of it. Have you heard of any green Web2.0 sites like that?
2 Vandelay Design Nov 14, 2007 at 8:32 pm
Adam,
Try Hugg.com.
3 Jonathan George Nov 14, 2007 at 9:13 pm
So when do we get to hear the details about the ‘haxored’ post from earlier today?
4 Wayne Liew Nov 14, 2007 at 9:32 pm
The site can make a difference from Digg which is by adding “Blogging and Internet” under its category but it didn’t which makes me quite disappointed with it (or do I missed it out)…
I still think StumbleUpon will be my top choice although I haven’t submit anything to Mixx as an experiment. This is because I don’t submit my own contents any more. Maybe I should go submitting others’ contents but let’s see how it goes.
One of thing I like about Mixx is the colour, a clean bright red scheme. Hopefully it will become big enough for trend-followers like me to get hooked up with it.
5 Tom Nov 14, 2007 at 11:08 pm
I will definately be checking this one out. It is so hard to crack Digg!
6 Tay Nov 15, 2007 at 1:59 am
You’re right - it does have a fantastic design. The thing I like most is the colors, and the logo is cute too. It’s a lot better-looking than Digg, in my opinion!
I like the smaller, less-trafficked social media sites than the big ones, such as Digg. On Digg I hardly ever got any visitors because it was impossible for me to reach the homepage, and that’s what matters with them. But for other sites, like the new Blogging Zoom, it’s incredible easy to reach the front page and I’ve already gotten more valuable visitors from them in a week than in months of trying for Digg.
7 Sohaib Nov 15, 2007 at 3:04 am
The site looks interesting with a relaxing feel, ill have to “digg” into it a bit more.
8 Vandelay Design Nov 15, 2007 at 6:57 am
Jonathan,
Probably over the weekend.
9 Adam Donkus Nov 15, 2007 at 9:18 am
Steven,
Thanks I’ll check it out.
Hey were is the option to subscribe to the comments?
10 Madhur Kapoor Nov 15, 2007 at 9:57 am
I am not much into digg but will give this a try .
11 Fubiz Nov 15, 2007 at 3:05 pm
Digg is the best!
12 Vandelay Design Nov 15, 2007 at 6:32 pm
Tay,
Yeah, I like smaller ones too. I have a Blogging Zoom account but haven’t had much time to use the site yet.
Wayne,
I prefer StumbleUpon too.
Adam,
Sorry about the subscribe to comments. I upgraded WP and had to deactivate plugins and ran out of time to get things back in order. The option will be back soon.
13 Eric Nov 16, 2007 at 12:33 am
On the topic of what kind of traffic Mixx sends, I put a post of mine up in their Soccer category a few weeks ago. It got 7 votes, but strangely enough, not one visit!
I agree with some of the sentiment in the comments so far. I like the look and feel of Mixx, but I still prefer StumbleUpon. Digg doesn’t really do a whole lot for me.
14 Ruchir Nov 16, 2007 at 8:43 am
SU will always remain my number one social media site since it’s the easiest to get traffic from. Other traditional social media sites require you to dedicate time into developing an influential profile. Still, I really like Mixx very much and I’ll be experimenting with it for a month. Looks very web 2.0. Thanks for sharing the site, I never knew it existed…
15 Addmoi Nov 17, 2007 at 3:33 am
Social bookmarking site is good source for back links and traffic for webmasters. Other than that its hard to keep visiting all the SB sites to add your links.
16 Mohsin Nov 17, 2007 at 5:46 am
I’ve tested Mixx as beta tester, and the thing I don’t like about it is that it is too feature heavy. Digg on the other hand is ridiculously easy to use even for non-techies.
Mixx should cut down on the bloat a bit to make itself a better Digg alternative.
17 Matt Ellsworth Nov 17, 2007 at 2:39 pm
intersting site - i’ll be checking that out. But i have to say the number of these type clone sites popping up is crazy.
18 Vandelay Design Nov 17, 2007 at 2:42 pm
Mohsin,
I’m kind of surprised to hear that, I found it to be almost the same user experience as Digg. If others feel the same way you do than it will be hard for it to succeed.
Matt,
Yes, it is crazy how many there are. 95% of them are going nowhere.
19 Emo Nov 18, 2007 at 9:04 am
This could be the perfect digg alternative.. It has potential to be even better..
20 david Nov 18, 2007 at 1:20 pm
There are a lot of digg clones now like blogging zoom, sphinn, flur and all the other social media sites. What’s the top 5 social media sites now? I can think of digg, stumble upon, and maybe sphinn.
21 Vandelay Design Nov 18, 2007 at 1:49 pm
Hi David,
I would say the top social media sites are Digg, StumbleUpon, Reddit, Del.icio.us and maybe Propeller. Sphinn is popular with internet marketers, but since it’s more of a niche site I don’t think it has as large of an audience as the others.
22 Zunday Deviants- Nov 18, 2007 | Marketing and Business Strategy - MarketingDeviant.com Nov 18, 2007 at 2:25 pm
[…] talks about digg clone Mixx. Mixx might be the new […]
23 Digg Refugees May Be Heading To Mixx Nov 24, 2007 at 4:25 am
[…] Vandelay Design says “Unlike 99% of the other Digg clones, I think Mixx has a real chance for success…Mixx has a much more positive audience than Digg. It always amazes me that even the most popular and highest quality articles can get so many negative and unnecessarily degrading comments on Digg. So far the users of Mixx have proven to be quite a bit more pleasant, something that I know will be welcomed by most users.” […]
24 Will Nov 24, 2007 at 5:00 pm
Just wanted to let you know that you all were mentioned in Mike Arrington’s latest write up today on Mixx. Check it out here when you get a chance and thanks for this awesome write up on us, glad you all like Mixx.
http://www.techcrunch.com/2007/11/24/digg-refugees-may-be-heading-to-mixx/
Will
25 Vandelay Design Nov 24, 2007 at 5:59 pm
Hi Will,
Thanks for stopping by. Yes, I saw the article on TechCrunch earlier today. It’s pretty nice to see a pingback from TechCrunch.
26 Will Nov 24, 2007 at 6:42 pm
Let me know if you ever want to discuss Mixx further. I would definitely like to get more time with you to get your opinions / thoughts / etc.
Enjoy the rest of your weekend!
W
27 Frustrated with Digg, head over to Mixx | Technology Bites Nov 25, 2007 at 3:18 pm
[…] of users have good opinions about Mixx so far (here, here). Well it may not threaten Digg but surely this is one social bookmarking site for us to watch. If […]
28 Reverse Funnel System Blog Nov 26, 2007 at 6:16 am
Site looks awesome i tihnk it can be a strong competitor to digg.
29 In-Vest Tech News » Blog Archive » Digg Refugees May Be Heading To Mixx Nov 26, 2007 at 1:01 pm
[…] Vandelay Design says “Unlike 99% of the other Digg clones, I think Mixx has a real chance for success…Mixx has a much more positive audience than Digg. It always amazes me that even the most popular and highest quality articles can get so many negative and unnecessarily degrading comments on Digg. So far the users of Mixx have proven to be quite a bit more pleasant, something that I know will be welcomed by most users.” […]
30 Jason A Clark Nov 28, 2007 at 6:59 am
I do like Mixx better than Digg, but that’s not saying a lot really. I’ve been using BloggingZoom lately and I’ve been really happy with it. It’s kind of like Mixx and Digg I guess, but it’s designed for bloggers so you’re actually encouraged to submit your own articles. It’s sent a lot of traffic to my site over the past month.
31 SEO 2.0 | 12 Reasons to Join Mixx and Abandon Digg Nov 29, 2007 at 1:00 am
[…] A Digg Clone That Might Actually Make It << Vandelay Website Design […]
32 I Started to Mixx it Up a Bit.... Come Join Me!! | Social Desire Nov 30, 2007 at 2:26 pm
[…] A Digg Clone That Might Actually Make It - Vandelay gives us some details on Mixx and why he thinks that this Social Bookmarking site is here for the long haul. […]
33 MySpace vs Orkut Feb 22, 2008 at 3:51 am
There are many social networking services operated like http://www.orkut.com, http://www.myspace.com, http://www.facebook.com etc. Orkut.com is being operated by http://www.google.com. MySpace is an online community that lets you meet your friends’ friends. We can judge the popularity of these sites by seeing their ranking in http://www.alexa.com/data/details/main?url=www.fortunehotels.in Alexa. Orkut has been steadily rising on the Alexa charts but MySpace is still significantly bigger than Orkut.com.
34 Which is better for Facebook…Digg or Mixx? | The Tech Brief Mar 5, 2008 at 6:01 am
[…] that Digg contributors are frustrated with the promise of a successful Mixx. The site quotes Vandelay Design saying” on Mixx vs. Digg, saying “…Mixx has a much more positive audience than Digg. […]
35 Emo Mar 10, 2008 at 2:05 pm
Heard about this a while ago. I think the problem with Digg is that it’s become too popular and it’s also used for advertising a lot so a lot of burrying takes place.
36 Gökhan Ulus Jun 16, 2008 at 8:07 am
Here is a great Pligg site
http://www.diggtr.com
37 jlo Jun 24, 2008 at 10:45 am
Let the users decide the best digg clones on: http://www.clonesattack.com/.
Now mixx.com is added on clonesattack.com
38 Emo Jul 23, 2008 at 12:40 am
Mixx is good, but I can not see it reach digg anytime soon.