Try kirtsy.com - it's a little too much over to the other (cupcakes and knitting) side of things, but it's going in the right direction

i agree...try kirtsy.com

Guy Kawasaki calls it "digg for chicks"

Good points, this story did not fair badly though in our boys playground, just dugg it :)

Yes, I'm a reddit cofounder, but I still think you should create a reddit for girls. Since we opened up user-created (and restyle-able) reddits, we've had some interesting creations. WeHeartGossip, for instance...

make one, stop bitching

Who wants a Digg for girls? I don't. It's not necessary.

If you're not interested in "boy links", don't read them. Seriously, what the hell is a "boy link," anyway? Other than 95% of Internet porn, there is no such thing.

Meanwhile, I'll pass up the articles about makeup and shoes and read things that are actually interesting to me.

Why wouldn't a Women's Category of Digg suffice (like the Election section)?

As for the content... Let's be honest. I like webcomics, furry artwork, crochet, and marketing stuff. Only one of those is really "feminine"... maybe the problem is just a small female Digg population and not the need for a focus on "feminine" topics?

The day more girls are nerdified by the usage of casual gaming, web interface and data storage, is the day Men find something more fun to do. Stay in the kitchen and we'll stay on the web

The day more girls are nerdified by the usage of casual gaming, web interface and data storage, is the day Men find something more fun to do. Stay in the kitchen and we'll stay on the web

quit ur standard bitch whining and do something about it then...man..

GB2 KITCHEN

Why don't you spend some time building such a site, instead of moaning ...

Isn't the point of Digg to change and personalize for each specific user? I mean, there's a "customize" button for Christs sake.

LOL, very good I dea I think. Nice!

JIff
www.privacy-tools.at.tc

I see your point -- even for a "guy," the headlines on digg read like an issue of a lame "men's" magazine.

But that's what happens -- a site like digg or a group on usenet or what-have-you eventually builds up a hardcore audience that brings bias into the experience for the casual participants.

Maybe if there were more girls interested in gaming digg, then a counter-balance could be achieved?

I for one, would welcome it.

First of all: haha, 'clever', to all these guys who thought it "clever" to use sacasticly infused sexist comments 'like get in the kitchen." or "stop bitching"--oh wait that second one is just someone being an ass rather than actually saying anything.

Ah, the internet....

But really, I like reading about air compressed cars and such. Digg was originaly a tech site, so if you think that stuff is male centric, well that is simply an opinion. If girls want more women centric stuff, digg what you like, and customize your site. If what you want to read isn't front page issues, that is because the boys are digging more. 'Cause girls have better stuff to do.

Like cooking ; P

And what, exactly, are the topics that WOULD be featured on Digg For Girls? I can guess some, but my guesses sound sexist.

I know some really "girly" girls (the stereotypical sorority type), and some less "girly" girls. Less-"girly" girls say that the really-"girly" girls are not representative of the female population. This is correct, thank goodness, because I could not stand to date someone who worries more about her hair and nails and clothes than, y'know, about actually important things.

What I'm getting at is... Would "Digg For Girls" be focused more at the "girly" girls who care about makeup and clothes and celebrity gossip, or at the more normal girls who care about the same things I care about? If the latter, how would it be any different from the normal Digg?

Sure, Digg has too much sports stuff. (I don't follow sports). And SlashDot has too much IT stuff. (I'm a bit of a computer nerd but I really don't care about some new intel chip or why some server set-up is better than another). But I read those sites anyways since MOST stuff there is interesting (and there's so much there that even if some small fraction is interesting, it tends to fill up the period of time I have allotted to online reading). And now these customization options allow me to get an even higher proportion of interesting stuff.

So I'm not sure what your complaint is. Unless you could supply examples of topics that would be more interesting to girls.

I can has mock-up plz?

I just joined Digg, and the VERY FIRST and ONLY thing it recommends for me under the 'Upcomming' tab is "Check out these Strip Club auditions - sexy" - not really my scene.

I am checking out Kirtsy right now - it looks great!

Well, to be honest, I'm 26, male and living in the US. It seems that Digg would be targeted specifically at my demographic... but... I really couldn't care less about 90% of the crap that is on Digg... I stick it out for the other 10%...

I'm about to have a baby boy, though my wife and I talked about having another, hopefully a girl, and I wouldn't want her (and him) directed to specific ideologies. They need to make up their own minds and a "neutral" forum is exactly what they need. The root problem, as I see it, is that girls (the gender as Western society defines it) aren't posting Diggs. So what, in my opinion, you should probably be worring about is not that Digg is biased, which it shouldn't be, but that there's a lack of initiative from the other gender--which, ultimately, is more troubling (and also a more interesting and substantial topic to discuss).

I totally agree with Sarah. If you have boy centric and girl centric gender websites, then you end up preaching to the choir.

That's not to say, however, that there shouldn't be websites dedicated to what you like to talk about. Individualism is a large part of what the web is about. Which is why there are websites for leftists, centrists, and right wingers.

This article seems to ignore the fact that the content on Digg is USER CREATED. Instead of whining about it DO something about it, digg down the 'boy'* stories and digg up the chick ones. Of course this article really isn't about wanting change, it's about wanting to be noticed. I suppose in that respect it has succeeded.

*This is such a horribly sexist comment I can't even begin to fathom. Apparently girls are only interested in pink frilly things. Way to add power to the stereotype!

I can agree with what you are saying... But, from a guys point of view I don't want to read about girl things.
I suppose there could always be more content for women, then they could introduce some sort of search, or filtering function? I mean, it would work both ways, if you don't want to wade through a bunch of "man articles" men wont want to root through "women articles."

Also, the community needs to be there. I don't think the constructors of digg really had it in mind to try to alienate the online female populous. I think the reason it is a "boys club" is because the community of men are there, and have been there for a long time. Even before the conception of "digg.com"

I believe there is somewhat of the same nitch to be filled for women, even if they don't know it yet. For instance, I never knew I needed digg until I found it, now I use it daily to find stories, news articles, and just plan entertainment on a daily basis.

Cool, let's create a digg for girls. I'm in, are you? Mail me :))

As a female geek, I enjoy the tech stories on Digg. It's just the juvenile comments I don't like, so I really don't participate in the community. If I wanted to read comments similar to those found on Digg, I'd read the walls in truck stop men's rooms.

www.filthyrichmond.com is teh site for ladies

Well written, and I see some of your points... I guess a lot of people here are saying the same thing .. "go on then, make it!"

I think there is one key flaw.. All of the women I know do not spend nearly as much time on the internet as all of the men.

When you say

"there are tons of guy-oriented blogs on a whole array of topics, and a heck of a lot fewer blogs written for girls?"

the actual issue is

"there are tons of guy's writing blogs on a whole array of topics, and a heck of a lot fewer girls writing blogs"

or

"there are tons of guy's writing blogs on a whole array of topics, and a heck of a lot fewer girls writing good blogs"

that is the crux of a matter.. the internet is predominantly men and you are in the minority of women... sorry

I'm sorry, but it doesn't make sense for there to be any specific catering. The reality is, the internet is made of dudes. Dudes like dude things. Not to slander the feminist movement or anything, but specific catering is not equality.

The number of girl friendly websites with competent articles is nowhere near high enough to attain consistent digging. You ask for a digg for girls: this implies that there are enough sites and articles to consistently maintain that digg. It just isn't going to happen. Bitch magazine is floundering and all that's left is gossip columns, which from the looks of it, you don't want.

(Though I do find it hilarious that many of the celebrity gossip columns have a very large male fanbase. This and all other anomalies between the usual male-female dichotomy of interests can be attributed to, as we all saw coming, boobs.)

To close my argument, I would suggest digging articles that you find interesting, and get your girls online to do the same. This isn't power politics: everyone can digg.

Thanks, and have a fantastic day. =)

As a female geek, I enjoy the tech stories on Digg. It's just the juvenile and overtly sexist comments I don't appreciate, so I really don't participate in the community. If I wanted to read comments similar to those found on Digg, I'd read the walls in truck stop men's rooms.

So you like, think girls can come up with better stuff than us dudes? Bring it on ladies!!!!!!!!!!!

Also, if, in your newly created internet for women, you could have room for talk about dollhouses, that would be cool too.

Awesome.

Men outnumber women when it comes to time spent focused on computer stuff... my girlfriend hates computers and so do a lot of women, she uses it as a tool, not as a portal into another life. Until more girls really get into technology beyond using them as just tools, and wishing they'd rather be out socializing... you can expect that it's a matter of how girls use the internet.

"I'm just saying we need somewhere where the content isn't overloaded with gadgets ..."

Digg was created as a social networking site based around _technology_ news. As long as the IT and high-tech industries continue to be dominated by males, the site will correctly cater to them.

There's already a digg for girls: http://www.kirtsy.com/

here is the deal. While your argument sounds good in theory a big problem with it, which you yourself explicitly stated, is that much of the user base of digg is male. If you relly want to change digg to be more suited towards female viewers you need to find a way to draw more females to the site; making a new "digg for girls" is not necessarily the answer, but its not a bad proposition either.

theres a lot of irony to this article:
1) i found this on digg
2) your argument that digg is sexist, and then you go on to say that girls dont care about science or tech, etc.
I feel like if i were a girl I'd be offended that you think girls dont care about those things. My school is a fairly reputable school of biology and there is a 4:1 girl to guy ratio here...

i think maybe what you're looking for is a "digg for female arts students without outside intersts and a superiority complex"

that said, no one is stopping you from making it, unless you dont know how to make a website, in which case i guess since none of your female friends would know something like that, according to you, you'll have to get one of your guy friends to do it.

mmmmm irony.

I'm a female and a regular digger, but I have to admit it is somewhat annoying the way that the boy-centrism of the cite rears its ugly head. More than 50% of the time tho I do like the links that are posted. However, I agree that many articles I would love to see probably end up on the trash heap of undugg stories. I Reallly, REALLY don't think a female centric digg would work tho. Firstly, digg drastically needs the influence of women, basically for their own good. You've seen some of the articles they post about women, obviously they are clueless. How can we leave them to their own pathetic devices? Secondly, what makes you think that a female digg would be so appealing to women? The kind of independent women that do find themselves on digg have a broad range of interest in topics and usually do not care about allying themselves against or for one sex or the other. PUHLEEZ. So 90s sexist-feminist. These women turned away from Cosmopolitan years ago. We need to find a way to get more women to know about the site so there can be equal diggage. I truly think that will be the best way, none of this secessionist crap.

Instead of creating a Digg for girls, why not just encourage girls to start using Digg? No need to even have a "girls" category, most "girl" topics would fall into the Lifestyles and Entertainment categories.

Otherwise let's start a gay Digg and an african-american Digg and a Digg for one-legged unicycle riders.

On the contrary, I'm a female and I find...

"How Howard Stern's switch to satellite radio cost him"
"19 Best James Bond Sets, Locations, and Lairs [PICS]"

...interesting. The last thing I want on digg is things I don't care about like: "Why its good to wear nail red polish this fall" or "PROJECT RUNWAY WINNER ANNOUNCED EARLY"

Digg is already populated by meaningless shit, but it's meaningless shit I like like "Microsoft undercuts Wii value with $20 Xbox 360 HDD promo" and "Geeks in Depression"

Hold on a second... you dont care about compressed air cars coming to NewZealand!? ... i think you should ... it spells the end of an oil based society... that stuff will change ur life!

I agree with the sentiment after seeing the concept tried on a site I frequent, redflagdeals.com. It is a deal site and really is a boys club for finding deals on gizmos and electronics. They just launched a sub-site called the Scarlet Lounge which is deals aimed at females. Since I've been getting some early Christmas shopping done it's been handy to find deals on female items for my wife. They did a really good job of it, so I definitely think they could totally make a sub-site to digg and make the concept work.

You dont need a new Digg.
Digg already lists status of Male or Female. They just need to enable a toggel to have this influence your recomendation engine. So then as a Female you will digg things and other Females can choose to see items dig by women more often then by men. If men and women both dig something then its gender neutral and both should see it.

Easy to implement. Keeps the user base large.

I just bought, "www.jabbnujj.com .net .org"

Jabb = Down
Nujj = Up

Be prepared for the ladies-preferred social bookmarking site.

Who says girls don't digg? Any article is has relative interests for both sexes. If girls don't read digg, then they got a problem with themselves.

Dissection of the argument, point by point (I'm bored and don't feel like studying for my midterm)

" that the site has a core userbase of boys who spend hours each day posting stories and Digging stories posted by their friends. That's why the stories that appear on Digg are so guy-focused."

Digg is not designed to be biased toward any gender. In fact, the whole system is entirely gender neutral. You digg up, or digg down. There are no "girls diggs" or "guys diggs." The userbase is not intentionally alienating women.

"If we were to listen only to Digg, it would seem newspapers shouldn't print stories that interest women. No, they should just keep running coverage of Star Wars toys. Disagree, ladies? Then let's have our voices heard!"

This is more in line with how the issue should be properly addressed. Flood articles on Digg with your issues if you want to be represented. There should be no pandering on a gender neutral site. Digg is merely a means to an end as far as websites go. Popularity is key. And since boys make up the majority of the userbase, you're naturally going to have a hard time finding things.

"Forget the politics: Digg exists for a reason, and that reason is to allow people to share the cool articles and images they've found on the Internet. The trouble is, since Digg is so male-dominated, posting girlie links there goes nowhere. Without enough Diggs to make it to the front page, the articles we ladies care about fall to the bottom of the heap and remain essentially invisible."

You say forget the politics, but I'm sorry to say that this is gender politics. Digg exists for the reason that you stated. Do you think it would be as successful if it was designed as anything but? (which is what you're asking). The phrase "we ladies care about" immediately denounces your previous argument to forget politics.

"Seriously, can we please take back the Internet? I love it here on the t00bs. I spend all day here. Online work cuts my paychecks. But how much longer can we sit around and click on the same links about the same things and pretend they're the only topics that are interesting?"

You're complaining about the system, yet adhering to it? Hardly the feminist fight for equality, wouldn't you say? If you don't find it interesting, don't click it. Down-digg it so other people know it's not as interesting to you. You're allowed to have your opinion on digg articles, just as everyone else does.

"I want to read Digg -- or a site like Digg, for girls -- and actually be fascinated by the content."

In this case I would argue that separate but equal exists. Just as there are feminine interest groups and lobbyists, there are feminine websites. If you want it, go for it. But don't demand change to something that is entirely gender neutral. What you're asking is to change a neutral system to a gender biased system.

"Somehow we've developed this idea -- call it Western culture -- that what girls are interested in is somehow less newsworthy than what boys are interested in. Why is it, for example, that there are tons of guy-oriented blogs on a whole array of topics, and a heck of a lot fewer blogs written for girls?"

Come now. Are you really arguing the "weak, under-represented minority" bit? The fact of the matter is, women have less things (blogs) on the internet because there are less women inclined to blog on the internet. That's it. Case closed. Nobody is denying you your comcast hi speed internet (except maybe the people that hand you your paycheck) or blocking you from posting on blogger, livejournal, etc etc.

I'm all for individualized interests, and Digg recently stated that they would allow for that. So now might be the time to start digging those articles, ladies. You might start to see a "feminine interest" tag beside articles.

As for the juvenile comments, welcome to the internet. Leave your intelligence at the door.

Thanks again.

I took a look at kirtsy but it does not appear something nice that would appeal for girls.

Maybe something new will appear soon here:
www.girlsdigg.com

The reason there isnt a digg for girls, and this is clearly evident from your article, is that girls dont really have any interests. You didnt mention a single thing you are interested in or that would qualify for "digg for girls". Why? Because all girls talk about is fucking fashion lol, and you already have 10,000 sites devoted to that, its called redundancy, look at you now.

And if your seriously coming out of SF, you make me sad, and you shame SF women with this.

I can't believe all of the absurdist blatantly hate-filled sexism spewed onto your wonderful idea. I for one welcome our girl-digg overlords.

Shut up you dumb bitch, make your own and quit pouting like the dumb cunt you are. Digg is for PEOPLE not MEN.

I'm a girl, and I'm like the digg-boys you described (on all day, digging and discussing with my friends.) And I don't understand what the problem is. By defining certain topics as "male" and "female" oriented, aren't you just enforcing those stereotypes?

If you want more "feminine topics" on Digg, the answer is not to form a new, girlier digg, but to GET MORE GIRLS ON DIGG.

Otherwise, let the people who use it determine the content.

Girls simply have no hobbies or inner self. This is why the seek out emotional drama from other girls and bad boys. Why is it that most men on digg are not very successful with girls? Women simply are not attracted to a geeky/unique intellect. Most of the girls who are demanding a digg site for girls likely are dating drama producing bad boys or jocks/musicians. Another point is women's love of the night club scene. To me this shows you what girls are all about. Status seeking, competition, and drama.

Incidentally, of course some of these comments are sexist, so is the whole post.
If they're *insulting*, as a fair few of them are, that's different.
But as women apparently rate male extinction pretty highly (4th/5th on Kirtsy, just above the crack for Crysis Wars), can we be blamed for lashing out?
Some quick questions.
I'm English, where's my English Digg?
I'm a Software Developer... alright, Stack Overflow is technically my Digg.
I'm a Gamer... so Digg is my Digg.
I like old Disney cartoons... Youtube is my Digg.

Why should your gender be a special filter, any more than any one of these? And if it is, doesn't that strike at the core of gender equality?

Back on topic, Kirtsy seems pretty good, it's basically just another Digg with a different core userbase, which is exactly what you need for "Digg pour les femmes de l'Internet". Ah, and look at the listing:

*Even her peaches are pretty! Love this blog.
*Bored? Run to your bathroom, close the door, and try this in the mirror
*if this is what a warehouse looks like...i need to find myself a warehouse.
*Will Men Become Obsolete??
*Virgin birth by shark!?
*Crysis Wars crack
*Lisa Marie adds two more to her brood
*Raising the Bar: 6 Eco-Friendly Shampoo Bars
*Manic Mommies interviews Christine Koh of Boston Mamas and um... me
*14 year old Mckenzie Church is missing from South Carolina
*OUR funniest video
*Like TV's Mad Men? You'll Love These!
*Halloween Fantasy Mask Tutorial
*The Top 10… Weirdest rock n roll deaths
*Models take to the catwalk wearing nothing but artistic body art
*Cool looking black google site
*Top Ten Worst Halloween Candies
*Unbelievable Holocaust Love Story
*Gorgeous Autumn Inspiration!
*How much do we love this chalkboard!

I'm a girl and i agree with some of the points you make. I would like to see less of "the top ten hottest whatever girls that the pathetic guys will never get" and lets face it anyone who makes a list like that has too much time on there hands. But DONT drop the politics maybe even the sports, good ones only. No one should like baseball, not even movies about baseball make it look interesting. Things like football and hockey, thats where its at. And pink and sparkley? Maybe if i were still 12 i would like it but in todays world girls need a girls club, but one with a freakin back bone, not barbie.

My guy friends say the same things about clothing. I spend more time shopping, they spend more time digging.

I get more clothing stores, and they get a tiny little corner in the back of a couple dual-gender clothing stores, and that's it.

Use it or lose it, we can't demand extra weight on our diggs because we're female, that's sexist and ignorant, and I'm embarassed to hear other women asking for a leg up when they suck at something.

Here's what you do:

1) Register a domain name and get some web hosting

2) Install Pligg (www.pligg.com) or get a techy friend to do it for you

3) Hire a designer to put a suitably girly template on the site

4) Start loading it up with girly content and ask your friends to join in

You could have the site up and running within a couple of weeks.

Yea, I'm gonna have to say I liked the article, but it was extremely lacking in strength. A good article would give examples of topics.

Computer Theory stuff (Moore's Law), XKCD, Ubuntu, Obama and sex tips. That's really neat stuff, what I see on digg. I don't get what's specifically male about them.

If you digg things enough, the reccommended page will take care of yourself. BE MORE ACTIVE IN DIGGING AND IT WILL REWARD YOU WITH PERSONALIZED STUFF.

I think it'd be a good idea to have a "Girly" Topic section, maybe then we'll understand wtf you mean if you don't mean makeup and hot men.

Yea, I'm gonna have to say I liked the article, but it was extremely lacking in strength. A good article would give examples of topics.

Computer Theory stuff (Moore's Law), XKCD, Ubuntu, Obama and sex tips. That's really neat stuff, what I see on digg. I don't get what's specifically male about them.

If you digg things enough, the "Upcoming" page will take care of yourself. BE MORE ACTIVE IN DIGGING AND IT WILL REWARD YOU WITH PERSONALIZED STUFF.

I think it'd be a good idea to have a "Girly" Topic section, maybe then we'll understand wtf you mean if you don't mean makeup and hot men.

I think this post is "funny". Paper Magazines are pretty much girls media. I don't think it is fair to say that digg articles are "Guy" stuff. Most of what is in there does not interest me. But once or twice a page, something does. And I bet it is the same for girls. If you think there is no girl stuff on the web... look again. Seriously, SERIOUSLY!

Women simply have a superficial mentality. Shopping, bad boys, gossip, competition with other women etc... The main annoyance is that most women act this way.

Might I suggest calling it..."figg"?

As a girl, I say this;

This was the dumbest post ever. I buried it on digg.

Why don't you make your own digg and stop bitching?

You make girls look like whiners. I don't want to read about hot guys and how to put on makeup or what fashion is in season.

Girls do have their own digg. Its called email. They forward everything they get, to everyone, kind of how good things are digged and the word is spread.

My mum seriously gets 20 emails a day, mostly crap, but its what girls like, and forwards on half of it to everyone but the sender.

Yes. We completely agree! Which is why we created it last year. It's called kirtsy (http://kirtsy.com) and Mashable called it "Digg for Chicks." We would be so grateful if you would help us make it exactly what you would like it to be. Go add links. Tell all your friends. Don't like stories about cupcakes? Add stories you DO like.

Gabrielle Blair
One of kirtsy's founders

I agree. Digg is male dominated. I like the stories but I generally avoid the comments.

Try www.nerdgirls.com -- it is not a news aggregater like digg but it is a nice community for girls.

Well, that is nice. It seems like someone around the age of 12 wrote that blog and had their mother spell check it, but nice idea in theory.

Problem is that there is no "taking back" of the internet because girls never had it in the first place. Plus, the fact is: girls ARE in the minority when it comes to computers, so while it would be nice to have your very own little place to gossip about whatever petty things you would like to gossip about, there is no way that digg should be for girls.

one last thing, bright neon colors like pink, lime green, etc are really harsh on the eyes. I don't know about you but I know I don't want to try and read white text on a lime green background.

If you want a Digg for girls, then stop talking/complaining about it - do it. If this is your first step towards that, great. I'm not trying to be an sexist a$s (but I'm sure lots of the girls will accuse me of that anyway) but I'm really tired of hearing girls complain about *anything* guys have that girls don't have better.

Digg didn't fall from the sky with all kinds of gender bias. A *guy* thought it up, a *guy* put the time into building it, and a bunch of *guys* added content that other *guys* spent the time visiting. There is no inherent gender bias. If you want a more female Digg, then build it, or get more girls on board to create content, and then have them Digg it.

If there were enough girls interested in such a thing, they would have a bigger influence over the real digg.

YES! I would love a pink pony inspired Digg (minus the pink ponies). I am sick of all this guy shizzle. Democracy of the web with an exclusive women's lens is needed!

I completely understand the authors point. We, as a sociaty, have degraded the 'feminine' to a point of scorn and criticism. What is feminine? What is masculine? These used to be well defined, though not always for the better of women. One of the goals of feminism was to promote masculine behavior for women. Feminism was supposed to provide opportunity for women not eradicate feminine. Are masculine thoughts and behaviors really more important than feminine? The world could use more of the feminine, in a strictly yin-yang sort of way, except there isn't anyone left to do it.

i though digg actually did have a female counterpart. i recall reading it in like people or something. the name slips my mind though!

I think that even most guys would find it difficult to be interested in ALL the front-page articles on Digg. And you talked about those few who spend hours posting their articles, but you have to realize that a "female Digg" would have those same few, only now they'd be female. It would still be hard to find stuff you liked, since everyone is different. Personally, I'm a pretty girly girl, but I love Digg, and if there were a "female Digg", I wouldn't switch over to it. I already have all the cupcake recipes and pictures of Johnny Depp I need, thanks.

Well Bonnie, for a woman complaining about you sure are sexist! As a woman myself I'm offended by your separate but equal ideals. Take 'em and shove it! Digg is fine the way it is.

I'm a guy and I don't want to read this article, but I did because it showed up on digg. The fact that it made an appearance on the most dugg disproves your point, this is not a guy related article. If more girls spent time putting up interesting stuff then there wouldn't be a problem.

Thanks for re-enforcing the idea that women aren't interested in science or sports. If you want articles that aren't listed on Digg, that's fine, but could you not assume that you speak for all members of your gender?

Also, when you talk about "girls stuff", what exactly do you mean? Can you site examples? Because all you seemed to be able to do was list what "girls stuff" *isn't*. I assume that you consider this this blog to represent "girls stuff", and if so, I'd really rather read Digg.

yeah what she said below

there already is one

http://www.kirtsy.com

You're right - Digg is way too narrow in focus. We should have a Digg for girls, a Digg for gardeners, a Digg for pet-enthusiasts, a Digg for Scrabble players... I see a whole new world of Digg opening up here.

Ugh, I think the problem is more that "Somehow we've developed this idea -- call it Western culture -- that girls and boys should be interested in different things"

THey already have a digg for girls -- it's called Oprah.com

I don't think the problem is a boy/girl conflict at all. What you're seeing is an overwhelming majority of moron masses.

Install Drigg on a web-server and round up your girl-posse.

http://www.drigg.org/

I want to see digg for girls simply to see what girls are interested in. You've essentially said that you hate all subjects on digg and you don't appreciate ultra feminine subjects pertaining to cute male celebrities and fashion.

I just want to see what it is you do like.

As for there being more male blogs than female ones, that's simply not true. There are simply way more egocentric women out there spewing out their opinions on the web because they think theirs matter more than other's.

here you go fool...still in beta

Also try http://flingitgirl.com, which is more social shopping, and very fun.

Digg for girls! :) All for it!

If you want a "girl" version of Digg how about you quit wasting your time whining about it on a blog and get to work like the boys did. Digg didn't magically appear so neither will the "girl" Digg. Either do something about it or quit complaining.

Don't cry about something that was generally made, so guys use Digg more often than girls, if you want a website specially made for girls, do it yourself.

I'm not anti feminist or anything like that, so that being said I can say this with a clear head.

Digg is more guy-oriented (in my opinion) because guys are generally the tech-savvy ones. Now to silence the few thousand of rare girls who are screaming "I'm tech savvy!" and threatening to swarm my inbox with hate-filled messages... Girls usually don't read a really cool girly story and say "Hey this would make a GREAT addition to Digg! Lets submit it!" They call everyone on their speed dial or promptly file the information away in their heads for later gossip with people. Guys who spend time on the internet read a sweet article and go "Hey this would work great on Digg!" so we submit it.

If girls knew of Digg I have no doubt that it'd be tons more populated with girl related content. But they don't. Besides the great thing about Digg is, you, being one user can submit a really cool article and if people find it interesting it can make the front page. It doesn't take a thousand or even a hundred girls to make that happen, just find a piece of good news and, submit it.

On a last note, and I know I'm going to get flak about this. The article should be mildly interesting. Here goes my head: Guy article: High school kid builds $10,000 EV. This is great, could potentially change the way we go about transportation. Could change cars to make them more environmentally friendly. Girl Article: Coyotes eat Paris Hilton's dogs. WHO FREAKING CARES?! Granted this story got more stories than the guy one above (should be noted), it doesn't make a bit of difference. I don't know about you but in the grand scheme of things a car that can help save gas and the environment definitely gets my vote (not just from a guy's perspective but from a human's perspective), as opposed to what is happening to Paris Hilton and her dogs, or her nails, or even ... her hair! Yes I said it. Done.

I'm a high profile digger ok maybe not high profile but I've managed to swing up more then 300 frontpage articles from various sources. I'm a girl digger but I don't think any of the fans or fellow digg friends know it.

I like to keep it that way because on Digg there's a pretty anti-girl sentiment. There's lots of "Boobies" and "Cooking" syndrome on Digg. A lot of them have really strong sentiments against woman, so it's better to just keep it under wraps. If they think I'm one of the old boy's then so be it - they like what I submit, it's not about sex.

Digg For Girls would be good but I don't want to see a lot of stupid inane things like makeup and celebrities on it. I don't have a problem with science, so I don't see why you're painting us as if we're all braindead idiots who couldn't care about politics, the economy or things like gaming. The only thing I could do without is the TN'A fest that Digg seems to pander.

No I don't care about the 10 hottest chicks playing tennis, and no I'm not going to digg your shout because you included a thumbnail of some half naked large breasted girl.

www.Kirtsy.com - it already exists

You've cited plenty of examples of what you (and what you suspect the majority of other girls) are NOT interested in.

Well, what topics do you think you (and the majority of other girls) WOULD be interested in?

I'm a girl and I like Digg the way it is.

You chicks are so cute when you get all pouty. :)

This is a sexist article. I'm a female and I do enjoy alot of the "boy" articles. You should just shut up.

I too get really tired of all the male-centric content on digg and for that matter, just about everywhere else.

Anything you find on digg concerning girls is *always* insulting and or exploitive.
Well, with the exception of the entry about digg for girls.

If you take away all the sports, politics and tech stuff on digg, there's not much left. And within that, you very rarely find stuff that is of interest to us.

I do see things posted to digg from divinecaroline.com which is a really neat place but is very different than digg.

I am grateful for someone mentioning kirtsy, which I was not aware of and will probably spend more time there as I already see far more there that interests me than plowing through 100 pages of digg nonsense.

Just adding a women's section on digg though probably wouldn't work so well as it would be invaded by rude little boys making rude, sexist comments on things.

We need our own space.

I love this article! I would like to add one thing, though. The guys on Digg are also incredibly sexist, and that reason alone annoys me more than any of the other reasons.

I agree that a female digg is ridiculous - to echo what a couple of others have already said: get involved and start digging stories that you like.

I think this is just another symptom of a lack of girls in tech (digg is a tech site after all) - I'm a girl and I've been a web developer for close to 8 years now, and quite frankly I'm disgusted at how little female participation there still is in my industry - It's 2008 for christs sake, why does the only female representation on the internet seem to be gossiping idiots on social networks and 1950 style homemakers swapping knitting patterns? It *is* a case of "get out of the kitchen" girls - start making the internet what you want it to be instead of complaining for men to do something about it for you. Learn to code (it's really not that hard) and take an interest in tech - you never know, you might actually like it.

p.s Using a Pink My Little Pony to illustrate your story? FAIL

Oh, and I do agree that not all women hate sports or science; I for one love both. There's actually not much sports on Digg, and when there is it seems much of it is either "hot chicks of (insert sport here) or some type of scandal or inflammatory remark made by an athlete. I get my sports coverage from SI because they cover, you know, actual SPORTS!

There's a lot of science on Digg, which is great, but I read so many science blogs that I hardly ever see any science on Digg that I haven't already seen.

I subscribe to Digg for the small amount of interesting articles I find there that come from sites I haven't heard of previously--like this one. It's just annoying having to scroll through 80 headlines about "hawt chicks" and Apple articles to get to 5 good articles.

Oh, and to the ignoramuses here who are telling the writer to quit whining: She's on HER site, writing HER opinions. You come to her site and tell her you don't like the content--sounds like YOU JERKS are the whiners!

Cool stuff. I like it.

So I agree in theory we need a Digg that's more balanced, but I have a different set of reasons:

1) Zero punctuation for games I play

Yeah yeah yeah, I get Stalker (or more properly S.T.A.L.K.E.R), and Half-life and all of that, but I don't play those games that often. I get motion sickness. So I like the Nancy Drew adventures, have a membership to BigFish games and own a PSP and DS. Slogging through reviews on casual games rarely reveals the amazing pointed, tongue and cheek reviews I see on Zero Punctuation. Cater to *me*.

2) Little Boy Commenters

Stop pounding on me just because I'm female. My brains aren't hogtied to my crotch and you don't get to call me names just to shut me up.

3) Enough with the Body parts

Penis, you have it and I don't. Stop waving it at me. Vagina, breast, boobs, ovaries I don't want to hide, disguise or have them constantly pushed in my face. Really, I know what they look like. I even appreciate well formed body parts, but enough already. I can only take so much.

4) I'm a girl, like high tech stuph and have money

Just like you I will talk about things from my perspective and I really don't "think" there are more men than women interested in news and high tech. You are wrong. All the economic data proves it. Women buy gadgets, spend as much money on games (counting casual) and overall make more monetary decisions then men. Live with it (and if y.
our smart profit from it).

5) Feminism is my religion (and I'm not ashamed)

I want information on keyboards and controllers that actually fit my smaller hands. I follow stories that talk about how women use electronics. I snark on games that only have male avatars. And I want to know all about the RIAA and why it picks on single moms. I want MORE of that information someplace.

Oh, I do want to mention that I too, like some of the other girls here, work on computers. Actually, I fix them. I'm a nerdy IT geek girl and that makes me a rare breed.

I have to deal with men all day and no matter how good I am, I'm looked down on. I do like science and space and green living stuff, a lot. I love anything to do with "green". I love knowledge. I love being smart. But I also love being a woman and I like feminine things just as much as anyone else.

I do despise sports though. I have a less than zero interest in sports. And I have a less than zero interest in all the sexist BS on most of the internet. One would think the internet is all about hot babes and boobies and "p0rn" as they call it. Puhhhhleeeeeze..... Grow up.

It's ok to be smart AND feminine.

I'd say the problem with Digg content is less that it's male-dominated and more that the quality is variable. Some random stories end up on the front page that wouldn't interest most guys either. The solution is to be active on Digg to improve the quality or choose someplace else for your votes and good taste!

http://www.reddit.com/r/women/

I'm another co-founder of kirtsy and I have really enjoyed watching this discussion take place today. Thanks Bonnie for being the catalyst!

I would like to add one point to the dialogue, something that we at kirtsy feel very strongly about: We are IN NO WAY aiming to pull anyone away from Digg. We love Digg. It's fantastic -- user-generated content filtered by the community. With comments. Brilliant.

But last year, when we first hatched the idea of Digg for Chicks, we were feeling like Digg wasn't tending to our design, cooking, parenting, celeb gossip (yes, I admit it, I do like it in small doses) needs as much as we would like. So we created kirtsy to fill those needs. And just like GQ, Wired and Rolling Stone exist right alongside RealSimple, Vanity Fair and People, our aim for kirtsy is that it would complement Digg. Not pull you away from it. Go hang out at Digg and read up on Tech, Gaming, Politics, Science, etc. Then, if you're so inclined, go over to kirtsy and read about an awesome Etsy shop, or how to make your own cleaning products to save money, or a blog declaring "Happy Love Your Body Day."

Or, don't. Are you uninterested in any of those topics? I'm sure many of you are. That's totally, utterly cool. And expected. Because it would be so boring if all women had the same taste. But we also know there are many women who are interested in topics like those. And those women tell us they like being able to find the stories they find on kirtsy, and find them all aggregated in one place.

I'm glad there are many magazines at each checkout aisle of my grocery store. Sometimes I skim through Wired while I stand and wait. Other times, Cooking Light. I consider myself a fairly evolved woman who is interested both in Drupal and also how to make an authentic Thai Red Curry. And I, for one, am proud that kirtsy is helping the internet also provide the same diversity I can find at the grocery store.

Those of you who are interested, we hope you'll come help us become the site you would create if you were creating Digg for Girls. Those of you who are not, we'll catch you over at Digg.

Thanks for this post and congratulations for getting it to the front page of Digg!

I'm here because Gabrielle Blair DM'd me this morning on Twitter to let me know there was someone wanting a "Digg for Chicks." Kirtsy is exactly that and, as a partner, I want to speak to some of the many comments that this post has generated. I think it's gotten people's goats on both side of the fence and I'd love to answer some of the questions that have come up, because I've been thinking about them for years. This is my opinion and I'm sure any other Kirtsy chick would say something different, so please don't apply what I'm about to say to anyone but, well, me.

1. Do girls need different sandboxes than boys?

Yes and no. Women thrive in healthy situations, just like men do. I have never been a huge Digg person but it's not because I think it's all "dude" oriented. I just prefer to spend my time in communities that are _generally_ and _mostly_ positive and uplifting. I think there's a time and place to poke holes in things, to break things down. To get mean and tough. I don't want to consume that sort of violence every day, so I seek outlets that are uplifting. The blogs I see on Kirtsy and the comments people leave on them are...for the most part...encouraging and uplifting. This kind of community I enthusiastically and wholeheartedly encourage - not only on my blog, but on the blogs of others.

2. You sound like a self-help book. WE HEART VIOLENCE!

Ok, well, that's awesome. If you are more into that sort of thing, go for it. I'm not. I like to spend my time building with other people (women AND men) who are builders. Community is not something that a single person goes out and "does" as some people have suggested in the comments. If you start a site tomorrow it will take time to grow. If you decide to do that, I'd love the URL so I can check it out and offer feedback that will, hopefully, help it grow.

3. Kirtsy, to my mind, is about planting seeds.

If I may use the garden metaphor, my time online is about planting seeds. I am on Twitter on a daily basis because I enjoy growing relationships in that medium. I'm on Kirtsy on a daily basis because I trust the Editors and Users of Kirtsy to submit articles that are pertinent, heart-opening, educational and thought-provoking. They usually are one or all of the above. It doesn't feel competitive because it simply isn't. An article can have two kirtsies and be totally rockin' - the number of kirtsies on an article doesn't stop me from visiting the site.

It's about promoting one another's work, across the spectrum. Science, technology, gaming, politics - these all come to the top of the heap throughout the week. Because women, like men, are interested in all of these topics. The sandbox may be a bit different, but the bottom line is that, ultimately, we're all working toward the same goal: connection.

4. Bottom line? We all want to connect.

We all want to connect and even a snarky anonymous comment left for all the world to see may still be a desperate attempt to connect. I honor all attempts at connecting; I will focus my efforts on those attempts that inherently offer something of value (positive or negative though they may be) to the conversation.

I suppose it's a little hobby specific, but as a woman, there's a lot of stuff that I care about posted on the boards at Ravelry. Not that the guys with hooks and sticks aren't allowed to come and chill, but I certainly am never stuck reading about the NBA or James Bond sets.

Bonnie,

First of all, thanks for starting this conversation. Secondly, it's time for a new post: "Why kirtsy.com Rocks!" In boy and girl terms alike, kirtsy brings "balance to the force."

@ronnieledesma
proud member of the kirtsy club
p.s. yes, they allow boys. no, i'm not employed there.
p.p.s just enjoying the "sandbox".

I just read in the (swedish) news today that 1 out of every 3 women have blogs. I don't believe that many men have their own blogs.

Could this mean that instead of joining communities like Digg they use the internet to stay connected to friends, write about themselves, more so then men? Instead of promoting other sites/corporations/entities they promote each other/themselves?

Just guessing tho.

I've learned over the years that the sites I usually go to are populated by mostly guys: Digg, atheist sites, bash.org, etc. But really, I don't give a crap that they are. I find most of the stuff on Digg rather interesting.

What would women articles be? Men are interested in real world things, compressed air cars and such are things that can help the world today. I think its not a new site that needs to be made but a new mindset that girls need to get into, one that isn't obsessed with frivolous unnecessary things.

I think you're generlizing just as much. Just because a certain type of guys hang around Digg, doesn't mean all guys for that stuff. All of your examples bore me. Then again, I'm more of a software guy than a hardware one. Maybe I need my own Digg too?

Personally I think a girl section on digg would be kind of nice, but all in all I like a lot of the stories on digg.

Go gender neutral, use StumbleUpon.

A digg for girls.

To me, this is kind of sexist and discriminating against us guys. You should have a section for all other genders and ages as well, as well as a section for complete idiots. I think that that will get overpopulated faster than everything else on the internet.

Why don't you just say that you wanted traffic for your site and service and started spreading your post around...

Girls have a Digg for them. Haven't you ever watched Oprah?

Blah blah, blah blah... blah.

We'd love to help you set one up at slinkset.com.

In the past I read the tech section on Digg, and I stopped reading that because at least half of it was blog posts about every miniscule aspect of the iphone.

kirtsy looks a little too ... uhm ... not relevant to my interests. Power to people who want that though.

I would love to have a tech site that didn't diss women whenever there was any story that had anything to do with women. Ycombinator is probably the least evil of the bunch but you still see some inane comments.

Wow. This rant is more sexist than Digg! At least Digg doesn't claim to cater to any particular sex. I guess all guys like the NBA, Howard Stern, James Bond, flat-screen TVs, and baseball teams? And health and beauty and art are women's domain.

Digg has been taken over by assholes. It's a mystery to me why anybody would claim it's due to the sex of its contributors, as opposed to their age, race, or religion -- isn't one just as silly as another? (I bet there are asshole girls on Digg, too.)

We need a Digg for non-assholes. Also, we need people to stop categorizing people online by sex. If you think it's tough being a woman online because there's more Howard Stern than fine art, imagine how it is being a man online who likes reading about fine art: we get discrimination from both sexes!

Let's imagine that you DID find a female audience of decent size that A) spent ungodly amounts of time on the internet, and B) latched onto your idea as much as everyone has latched onto digg.

How would you plan on keeping your semi-anonymous woman-only club exclusive? Who's to stop a few 40-year-old guys from masquerading as an 18 year old girls, and mucking the whole thing up for everyone?

Your idea is for a site that's both public and exclusive ... you'll need some heavy-handed bodyguards at the door if you want women to feel comfortable discussing "woman stuff" in public. And, if you DO lock things down like that, you wont likely ever have anywhere NEAR the power digg has right now.

You've got your work cut out for you.

...

If you ever figure it out, let me know. I'd like to see a Digg for MEN. All that man-boy crap annoys me, too.

I poopted.