Shirky on social software ... (and why reddit is successful).

Shirky published this piece in 2003 - and a number of sites seem to have been, if not influenced, then affected by the described dynamic.

Key tenets that have to be accepted by social software(slight edits):
1) You cannot completely separate technical and social issues.
2) Members are different than users. A pattern will arise in which there is some group of users that cares more than average about the integrity and success of the group as a whole.
3) The core group has rights that trump individual rights in some situations.

and Four things to design for:
1) Handles the user can invest in.
2) You have to design a way for there to be members in good standing. Have to design some way in which good works get recognized.
3) You need barriers to participation.You have to have some cost to either join or participate, if not at the lowest level, then at higher levels.
4) You have to find a way to spare the group from scale.

The difference between digg and reddit is (4).