Jason Calacanis looks at Digg's demographic and concludes that they are -- kinda -- a vertical. A vertical for "young, tech males (YTMs)," that is. That's a great vertical, and Digg serves them well, notes Jason. But if Digg wants to go beyond that group and include other folks, they will struggle because the Digg "community eats them up and spits them out when they try and participate."
Reminds me of conversations I've been having with clients about another demographic that's beginning to amass power and cohesion on the Internet -- moms. I hear about a new mom's group practically every week, and last week came news that MomJunction.com, a social-networking site, recently raised $1.5 million in funding.
These are the early days, perhaps, of a new community demographic, and you better believe that marketers will be thinking about that community this year. But will they know what to do? Mom groups, too, might spit out strangers -- especially strangers eager to sell them goods -- who try to "participate."
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