Netscape To Move From Tech/Politics Focus
Netscape, the five month-old Digg-clone experiment, is testing out two alternate home page designs with users in an attempt to increase the popularity of little-used topical categories. — I spoke with Jason Calacanis, who runs the Netscape property …
Context & Ripple Effects
Netscape was repositioned in 2006 from a legacy portal into a Digg-like social-news service, then launched by AOL as a large-scale community-driven news destination. Confirmed page-view growth gave Jason Calacanis's team a reason to optimize the front door rather than merely add traffic.
The homepage tests target an early concentration problem: a service built around broad social-news participation was drawing disproportionate attention to technology and politics while other topical sections saw limited use.
First-order effects
- Netscape users in the test receive alternate homepage layouts designed to direct more attention toward underused topic categories.
- Netscape's editorial and product teams gain a direct measure of whether homepage placement can redistribute activity beyond technology and politics.
Second-order effects
- A broader mix of prominent categories changes the exposure available to submissions outside Netscape's core subjects, making the service less dependent on a narrow set of stories for engagement.
- The move sharpens Netscape's differentiation challenge against Digg: its AOL-backed launch began as a Digg-like proposition, while category breadth requires a more tailored front-page experience.
Third-order effects
- If homepage design reliably shifts participation across topics, social-news operators will compete not only on voting mechanics but on how prominently they package and route interest across verticals.
- The experiment points toward portal-style curation being rebuilt inside community-driven news products, with layout choices shaping which audiences and publishers receive attention.
The trend: Social-news sites are evolving from single-feed popularity contests into category-organized destinations where homepage design directs participation and editorial reach.