7 Useful Digg Clones for Niche Markets

Let's face it. Great inventions will always have their fair share of clones, replicas and variations. Yes, this means that I am calling Digg a great invention and, yes, it means that there are a lot of digg clones.

Many of those Digg clones attempt to be exactly that… a copy of Digg with minor changes. The problem with this is that Digg has already created it's vast community, which is loyal and most likely unwilling to trade to another less popular and less influential clone. Some, however, are out to provide the same resourcefulness as Digg but to a targeted audience.

I have rounded up 7 clones with potential, each of which has a focus that is more specific than the majority of social bookmarking sites available. This makes them useful to web surfers who share an interest in the topic, as well as blog and website owners whose content may be relevant to the specific focus of the service. And, here they are, in no particular order.

1. Dell IdeaStorm: As you probably guessed, this service is for current and potential Dell customers. IdeaStorm provides users with a place to submit their ideas about improving Dell's products and services. The Digg-effect comes in where the community votes on their favorite submitted ideas. Dell itself, described IdeaStorm as "a combination between a message board and Digg.com." Hopefully other companies will learn from this service, and provide similar features for consumers.

2. Sk*rt: This service is best described as Digg for women. Sk*rt is out to allow women to share their favorite content with other women. Categories include Family & Parenting, Fashion & Style, Food & Home, and more. Killer Startups found the site "highly functional, practical, fun and user-friendly." An interesting feature here, you have the ability to share the links you find on Sk*rt with the users of other social bookmarking sites such as Digg, del.icio.us, and Reddit.

3. Leet Daily: This clone provides "news for the elite gaming community." The voting/ranking scheme for this one is slightly different from Digg. All new stories begin with an average of 50% leet rating. From there, users can either vote the percentage up or down. The site claims that "this gives more room for users to vote up and vote down stories." Bloggers and webmasters who have an article featured on this site can use Leet Daily's javascript tool to display their leet ranking and encourage viewers to vote.

4. Picli: Vote for your favorite photos and submit your own photography on this service which was covered on Profy back in March. Picli's home page features a simple, two-column layout with 2 galleries. The Upcoming gallery displays the most recent submissions to the website. Users vote on the images they like, then Picli calculates the most popular images at any given time which are "showcased" in the Showcase gallery that occupies the majority of the main page. As a newly launched feature, this service now has an iPhone version called iPicli.

5. BallHype: This is social bookmarking for "all of the sports fans out there who want to keep up but don't have all day to goof off online," as their site puts it. Additional features of BallHype include users' ability to add friends and create groups that keep local fans in touch with each other. Different from Digg, this service also tracks news items from over 1600 sports-related sites to keep fresh content available. Even TechCrunch agrees that "sports fanatics will love this." Ballhype has already gathered quite an audience since it's April opening.

6. Beta Marker: Vote on your favorite software with this fairly new web 2.0 service. Beta Marker allows users to add and vote on their favorite software. I have come across my fair share of flawed and "spam-ridden" software and this service is providing a great way to spread the word about what software is good and what to avoid. Beta Marker is out to shift "the power to the community of software lovers." Once it develops a larger user base, this service will be a great resource and a great place to introduce new software.

7. UrGossip: Celebrity gossip is big on the web, with several sites enjoying major success including Perez Hilton, TMZ and PopSugar. Ur Gossip bridges the gap between these sites by providing a central place "to read news from various sources, make friends, communicate, and more." Once a story gets enough votes, it is promoted to "Worthy News" on the home page. Like Beta Marker, this service is young and still growing, so it may be a while before it is a useful place to gain traffic, if you want to use it to promote your own stories.

That's it for the list. If any of these Digg alternatives catch your eye or represent a niche that interests you, I would recommend checking them out. If you are a blogger, then you know how useful social bookmarking sites can be to promote, build traffic and gather a loyal following of readers.

With the exception of Dell's IdeaStorm, these sites are no different. Some may need to build their community first, but patience is a virtue.

If you have your own choice for a niche Digg clone, feel free to leave a comment and share your ideas and thoughts.