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March 13, 2009

Diddit – You Are What You Do

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There are plenty of sites online that offer reviews of local restaurants or activities, but there aren’t many sites that have reviews of, well, everything. But “reviews” is perhaps the wrong word. At Diddit, the site acts as a kind of collective blog, where users can write about their experiences in a particular place – such as New York’s Central Park. Instead of writing a review of simply the park, they might write about their experiences that took place in the park, such as “I kissed my girlfriend for the first time” – more personalized stories, rather than saying if it’s good or bad.

Given that information is user generated, some content is better than others. A comment like “A must see!” is not entirely helpful, so you can expect to wade through some remarks before finding the more thoughtful and long-form comments. Diddit is not just about places, but other things you might “visit” as well – such as a particular CD or a breed of dog – people write about their experiences listening to a new album, a really unique breed of dog, and basically anything they want related to a particular topic.

It’s a kind of one stop blogging platform – instead of simply reading one person’s take on a topic, you can read many. And if you’re interested in expressing your knowledge and opinions about a topic, you can do it in a place that has a vibrant and active community.

Practical Uses:

  • Post experiences from your life about a wide variety of topics that will be more likely to get readers than traditional blogging services
  • Read about other people’s experiences as they compare to your own
  • Find things to do in your city and add these to your “Wanna do” list
  • Meet and interact with people who share your interests

Insider Tips:

  • Start by narrowing down your Diddits – the site covers a full range of activities so it’s easy to get overwhelmed
  • Click the Wikipedia info to learn details about activities in your city
  • Keep track of things you’ve done by simply clicking “Diddit” – this can actually become a personal record of your life activities

What we liked:

  • It’s free
  • It’s authoritative – an impressive list of topics with more added daily
  • Nice layout and overall design
  • Though it’s been criticized as a place for people to boast about all they’ve done, it’s not really: people on the site aren’t boastful so much as sharing their experiences

What we didn’t like:

  • The social networking features are relatively basic: add friend, comment, etc.
  • You can’t search for people via location, only via your own address book
  • The comments on activities are not always helpful (limited dialogue on many items)
  • A number of listings are devoid of comments altogether

Alternatives:

Company Info:

  • Launched: 2006
  • Privately Held
  • Headquarters: San Mateo, CA
  • Founded by: Paul Gauthier and Brian Totty
  • Web site: http://www.diddit.com

Costs:

  • Free

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