I don’t know how many of you check digg.com out on a regular basis, but if you’re a true geek then it probably rates among the sites that you visit every day at least once or twice.

For those who don’t know what it is, digg is a social news website. By social I mean that the stories that are displayed and linked to by digg are decided by the community, who submits them and then “diggs” them if they’re good. The more diggs a story gets, the more likely it is to appear on the front page. And the audience viewing that page is substantial. Current Alexa rankings have digg placed as the 74th most visited site in the world!

So, what does this have to do with you and I and the Church? Well, because there are so many people visiting the site and it is so simple (and free) to join and make a difference with your own diggs, we can use sites like this to help raise awareness of Catholic issues and stories in the media.

A great example: after the last version release, digg added a podcast directory. This allows diggers to submit podcasts and other diggers can then digg them if they think they’re any good. Obviously the number of diggs and views then affect things like exposure on Google etc. and also provide feedback to those who are doing the podcasts that what they are doing is good stuff! It’s also a great way to discover new podcasts to listen to.

Within this directory is a whole sub-category of podcasts specifically for religion. At the time of writing this, of the 15 podcasts on the front page for this directory 11 are obviously Catholic podcasts! 9 out of 10 are directly Catholic podcasts! How awesome is that?

However, the other podcasts on that front page include “The Atheist Experience”. Hmmmm.

So, can I recommend the following:

1) Go to www.digg.com and register a user account

2) Go to the religious podcast directory and download a couple of the Catholic podcasts to find what’s out there

3) Digg the ones you like to provide them with more exposure.

If you add yourself to digg, you can add me as a friend – my username is thecrane.

Spread the word and the good links to good stuff!

Here’s an interesting animation posted on YouTube showing the various key events in history of the major religions of the world and the end result today.

Pretty good summary of the effect of “spreading the Good News” if you ask me.

As has already been discussed, the Internet can be used for great good, but the sad fact is that it often isn’t. The even sadder thing is that sometime the Internet can be used for downright evil. Case in point: child pornography.

There is an ad-campaign running at the moment on most major TV networks internationally trying to raise awareness on this disgusting “industry” and asking people to go to www.lightamillioncandles.com and…well, light a candle. The statistics are just unbelievable – there are more than 100,000 child porn sites on the net!!! Doesn’t that make you sick? Watch the commercial, and then light a candle (which costs nothing) and take a moment to pray for those who are abused in this way.

Also, spread the word to those around you – your friends and family, your workmates…everyone! The more that can contribute to taking this evil empire down, the better!