Digg banned several power users this week, including the popular users: Insaincain02 and TheDataWhore.

Some users have complained that the Digg management is trying to control the politics of the site by banning power accounts without warning: somewhat arbitrarily deleting users’ profiles if they become “too good” at sharing content and social networking.

Some power users feel that Digg is becoming a police state. image: Leo Roubos

TheDataWhore (a.k.a. Bryant Smith) wrote an excellent, extremely revealing piece on how to become a power digger with a 75% ratio. He shares his personal story and lets some heavy-hitting tips and tactics out of the bag… perhaps the most detailed insights into the Digg algorithm and subculture that have ever been published.

If you’re interested in what happens behind the scenes on Digg or other popular social news sites… and you only read one article this holiday season… read this!