It’s not much of a secret that getting a story onto the front page of Digg is without a glimmer a doubt, something that will absolutely skyrocket your traffic (hows 20,000-50,000 visitors sound?), and while many successfully manage to eventually get their much beloved websites there, it often takes a whole lot of blood, tears and bucket loads of sweat to make it. Well except for Digg user msaleem, who’s managed to successfully and legitimately land a whopping 1,161 articles onto the fortress heavily guarded by nerds armed with a barrage of unwarranted insults, and an abnormal lack of exposure to natural sunlight and society as a whole - otherwise known as Diggs front page. And if that wasn’t enough, Muhammad has also managed to become a top user over at propeller.

If I mentioned the user name ‘msaleem’ out of a pool of over one million registered users to a regular contributor over at Digg - or Propeller for that matter, chances are they’d know whom I’m referring to. A self professed social media maven, extremely talented writer, creative thinker, and university student, Saleem is considered the second most successful and largest contributor on Digg - so when the opportunity to conduct an interview came along, best believe I wasn’t going to let this one slip. And now that I’ve ‘obtained’ Muhammad until the end of the interview (let me check if his still confined to my dungeon), we better get crackin’ before he finds a way to escape.

Thanks very much for agreeing to take time out to do this Muhammad. Let’s kick things off!

How long have you been involved with social media?

I’ve been involved in social media since Late 2005.

What do you find most frustrating about Digg?

One of the most annoying things is that the algorithm actually works against the top contributors which is counterintuitive. Also, they need to be more open in their communication with their community.

Is there anything in particular you can tell us about Digg and Propeller traffic? How much of it do you manage to retain? *

They say that the conversion rate for social media traffic is one-third that of search traffic. However, after using social media, you also increase your google traffic, which you can add to the conversion.

What kind of articles - in your experience - typically tend to hold up well after submission?

The articles that truly create value, and content that is evergreen is more likely to convert better, and also bring good long-term traffic.

I understand you deal with a whole string of other social media websites. What would you deem to be your favorite, and why?

My favorite has to be StumbleUpon. The content is great, I love the discovery aspect of it, and the community is genuinely appreciative of your participation. I love networking through StumbleUpon.

What do you feel is key to making an article hit the front page, and why?

Honestly, there is no magic to it. You need good content, submitted by a user in good standing and you have a hit on your hands. You have to participate on the site, of course, to know what kind of content the community appreciates.

Have you fallen victim to the notorious ‘comment abuse’ that seems to regularly occur on Digg - and if so, how has it effected you?

I’ve been abused on the comments a few times but I’ve learned not to care about that. Anonymity on the web breeds idiots and we just cannot let it bother us.

Browsing around on your StumbleUpon profile, I noticed you were also a hired scout on Propeller. What’s that like?

Being a hired scout has been great. We get to interact with the management, the programmers/developers and get to give direct input on the future direction of the site. We’re also going to be unveiling an awesome new site soon.

You can visit Muhammad’s blog by clicking here.