offtopic:
To be honest i don't get these type of sites such as slashdot and reddit, I understand they're good for getting the word out but they manage to have no UI friendly appeal for me personally whatsoever, every time on rare occasion I stumble on one of these site I catch myself thinking how can anyone use and like these sites. I realize it's a matter of personal preferences but still it amazes me every time.
You will understand, that if you want news first and fastest, it is on Twitter.
Before that, it was every single other social bookmarking site. I really believe delicious and stumbleupon were some of the bigger ones, but digg obviously made it a staple to have a big button on every page, and a while ago reddit took their place, but rather than flip like digg did (which was change that UI to something 'friendly'), they held their guns, and that is why they are still awesome.
And remember folks, never fear, if all this shit goes down, there is still Fark, keeping it real
These are information only sites (sans Twitter), I mean, if you want to comment, have at it, but the majority of the users on most of these formats just are here to get the scoop and go.