While both sites effectively function as oligarchies, they are still democratic in one important sense. Digg and Wikipedia27;s elite users aren27;t chosen by a corporate board of directors or by divine right. They27;re the people who participate the most. Despite the fairy tales about the participatory culture of Web 2.0, direct democracy isn27;t feasible at the scale on which these sites operate. Still, it27;s curious to note that these sites seem to have the hierarchical structure of the old-guard institutions they27;ve sought to supplant.