Google Reader: Digg Killer, Revisted

Back in December when I posted Google Reader could be a Digg killer I never thought that that short post and idea would still be actively debated four months later.

I still think (and heard from several informed people when I first brought it up) that they're slowing moving toward changing the front page with the most stared and shared items. But as more time passes I continue to wonder why it's taking so long to add.

Yesterday MG Siegler wrote Google Reader Still Could Be So Much More and touched on some of the problems that a feature like this could bring and also makes some interesting suggestions.

I wonder if the Google Reader team is "dragging their feet" on it because there is a concern about spam and not wanting to turn Reader into another blogger/blogspot. Could there be concerns about privacy? What else could be the reason they're taking so long?