Digg – once known as “the homepage of the internet” – is making a come-back, after being bought by its co-founder Kevin Rose in partnership with Reddit co-founder Alexis Ohanian.
It’s an interesting move given that Reddit was a competitor who pretty much inherited that “homepage of the web” accolade. Also ‘interesting’ is the pair’s belief that most moderation can be done by AI …
A quick guide to Digg
For those not old enough to have used it, Digg was essentially a social news site. Both editors and users could post links, and users would then upvote them (“digg”) or downvote them (“bury”).
A key feature was that other sites could embed those digg buttons, allowing users to vote on links even without visiting the site itself.
Digg was so influential that even larger sites could find themselves unable to cope with the traffic resulting from a link making it to the top of the homepage.
The site was essentially killed by a combination of an unpopular update, widespread manipulation, and the growing popularity of Facebook – whose Like and Share buttons proved more popular. In 2012, the company was broken up and sold for parts.
Digg is returning
The New York Times reports that Digg co-founder has bought the domain and other assets, and is planning to relaunch it with the assistance of Alexis Ohanian.
On Wednesday, Mr. Rose announced that he had bought back Digg for an undisclosed sum from Money Group, a digital media company, and would rebuild it to take on Reddit. And he is doing it with an unlikely ally: Mr. Ohanian.
“This is the perfect time to revisit this idea with fresh eyes,” Mr. Rose, 48, now a venture capitalist at True Ventures, said in an interview. He said social media had become so ubiquitous that “it doesn’t need to be winner take all,” adding that “we don’t need to take down Reddit to win” […]
Their investors include True Ventures, where Mr. Rose is a partner, and Seven Seven Six, a venture firm founded by Mr. Ohanian. They also hired fewer than a dozen engineers and designers for the new Digg and brought on Justin Mezzell, a longtime collaborator of Mr. Rose’s, to be chief executive. Mr. Rose and Mr. Ohanian will join Digg’s board, with Mr. Rose as chair.
Most moderation will be done by AI
It’s not known how much they paid, nor is it entirely clear what the USP will be, but The Verge reports that – unlike Reddit – they believe human moderators are largely unnecessary.
So much of a moderator’s job, Rose says, is just grunt work: fighting spam, reviewing obvious policy violations, litigating pointless fights. “How can we remove the janitorial work of moderators and community managers,” he says, “and convert what they do every day into more of a kind of ‘director of vibes, culture and community’ than someone that is just sitting there doing the laborious crappy stuff that comes in through the front door?”
The new Digg, Rose says, will include lots of AI-forward ways to sort through and make decisions on content.
You can sign up for early access
The domain is live, and you can register your email address to be given early access once it relaunches.
What’s your view? Do you think there’s a place for a revamped Digg, or has that time come and gone? Please share your thoughts in the comments.
Image: Digg
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