Digg Is Back!
Before Reddit became the unofficial “front page of the internet,” you’d find your next long read or TV show on Digg. Beginning in 2004, the original site operated much like modern Reddit: community members posted content they were interested in on pre-created category pages, and others voted on it until an algorithm determined what should make it to the front page. Aside from the lack of user-created pages like subreddits, it was pretty much the same experience for today’s users—and, from personal experience, getting featured on Digg was a major achievement.
Unfortunately, starting in 2010, the site underwent several radical design changes, adding controversial features like the DiggBar (an awkward toolbar that appeared over the content) and removing features like “blackout” (similar to today’s downvote system). The site changed hands and experimented with new formats, such as a hand-crafted front page, but by then Reddit had grown into the behemoth it is known as today. Digg was having a hard time keeping up.
Now, after years of Reddit being burdened by its own controversies , Digg is back with another relaunch, introducing a new beta from founder Kevin Rose and Reddit co-founder Alexis Ohanian that aims to combine the best features of both sites’ legacies.
What does Digg look like now?
Last week, Rose and Ohanian unveiled their new Digg to the public, unveiling a new design that’s very similar to Reddit, but more streamlined. On desktop, the left sidebar uses icons instead of captions and has fewer interface elements overall, eliminating the distracting “Games on Reddit” tab. To the right of that is the main feed, which scrolls infinitely, and I have to admit, I like the classic blue and white color scheme (though you can use dark mode if you prefer). Unlike classic Digg, this feed will include user-created communities that function like subreddits, so you can join and leave them at any time to moderate what you see. And yes, downvoting is back, as is full commenting. You can also switch from a feed that only shows communities you’re subscribed to (My Feed) to a feed that curates the best posts from across Digg (All Digg) using a button at the top, which is a pretty significant difference—Reddit has an r/all subreddit, but you have to leave the main feed to view it, and it’s not available in the app.
But the main difference is the right sidebar, which displays the latest posts on Reddit, while Digg has “Digg Daily.” This allows you to quickly browse popular posts and recommended communities to stay up-to-date without scrolling through the “All Digg” feed. Interestingly, however, there’s also a “Digg Daily” podcast. This is perhaps the most significant and, at the same time, most inconvenient difference between the new Digg and Reddit.
What is Digg Daily?
This had to be here somewhere—Digg Daily is the site’s implementation of artificial intelligence. Updated once a day, this short, five-minute podcast summarizes the site’s most important news stories of the day using AI-powered hosts who sound like slightly more robotic versions of what you’d hear on Google NotebookLM . You’ll hear a few sentences about the article’s original source (which, when I listened, actually credited the author of the article in question), as well as a few reader quotes. Unfortunately, while Digg Daily lets you jump to subsequent chapters to see a list of topics discussed, there are no links to find either the sources or the Digg posts being discussed, and the “Recommended Posts” panel beneath Digg Daily is completely unrelated to what’s in the podcast.
It’s a nice idea, but beyond getting a general idea of what was popular on the site that day, I didn’t find it very useful. The summaries are very short, and the comments are inappropriate to read outside of their original context. It might be a good first step to understanding what to look for on the site, but links would really help.
On the other hand, Digg Daily won’t always be entirely AI-powered: in an interview with TechCrunch, the company stated that it may replace its robotic hosts with human ones after receiving user feedback. Human curation could make reviews more natural and even bring back some elements from the days when the main page was run by human employees rather than algorithms.
What’s missing?
Aside from the updated look and minor additions like Digg Daily, getting started with Digg should be fairly easy for those familiar with Reddit. The mobile app is also fully functional, though sidebar features have been moved to buttons above and below the main feeds. However, there are several areas the platform plans to expand in.
Perhaps the most important thing is the communities, or Digg’s equivalent of subreddits. The site launched with 21 default communities, but it will take some time for user communities to emerge on more specific topics. For example, I’ve been replaying the Mega Man: Battle Network games from my childhood, and while there are numerous regularly updated subreddits for the series with thousands of members each, there’s no Digg community for them yet. This may seem like a minor gripe, but one of Reddit’s greatest strengths is that you can simply Google “[topic] + reddit” and likely find the answer to any question you have, no matter how trivial. Without years of publications on a wide variety of topics, it will take Digg some time to catch up.
You can help with this by creating a community, but oddly enough, communities can only have one moderator at the moment, so be prepared to put in a lot of work.
However, not all initial problems are bad. Personally, I find it annoying that modern Reddit forces users to design their avatars according to their mascot, while burying the button to upload their own images deep in the settings page. This is especially true because the best avatar designs are paid. Digg doesn’t have any paid features or the ability to choose a mascot, so uploading your own photo as your Digg avatar is the only option. Overall, it’s a less cluttered interface.
What awaits us?
While Digg may not be very functional right now, its core functionality is well-defined, and an interview with TechCrunch pointed to new opportunities in the future. For example, the owners may use AI in some aspects, but they are also actively combating AI-generated spam. They said they aren’t opting for a one-size-fits-all solution, but are considering options on a case-by-case basis.
During the interview, the possibility of requiring users of a community dedicated to a particular product to verify ownership of that product before posting was discussed. Similar proposed solutions included using location data to determine whether community members attended in-person meetings, although this raises privacy concerns.
“I don’t think there’s a one-size-fits-all solution here,” Rose told TechCrunch, “but the general idea is to build trust and ensure the authenticity of users while remaining unobtrusive. This will help prevent suspicious text that resembles advertisements or political attacks from appearing on the site, and it will also eliminate the need for users to upload personal information or pay for a one-time verification badge. Considering that thousands of subreddits famously went silent in 2023 due to a lack of trust between moderators and site owners, this is at least a noble goal. It also aligns with Digg’s promises of more active public moderation and relaxed restrictions on user-generated content, though I’ll let the lawyers comment further on that.”
Overall, it’s encouraging that most of the features discussed here focus on basic publishing functionality, though there are some interesting ideas, including plans to allow users to customize the look of their communities and add integration with other sites—for example, the ability to display Letterboxd ratings directly in a movie community.
How to try the Digg beta
If you’re interested, you can try out the Digg beta right now. Despite the name “beta,” signing up for any other site isn’t much different. Simply go to Digg.com or download the Digg app , click the “Sign Up/Login” button at the top of the feed, enter your email address, and receive a username. After authenticating with the code sent to your email, you can start browsing and subscribing to communities.
Alternatively, you can scroll through the feed without logging in if you prefer the default feed. You can also visit individual communities by finding them in the site’s search bar.