Link-sharing site Digg fires staff, pulls app from App Store
What's the story
Digg, Kevin Rose's reboot of his once-popular link-sharing site, has announced major layoffs and that the Digg app was pulled from the App Store. The move comes as part of a larger strategy to retool and stabilize the company. Despite these changes, CEO Justin Mezzell assured that Digg is not shutting down. Instead, Rose will be returning full-time to lead Digg through this transition period.
Initial goals
Bot infestation issue
Digg was envisioned as a platform to replace existing community forums, allowing users to post and share links, media, text, and engage in topical discussions. However, the company has admitted that it was overwhelmed by bots even in its early days. Mezzell addressed this issue on the Digg website, saying they were surprised by the scale and sophistication of these automated accounts.
Bot issues
SEO spammers flooded the platform
When Digg beta launched, the platform was immediately flooded with posts from SEO spammers. These accounts were drawn by the site's potential Google link authority. "We knew bots were part of the landscape, but we didn't appreciate the scale, sophistication, or speed at which they'd find us," Mezzell said in his blog post about layoffs.
Mitigation efforts
Measures taken to address bot issue
In response to the bot issue, Digg banned tens of thousands of accounts and deployed internal tools while working with external vendors. However, these measures weren't enough to solve the problem. "This isn't just a Digg problem. It's an internet problem," Mezzell noted in his blog post about layoffs. The company has not disclosed how many employees were affected by this decision.
Next steps
What next for Digg?
Despite the challenges, a small team will continue to work on rebuilding Digg into something "genuinely different." The app has been removed from the App Store and the layoff post is currently the only content on Digg's website. However, Rose's video show Diggnation will continue to air. This comes after Rose and Reddit co-founder Alexis Ohanian bought what was left of old Digg last year with an aim to create a site where communities had more control over moderators/admins.