Digg, the OG Reddit rival, is back with new app
What's the story
Digg, a pioneer of early internet communities and a former rival to Reddit, has been relaunched. The company is now owned by its original founder Kevin Rose and Reddit co-founder Alexis Ohanian. They have launched an open beta version of Digg for the public. The new platform offers a website and mobile app where users can explore feeds from different communities based on their interests.
Platform development
Digg's evolution and current features
Digg started as a news aggregation site in the Web 2.0 era and was once worth $175 million in 2008. However, it couldn't keep up with Reddit's growth. The platform has now been revamped to include more generalized communities like gaming, technology, and entertainment. It also features a new sidebar for pinning favorite communities and a main feed optimized for visual content.
Community features
Digg's unique approach to community management
Digg allows users to create their own communities on any topic, no matter how niche. Community managers can set their own rules and moderation logs are shared publicly for transparency. At launch, each community will have one manager but this could change as more features are added over time. The company has brought on some Reddit moderators as advisers to improve the moderator experience on its platform.
Verification methods
Digg's innovative approach to user verification
Digg is looking to use new technologies like zero-knowledge proofs to verify users on its platform. This would allow the company to pick up "little signals of trust along the way and bundle them all together into something that's meaningful," according to Rose. The company is also considering using signals from mobile devices for verification purposes, such as identifying when users attended a meetup in the same location.
Future developments
Digg's future plans and user feedback
Digg plans to keep improving its platform based on user feedback. The company has a small team but enough resources to find product-market fit over time. Rose said, "The beautiful thing about this launch is we're finally at the place with Digg where it's just that the foundational stuff is done, and now we can really start having fun."