Digg makes a comeback with AI and community at its core

Digg, a once-popular social news site, is returning under the leadership of its founder Kevin Rose and Reddit co-founder Alexis Ohanian. The pair, alongside CEO Justin Mezzell, have acquired Digg’s domain and assets from Money Group with plans to reinvent the platform using artificial intelligence (AI).

Digg first launched in 2004, letting users share and vote on links to decide what appeared on its homepage. Over time, Digg lost popularity and changed owners several times, eventually becoming less well-known. Now, Rose and Ohanian aim to revive Digg as a community-driven platform with AI-powered moderation and content discovery.

AI will play a key role in the new Digg, helping improve the user experience and making moderation easier. Rose has emphasised that AI will assist rather than replace human engagement, automating tasks such as spam filtering and policy enforcement. The goal is to allow moderators to focus on fostering positive discussions and shaping their communities rather than dealing with routine administrative work.

Unlike its predecessor, the new Digg will not include a downvote feature but will retain its signature upvote system. The platform will also prioritise engagement through smaller, interest-based communities. Digg’s leadership believes this approach will provide a fresh take on social media, fostering positive interactions and community engagement while addressing some of the challenges seen on other platforms.

Digg is launching with basic features, and the team will develop it further with feedback from early users. Rose and his team see this as a chance to improve Digg and make it an important place for online conversations again. Whether it can recapture its former influence remains to be seen, but its return signals a renewed effort to create a more user-focused social platform.

Sources: Digiday, The Verge, ZEDNET

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