Digg#Digg Reader

File:Screenshot of Digg.com from 2004.png

Digg started as an experiment in November 2004 by collaborators Kevin Rose, Owen Byrne, Ron Gorodetzky, and Jay Adelson. The original design by Dan Ries was free of advertisements. To monetize, the company originally used Google AdSense but switched to MSN adCenter in 2007.{{cite web |url=http://about.digg.com/blog/digg-new-ad-provider |title=Digg: New ad provider |date=July 25, 2007 |access-date=July 16, 2012 |first1=Kevin |last1=Rose |archive-date=July 19, 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100719115822/http://about.digg.com/blog/digg-new-ad-provider |url-status=live }}

Digg allowed users to discover and share web content by submitting links and voting them up ("digg") or down ("bury"). The platform aggregated these votes into dynamic lists of trending content, with voting accessible both on Digg.com and through "digg" buttons embedded on external websites..{{Citation needed|date=June 2025}}

Digg underwent several updates in its early years, including the release of Digg v2 in July 2005 with a redesigned interface, friends list, and streamlined voting. In 2006, Digg v3 introduced content categories like technology, science, and entertainment, along with a "view all" section, followed by additional interface changes in 2007.{{Citation needed|date=June 2025}}

By 2008, Digg's homepage was attracting over 236 million visitors annually, according to a Compete.com survey.{{cite web |url=http://siteanalytics.compete.com/digg.com?metric=uv |title=Compete.com |publisher=Siteanalytics.compete.com |access-date=November 7, 2010 |archive-date=January 9, 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110109194432/http://siteanalytics.compete.com/digg.com/?metric=uv |url-status=live }} Digg had grown large enough that it was thought to affect the traffic of submitted web pages. Some pages experienced a sudden increase in traffic shortly after being submitted; some Digg users refer to this as the "Digg effect".{{Citation needed|date=June 2025}}

In July 2008, the former company took part in advanced acquisition talks with Google for a reported $200 million price tag, but the deal ultimately fell through. It underwent a controversial 2010 redesign.

In 2012, Quantcast estimated Digg's monthly U.S. unique visits at 3.8 million.{{Cite web |title=Digg.com Traffic and Demographic Statistics by Quantcast |url=http://www.quantcast.com/digg.com |archive-url=http://web.archive.org/web/20170418002611/https://www.quantcast.com/digg.com |archive-date=2017-04-18 |access-date=2025-05-24 |website=www.quantcast.com}} After the departure of co-founders Jay Adelson and Kevin Rose, in July 2012 Digg was sold in three parts: the Digg brand, website, and technology were sold to Betaworks for an estimated $500,000;{{Cite news |last=Madrigal |first=Alexis C. |title=The Big Digg Lesson: A Social Network Is Worth Precisely as Much as Its Community |url=https://www.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/2012/07/the-big-digg-lesson-a-social-network-is-worth-precisely-as-much-as-its-community/259770/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180322015203/https://www.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/2012/07/the-big-digg-lesson-a-social-network-is-worth-precisely-as-much-as-its-community/259770/ |archive-date=2018-03-22 |access-date=2018-03-21 |work=The Atlantic |language=en-US}} 15 staff were transferred to The Washington Post Company{{'}}s "SocialCode" for a reported $12 million; and a suite of patents was sold to LinkedIn for about $4 million.{{cite news |last1=Walker |first1=Joseph |last2=Ante |first2=Spencer E. |date=July 13, 2012 |title=Once a Social Media Star, Digg Sells for $500,000 |url=https://www.wsj.com/articles/SB10001424052702304373804577523181002565776 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141215204009/http://www.wsj.com/articles/SB10001424052702304373804577523181002565776 |archive-date=December 15, 2014 |access-date=July 16, 2012 |work=The Wall Street Journal}}{{cite news |last1=Tsukayama |first1=Hayley |date=May 10, 2012 |title=SocialCode hires 15 employees from Digg.com |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/technology/socialcode-hires-15-employees-from-diggcom/2012/05/10/gIQAP2xBFU_story.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120519090842/http://www.washingtonpost.com/business/technology/socialcode-hires-15-employees-from-diggcom/2012/05/10/gIQAP2xBFU_story.html |archive-date=May 19, 2012 |access-date=July 16, 2012 |newspaper=The Washington Post}}{{cite web |last1=Burns |first1=Chris |date=July 13, 2012 |title=Digg sale splits the company three ways for $16m total |url=http://www.slashgear.com/digg-sale-splits-the-company-three-ways-for-16m-total-13238530/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120715194903/http://www.slashgear.com/digg-sale-splits-the-company-three-ways-for-16m-total-13238530/ |archive-date=July 15, 2012 |access-date=July 16, 2012 |publisher=Slashgear}}

In April 2018, Digg was purchased by BuySellAds, an advertising company, for an undisclosed amount.{{cite web |date=April 25, 2018 |title=The beloved Digg, once the chief rival to Reddit, was just sold to an advertising tech company |url=https://www.businessinsider.com/digg-sells-to-buysellads-an-ad-tech-company-2018-4 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180923085609/https://www.businessinsider.com/digg-sells-to-buysellads-an-ad-tech-company-2018-4 |archive-date=23 September 2018 |access-date=23 September 2018 |website=Business Insider}}

In March 2025, both Rose (the original founder of Digg) along with Alexis Ohanian (co-founder of Reddit), acquired Digg and are relaunching it. Invitations to the new Digg will be distributed in the coming weeks and the site will primarily be aimed at people on mobile devices. Artificial intelligence will also play a larger part in making Digg more accessible to users, Rose said.

Then, in June of 2025, Digg is being revived by founder Kevin Rose and Reddit co-founder Alexis Ohanian with a focus on authentic human interaction and community-building amid the rise of AI-generated content. The reboot aims to empower moderators and creators, explore technologies to verify human users, and offer a more values-aligned platform model that resists bot-driven manipulation while still responsibly using AI for tasks like moderation.{{Cite web |last=Perez |first=Sarah |date=2025-06-02 |title=Digg's founders explain how they're building a site for humans in the AI era |url=https://techcrunch.com/2025/06/02/diggs-founders-explain-how-theyre-building-a-site-for-humans-in-the-ai-era/ |access-date=2025-06-05 |website=TechCrunch |language=en-US}}

File:Digg-frontpage-feb-2008.png

CEO Jay Adelson said in 2010 that the site would go through some major changes. In the interview with Wired magazine, Adelson said that "Every single THING has changed" and that "the entire website has been rewritten."{{cite news |url=https://www.wired.com/epicenter/2010/03/digg-redesign-social-web/ |title=Wired Interview |publisher=Wired |date=March 15, 2010 |access-date=March 15, 2010 |first1=Michael |last1=Calore |archive-date=March 17, 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100317132902/http://www.wired.com/epicenter/2010/03/digg-redesign-social-web/ |url-status=live }} The company changed from MySQL to Cassandra, a distributed database system; in a blog post, VP Engineering John Quinn said that the move was "bold".{{cite web|url=http://about.digg.com/node/564 |title=Cassandra Switch |publisher=Digg |access-date=July 16, 2012 |first1=John |last1=Quinn |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120307033743/http://about.digg.com/node/564 |archive-date=March 7, 2012 }} Adelson summed up the new Digg by saying, "We've got a new backend, a new infrastructure layer, a new services layer, new machines—everything."

Adelson stepped down as CEO on April 5, 2010, to explore entrepreneurial opportunities, months before the launch date of Digg v4.{{cite web |url=http://about.digg.com/blog/update-jay |title=Update from Jay |publisher=Digg |date=April 4, 2010 |access-date=July 16, 2012 |first1=Jay |last1=Adelson |archive-date=September 20, 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110920090518/http://about.digg.com/blog/update-jay |url-status=live }} He had been the company's CEO since its inception. Kevin Rose, another original founder, stepped in temporarily as CEO and Chairman.{{cite web | last=Arrington | first=Michael | title=Digg's Kevin Rose: "One Of Us Has To Leave" | website=TechCrunch | date=2010-04-05 | url=https://techcrunch.com/2010/04/05/kevin-rose-one-of-us-has-to-leave/ | access-date=2025-03-05}}

Digg's v4 release on August 25, 2010, was marred by site-wide bugs and glitches. Digg users reacted with hostile verbal opposition.{{cite web | last=Halliday | first=Josh | title=Digg users revolt after redesign | website=the Guardian | date=2010-08-31 | url=https://www.theguardian.com/technology/pda/2010/aug/31/digg-redesign-revolt | access-date=2025-03-05}} Beyond the release, Digg faced problems due to so-called "power users" who would manipulate the article recommendation features to only support one another's postings, flooding the site with articles only from these users and making it impossible to have genuine content from non-power users appear on the front page.{{cite web | last=Brown | first=Jesse | title=Why did Digg fail? For disrespecting its geeks. | website=Macleans.ca | date=2012-07-19 | url=https://macleans.ca/society/technology/why-did-digg-fail-for-disrespecting-its-geeks/ | access-date=2025-03-05}} Frustrations with the system led to dwindling web traffic, exacerbated by heavy competition from Facebook, whose like buttons started to appear on websites next to Digg's.{{cite news |first=Caroline |last=McCarthy |title=Changing the rules of the Digg game |date=June 21, 2010 |url=http://news.cnet.com/8301-13577_3-20008223-36.html |publisher=CNET News |access-date=July 16, 2012 |archive-date=July 30, 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120730054335/http://news.cnet.com/8301-13577_3-20008223-36.html |url-status=live }} High staff turnover included the departure of head of business development Matt Van Horn, shortly after v4's release.{{cite news |first=Caroline |last=McCarthy |title=Digg's Matt Van Horn leaving for start-up |date=August 26, 2010 |url=http://news.cnet.com/8301-13577_3-20014852-36.html |publisher=CNET News |access-date=September 2, 2010 |archive-date=August 27, 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100827160052/http://news.cnet.com/8301-13577_3-20014852-36.html |url-status=live }}

Following the redesign debacle, Digg experienced a mass exodus of users to rival site Reddit. While Digg’s traffic plummeted by a quarter in the following month, Reddit’s traffic grew by 230% in 2010. The site never recovered from the Digg v4 design and continued to languish over the next two years. By July 2012, Digg's monthly unique visitor count had fallen 90 percent from its peak.{{cite web | title=The Demise of Digg: How an Online Giant Lost Control of the Digital Crowd | website=Digital Innovation and Transformation | date=2015-11-01 | url=https://d3.harvard.edu/platform-digit/submission/the-demise-of-digg-how-an-online-giant-lost-control-of-the-digital-crowd/ | access-date=2025-03-05}}

In July 2012, Digg was sold in three parts:

1. the Digg brand, website, and technology were sold to Betaworks for $500,000;
2. 15 staff were transferred to The Washington Post{{'}}s Code3 project for $12 million;
3. the patent portfolio was sold to LinkedIn for approximately $4 million.

On July 20, 2012, new owners Betaworks announced via Twitter that they were rebuilding Digg from scratch, "turning [Digg] back into a start-up".{{cite web |url=https://twitter.com/digg/status/226356830966784001 |title=Rethink Digg Twitter Announcement |access-date=July 20, 2012 |date=July 2012 |archive-date=April 9, 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160409160111/https://twitter.com/digg/status/226356830966784001 |url-status=live }} Betaworks gave the project a six-week deadline. Surveys of existing users, collected through the website ReThinkDigg.com,{{cite web |url=http://rethinkdigg.com/ |title=Rethink Digg |access-date=July 20, 2012 |archive-date=July 21, 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120721031358/http://rethinkdigg.com/ |url-status=live }} were used to inform the development of a new user interface and user experience.{{cite web |url=http://silicon-news.com/news/2012/07/20/the-new-rethink-digg-review/ |title=The New Digg |access-date=July 20, 2012 |date=July 2012 |archive-date=February 2, 2013 |archive-url=https://archive.today/20130202194656/http://silicon-news.com/news/2012/07/20/the-new-rethink-digg-review/ |url-status=live }}{{cite web |url=http://mashable.com/2012/07/20/digg-rebuild/ |title=Rebuilding Digg |access-date=July 20, 2012 |last=Murphey |first=Samantha |website=Mashable |date=July 2012 |archive-date=July 21, 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120721053513/http://mashable.com/2012/07/20/digg-rebuild/ |url-status=live }}

The "rethought" Digg reset its version number and launched as Digg v1 a day prior to the Betaworks project deadline, on July 31, 2012. It featured an editorially driven front page, more images, and top, popular and upcoming stories. Users could access a new scoring system. There was increased support for sharing content to other social platforms such as Twitter and Facebook. Digg's front page content was selected by editors, instead of users on other communities like Reddit.{{Citation needed|date=June 2025}}

In response to the announced shutdown of Google Reader, Digg announced on March 14, 2013 that it was working on its own RSS reader.{{cite web |url=https://www.theverge.com/2013/3/14/4104618/digg-will-build-its-own-version-of-google-reader |title=Digg Reader is Live! |publisher=Digg.com |date=2013-03-14 |access-date=June 28, 2013 |archive-date=2013-07-03 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130703063728/http://www.theverge.com/2013/3/14/4104618/digg-will-build-its-own-version-of-google-reader |url-status=live }} Digg Reader launched on June 28, 2013 as a web and iOS application. An Android app was released on August 29, 2013. Digg announced that it would shut down Digg Reader on March 26, 2018.{{cite web |url=https://digg.zendesk.com/hc/en-us/articles/360000678608 |title=Goodbye to Digg Reader |date=September 20, 2016 |access-date=2018-03-14 |archive-date=2018-03-14 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180314210133/https://digg.zendesk.com/hc/en-us/articles/360000678608 |url-status=live }}

In April 2018, ad-tech company BuySellAds bought Digg's assets, as well as its editorial and revenue teams, for an undisclosed amount{{cite web | last=Weissman | first=Cale Guthrie | title=Digg Was Just Bought By An Ad-Tech Company Called BuySellAds | website=Fast Company | date=2018-04-25 | url=https://www.fastcompany.com/40564131/digg-was-just-bought-by-an-ad-tech-company-called-buysellads | access-date=2025-03-05}} with Todd Garland becoming CEO of the company.{{citation | last=Owens | first=Simon | title=Can Todd Garland restore Digg to its former glory? | date=2020-07-15 | url=https://simonowens.substack.com/p/can-todd-garland-restore-digg-to | access-date=2025-03-05 | page=}}

During the BuySellAds era, Digg was kept as an editorially curated homepage in the mold of the Betaworks version, staffed with an editorial team of five responsible for the day-to-day content, producing 150 to 200 posts per day, with 12 of them curated into a daily email. "We sought out people who (were) in tune with the heartbeat of the internet and are familiar with how content bubbles up and becomes viral. While Digg's purpose isn't necessarily to showcase all the viral content of the web, we try to find the things that are most interesting that should get more attention." explained Garland.

Digg was later acquired by Money Group for an undisclosed amount.{{cite tweet | user= JoshLeibner |number= 1705044167485731229 |title= The acquisition actually may have been prior to 2023. This press release in November 2022 refers to Digg as a brand of Money Group, but the trademark may not have been transferred until March 2023. https://finance.yahoo.com/news/cbd-move-free-officially-announces-131700105.html | access-date=2025-03-06}}

In March 2025, it was announced that Digg founder Rose and Reddit cofounder Alexis Ohanian bought the website back for an undisclosed amount. Justin Mezzell was named the new CEO of Digg. The site will primarily be aimed at people on mobile devices.{{cite web | last=Isaac | first=Mike | title=The Return of Digg, a Star of Web 2.0 | website=The New York Times | date=2025-03-05 | url=https://www.nytimes.com/2025/03/05/technology/digg-alexis-ohanian-kevin-rose.html | access-date=2025-03-05}} The new Digg will use a combination of AI tools and humans for content moderation.{{cite web | last=Swant | first=Marty | title=Digg is relaunching after sale to Kevin Rose and Alexis Ohanian | website=Digiday | date=2025-03-05 | url=https://digiday.com/media/reddit-cofounder-alexis-ohanian-teams-with-kevin-rose-to-relaunch-digg/|archive-url=https://archive.today/20250305162700/https://digiday.com/media/reddit-cofounder-alexis-ohanian-teams-with-kevin-rose-to-relaunch-digg/ |archive-date=2025-03-05 | access-date=2025-03-05|url-status=live}}

In April 2025, an early access community called Groundbreakers was opened with a $5 sign-up fee, capped at 23,000 signups. Groundbreakers hit their maximum capacity on April 21st, 2025.https://x.com/digg/status/1914359462141550728 Groundbreaker members were promised "updates, mockups, and experiments" and a "front-row seat to how Digg is being rebuilt." Users who joined Groundbreakers reserved their username and will receive a badge on the new platform.{{cite web |last1=O'Kane |first1=Sean |date=April 10, 2025 |title=Rebooted Digg launches early-access community with $5 fee |url=https://techcrunch.com/2025/04/10/rebooted-digg-launches-early-access-community-with-5-fee/ |access-date=April 10, 2025|website=TechCrunch|language=en-US}}{{Cite web |last=Preston |first=Dominic |date=2025-04-11 |title=Digg will let you reserve your username (for a price) |url=https://www.theverge.com/news/646985/digg-relaunch-groundbreakers-early-access-username-reservation-5-dollars |access-date=2025-04-12 |website=The Verge |language=en-US}}

{{Main|Digg Patriots}}

It was possible for users to have disproportionate influence on Digg, either by themselves or in teams. These users were sometimes motivated to promote or bury pages for political or financial reasons.{{Citation needed|date=June 2025}}

Serious attempts by users to game the site began in 2006.{{cite web |url=http://www.forevergeek.com/2006/04/digg_corrupted_editors_playground_not_userdriven_website/ |title=Digg Corrupted: Editor's Playground, not User-Driven Website |author=Dave |date=April 20, 2006 |publisher=Forevergeek |access-date=August 4, 2010 |archive-date=July 21, 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100721174600/http://www.forevergeek.com/2006/04/digg_corrupted_editors_playground_not_userdriven_website/ |url-status=live }} A top user was banned after agreeing to promote a story for cash to an undercover Digg sting operation.{{cite web |url=http://news.cnet.com/Digg-continues-to-battle-phony-stories/2100-1025_3-6144652.html |title=Digg continues to battle phony stories |first1=Greg |last1=Sandoval |date=December 18, 2006 |publisher=CNET News |access-date=August 4, 2010 |archive-date=May 10, 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110510073035/http://news.cnet.com/Digg-continues-to-battle-phony-stories/2100-1025_3-6144652.html |url-status=live }} Another group of users openly formed a 'Bury Brigade' to remove "spam" articles about US politician Ron Paul; critics accused the group of attempting to stifle any mention of Ron Paul on Digg.{{cite web |url=http://message2paulspammers.blogspot.com/2007/12/diggs-ron-paul-bury-brigade-exposed.html |title=Digg's Ron Paul 'Bury Brigade' exposed |author=Adam |date=December 23, 2007 |access-date=August 4, 2010 |archive-date=May 14, 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110514082915/http://message2paulspammers.blogspot.com/2007/12/diggs-ron-paul-bury-brigade-exposed.html |url-status=live }}

Digg hired computer scientist Anton Kast to develop a diversity algorithm that would prevent special interest groups from dominating Digg. During a town hall meeting, Digg executives responded to criticism by removing some features that gave superusers extra weight, but declined to make "buries" transparent.{{cite web |url=http://bloggingexperiment.com/archives/diggs-20-questions-a-town-hall-recap.php |title=Digg's 20 Questions: a Town Hall Recap |author=Ben |date=February 26, 2008 |publisher=Bloggingexperiment |access-date=August 4, 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101123110643/http://bloggingexperiment.com/archives/diggs-20-questions-a-town-hall-recap.php |archive-date=November 23, 2010 |url-status=dead }}

However, later that year Google increased its page rank for Digg. Shortly afterwards, many 'pay for Diggs' startups were created to profit from the opportunity. According to TechCrunch, one top user charged $700 per story, with a $500 bonus if the story reached the front page.{{cite web |url=https://techcrunch.com/2008/09/03/want-on-the-digg-home-page-thatll-be-1300/ |title=Want On The Digg Home Page? That'll Be $1,200. |first1=Michael |last1=Arrington |date=September 3, 2008 |publisher=Techcruch |access-date=August 4, 2010 |archive-date=July 22, 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100722001039/http://techcrunch.com/2008/09/03/want-on-the-digg-home-page-thatll-be-1300/ |url-status=live }}

Digg Patriots was a conservative Yahoo! Groups mailing list, with an associated page on coRank, accused of coordinated, politically motivated behavior on Digg. Progressive blogger Ole Ole Olson wrote in August 2010 that Digg Patriots undertook a year-long effort of organized burying of seemingly liberal articles from Digg's Upcoming module. He also accused leading members of vexatiously reporting liberal users for banning (and those who seemed liberal), and creating "sleeper" accounts in the event of administrators banning their accounts. These and other actions would violate Digg's terms of usage.{{cite web |url=http://blogs.alternet.org/oleoleolson/2010/08/05/massive-censorship-of-digg-uncovered |title=Massive Censorship of Digg Uncovered « OOO |access-date=2010-08-07 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130508085136/http://blogs.alternet.org/oleoleolson/2010/08/05/massive-censorship-of-digg-uncovered |archive-date=May 8, 2013 }}{{cite web |url = http://pubrecord.org/special-to-the-public-record/8121/rigging-of-digg-covert-mob-conservatives/ |title = The Rigging Of Digg: How A Covert Mob Of Conservatives Hijacked The Web's Top Social News Site |first = Ole Ole |last = Olson |publisher = The Public Record |date = August 5, 2010 |access-date = August 7, 2010 |archive-date = August 26, 2021 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20210826103101/https://www.pubrecord.org/ |url-status = live }} Olson's post was immediately followed by the disbanding and closure of the DiggPatriots list, and an investigation into the matter by Digg.{{cite news |url = https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2010/aug/06/digg-investigates-claims-conservative-censorship |title = Digg investigates claims of conservative 'censorship' |first1 = Josh |last1 = Halliday |date = August 6, 2010 |work = The Guardian |access-date = December 17, 2016 |archive-date = November 15, 2016 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20161115235612/https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2010/aug/06/digg-investigates-claims-conservative-censorship |url-status = live }}

{{Main|AACS encryption key controversy}}

{{Wikinews|Digg.com suffers user revolt; Founder will not fight}}

On May 1, 2007, an article appeared on Digg's homepage that contained the encryption key for the AACS digital rights management protection of HD DVD and Blu-ray Disc. Then Digg, "acting on the advice of its lawyers", removed posting submissions about the secret number from its database and banned several users for submitting it. The removals were seen by many Digg users as a capitulation to corporate interests and an assault on free speech.{{cite news | last = Stone | first = Brad | title = In Web Uproar, Antipiracy Code Spreads Wildly | work = The New York Times | date = 2007-05-03 | url = https://www.nytimes.com/2007/05/03/technology/03code.html | access-date = 2007-07-02 | archive-date = 2008-12-11 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20081211105021/http://www.nytimes.com/2007/05/03/technology/03code.html | url-status = live }} A statement by Jay Adelson attributed the article's take-down to an attempt to comply with cease and desist letters from the Advanced Access Content System consortium and cited Digg's Terms of Use as justification for taking down the article.{{cite web|url=http://blog.digg.com/?p=73|title=Digg the Blog: What's Happening with HD-DVD Stories?|first=Jay|last=Adelson|access-date=2007-05-02|archive-date=2012-10-17|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121017103512/http://blog.digg.com/?p=73|url-status=live}} Although some users defended Digg's actions,{{cite web |url=http://www.tgdaily.com/content/view/31859/97/ |title=Cease and desist letters backfire horribly against AACS |publisher=TGdaily |date=2007-05-01 |access-date=2009-02-27 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070504015619/http://www.tgdaily.com/content/view/31859/97/ |archive-date=2007-05-04 }}{{cite web |url=http://weblog.infoworld.com/railsback/archives/2007/05/digg_losing_con.html |title=Digg losing control of their site |publisher=Weblog.infoworld.com |access-date=2009-02-27 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081222071122/http://weblog.infoworld.com/railsback/archives/2007/05/digg_losing_con.html |archive-date=2008-12-22 |url-status=dead }}{{cite web |last=Sanders |first=Tom |url=http://www.computing.co.uk/vnunet/news/2188970/drm-lobby-tries-hd-dvd-genie |title=DRM lobby tries to get HD DVD genie back into the bottle |publisher=Computing.co.uk |access-date=2009-02-27 |archive-date=2009-02-19 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090219193526/http://www.computing.co.uk/vnunet/news/2188970/drm-lobby-tries-hd-dvd-genie |url-status=live }} as a whole the community staged a widespread revolt with numerous articles and comments made using the encryption key.{{cite web|url=http://www.dailytech.com/article.aspx?newsid=7129|title=DailyTech: AACS Key Censorship Leads to First Internet Riot|first=Marcus|last=Yam|access-date=2007-05-02|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070504012441/http://www.dailytech.com/article.aspx?newsid=7129|archive-date=2007-05-04|url-status=dead}}{{cite news|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/6615047.stm|title=BBC News: DVD DRM row sparks user rebellion|access-date=2007-05-02|date=2007-05-02|archive-date=2007-05-16|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070516215800/http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/6615047.stm|url-status=live}} The scope of the user response was so great that one of the Digg users referred to it as a "digital Boston Tea Party".[https://web.archive.org/web/20070504173353/http://www.forbes.com/technology/2007/05/02/digital-rights-management-tech-cx_ag_0502digg.html Forbes.com], Digg's DRM Revolt The response was also directly responsible for Digg reversing the policy and stating: "But now, after seeing hundreds of stories and reading thousands of comments, you've made it clear. You'd rather see Digg go down fighting than bow down to a bigger company. We hear you, and effective immediately we won't delete stories or comments containing the code and will deal with whatever the consequences might be."{{cite web | url =http://blog.digg.com/?p=74 | title =Digg This: 09 F9 [...] | access-date =2007-05-02 | first =Kevin | last =Rose | author-link =Kevin Rose | date =2007-05-01 | work =Digg the Blog | publisher =Digg Inc | archive-date =2019-04-22 | archive-url =https://web.archive.org/web/20190422090815/https://blog.digg.com/?p=74 | url-status =live }}

Digg's version 4 release was initially unstable. The site was unreachable or unstable for weeks after its launch on August 25, 2010. Many users, upon finally reaching the site, complained about the new design and the removal of many features (such as bury, favorites, friends submissions, upcoming pages, subcategories, videos and history search).{{cite web |url=http://gigaom.com/2010/08/26/digg-redesign-met-with-a-thumbs-down/ |title=Digg Redesign Met with a Thumbs Down |first1=Mathew |last1=Ingram |work=Gigaom |date=August 26, 2010 |access-date=August 29, 2010 |archive-date=August 28, 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100828214002/http://gigaom.com/2010/08/26/digg-redesign-met-with-a-thumbs-down/ |url-status=live }} Kevin Rose replied to complaints on his blog, promising to fix the algorithm and restore some features.{{cite web |url=http://kevinrose.com/blogg/2010/8/27/digg-v4-release-iterate-repeat.html |title=Digg v4: release, iterate, repeat. |first1=Kevin |last1=Rose |date=August 27, 2010 |access-date=August 27, 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100829120320/http://kevinrose.com/blogg/2010/8/27/digg-v4-release-iterate-repeat.html |archive-date=August 29, 2010 |url-status=dead }}

Alexis Ohanian, founder of rival site Reddit, said in an open letter to Rose:

{{Quote|this new version of digg reeks of VC meddling. It's cobbling together features from more popular sites and departing from the core of digg, which was to "give the power back to the people."{{cite web |url=http://alexisohanian.com/an-open-letter-to-kevin-rose |title=An open letter to Kevin Rose |first1=Alexis |last1=Ohanian |date=May 28, 2010 |access-date=August 29, 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100601092755/http://alexisohanian.com/an-open-letter-to-kevin-rose |archive-date=June 1, 2010 |url-status=dead }}}}

Disgruntled users declared a "quit Digg day" on August 30, 2010, and used Digg's own auto-submit feature to fill the front page with content from Reddit.{{cite web |url=http://www.readwriteweb.com/archives/digg_user_rebellion_reddit_on_front_page.php |title=Digg User Rebellion Continues: Reddit Now Rules the Front Page |publisher=ReadWriteWeb |first1=Frederic |last1=Lardinois |access-date=August 31, 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100831122556/http://www.readwriteweb.com/archives/digg_user_rebellion_reddit_on_front_page.php |archive-date=August 31, 2010 |url-status=dead }}{{cite magazine |url=https://newsfeed.time.com/2010/08/30/digg-users-lash-out-at-new-format-join-forces-with-reddit/ |title=Digg Users Lash Out At New Format, Join Forces with Reddit |magazine=Time |access-date=August 31, 2010 |date=August 30, 2010 |first1=Megan |last1=Friedman |archive-date=August 30, 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100830191918/http://newsfeed.time.com/2010/08/30/digg-users-lash-out-at-new-format-join-forces-with-reddit/ |url-status=live }}{{cite web |url=http://news.cnet.com/8301-13577_3-20015042-36.html?part=rss&subj=news&tag=2547-1_3-0-20 |archive-url=https://archive.today/20120713183757/http://news.cnet.com/8301-13577_3-20015042-36.html?part=rss&subj=news&tag=2547-1_3-0-20 |url-status=dead |archive-date=July 13, 2012 |title=Angry Digg users flood home page with Reddit links |publisher=CNet News |first1=Caroline |last1=McCarthy |access-date=August 31, 2010 }} Reddit also temporarily added the Digg shovel to their logo to welcome fleeing Digg users.{{cite news |url=http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/08/30/reddit-digg-rivalry-heats_n_699225.html |title=Angry Users SLAM Digg With Links From Rival Reddit |work=The Huffington Post |access-date=August 31, 2010 |first=Craig |last=Kanalley |date=August 30, 2010 |archive-date=September 1, 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100901170530/http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/08/30/reddit-digg-rivalry-heats_n_699225.html |url-status=live }}

Digg's traffic dropped significantly after the launch of version 4,{{cite web |url=https://thenextweb.com/socialmedia/2010/09/23/diggs-traffic-is-collapsing-at-home-and-abroad/ |title=Digg's traffic is collapsing at home and abroad |publisher=The Next Web |access-date=October 20, 2010 |first1=Alex |last1=Wilhelm |date=23 September 2010 |archive-date=September 27, 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100927170006/http://thenextweb.com/socialmedia/2010/09/23/diggs-traffic-is-collapsing-at-home-and-abroad/ |url-status=live }} and publishers reported a drop in direct referrals from stories on Digg's front page.{{cite web |url=http://socialkeith.com/the-digg-effect-v4/ |title=The Digg Effect v4 |publisher=Social Keith |access-date=October 20, 2010 |first1=Keith |last1=Plocek |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101022060115/http://socialkeith.com/the-digg-effect-v4/ |archive-date=October 22, 2010 |url-status=dead }} New CEO Matt Williams attempted to address some of the users' concerns in a blog post on October 12, 2010, promising to reinstate many of the features that had been removed.{{Citation needed|date=June 2025}}

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