Digg relaunches as a general news site
The new Digg has just been relaunched and is now available for everyone. The new website displays all contents on the frontpage with no option to dig deeper into the site. Top stories, popular and upcoming are all listed on the frontpage, and it seems that the team of moderators is strictly limiting the contents that appear here.
When you look at the contents, you will notice that all types of news are covered, from news to media and even fun-related categories. The site does not provide you with filters or sub-pages where you can only access the contents you like. Reddit for instance does that better as it lets you blend out news that you are not interested in to concentrate fully on the news that you want.
Since there is no list of all upcoming stories, users are fed a list of preselected stories that they may vote on which is miles away from the original service.
Another thing that you will notice right away is that there are not any user comments on the site. While you may see an occasional social media comment added to a news piece, the new Digg is giving users no option to comment and add to the stories that get posted on the site. For me, it is the comments section on sites like Reddit or Hacker News that make the difference as they often add information to a story posted on those sites.
When you submit a story you are only asked for a link and nothing more. Previous Digg users will notice that they can only log in using Facebook or Twitter, and not their original Digg account.
It needs to be noted that this is just the first version, and that the developers had only six weeks to pull it off. It is likely that they will add features to the next version of the website.
For me, the new concept is not attractive enough. First, there is the pre-selection of contents that users may vote on, then there is no user interaction whatsoever. Lastly, the frontpage covers all news and offers no filtering options.
Have you been to the new Digg yet? If so, what is your take on the relaunch?
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I am loving Digg new look….its more interactive
Yet another community. When I hear, see, guess community, I move to the sunny side of the street. Community, social web … planet of robots if you want my advice. Where we all learn is when a man/woman speaks his/her truth independently, out of those insane community driven brainwashed circles of hysteria.
This done, forget the word share and welcome to exchange.
Some sites that are similar to Digg:
Reddit : http://www.reddit.com
Boxnutt : http://www.boxnutt.com
Snipit : http://www.snip.it.com
Clipboard : http://www.clipboard.com
Looks like Ars Technica.
Re: no user comments – While I fully realize the irony of saying this in a comment, I am personally glad there’s no user comments on the new Digg. The social “Web 2.0” is, in my opinion, one of the worst aspects to become standard in recent years. It’s overused and the content is of questionable quality and value. I’m really quite tired of everything imaginable featuring user input.
I never liked Digg.
I like it even less, now that it so reminds me of the kind of tabloid crap found in supermarket checkout lines.
If Digg is the future of journalism, then we’re all doomed. [grin]
_______________________________
Gregg L. DesElms
Napa, California USA
gregg at greggdeselms dot com
ugh! where did all the tech news go? no longer able to get to /news/technology/ subdirectory. General news is OK, but I used to go to digg for tech news. Oh well, delete link, click!
They apparently deleted all seven years of content, big no no.
I found several interesting stories there, but a general site like that does not fit my browsing habits, which are more focused.
Failure to Re-Launch?
The content is not bad I guess… but I only have the option to log in with Facebook. I do not have or want a Facebook account. Thanks new Digg! Also they seem to be under heavy load right now. :/