Digg facts for kids

Quick facts for kids
Digg, Inc.

Type of site	Social news
Available in	English
Founded	November 2004; 20 years ago (2004-11)
Headquarters	New York City, United States
Area served	Worldwide
Owner	BuySellAds.com, Inc.
Founder(s)	Kevin Rose
Key people	Michael O'Connor (CEO)
Revenue	Unknown
Employees	25 (2018)
Advertising	None
Registration	Optional
Launched	December 5, 2004; 20 years ago (2004-12-05)
Current status	Active
Written in	Python

Digg (also known as digg) is a website that gathers interesting news and stories from all over the internet. It focuses on topics popular online, like science, important current events, and viral videos or trends. It was relaunched in 2012 and lets you easily share stories on sites like Twitter and Facebook.

Before 2012, Digg was a very popular website where people could vote on stories. Users would submit articles, and others could vote them "up" (called digging) or "down" (called burying). This voting system helped popular stories rise to the top. Digg was so popular that it inspired other similar websites, like Reddit.

In 2008, there were talks for Google to buy Digg for a lot of money, but the deal did not happen. After some big changes in 2010 and its founders leaving, Digg was sold in three parts in 2012. The Digg brand and technology went to a company called Betaworks. Some staff joined The Washington Post Company, and its patents (special inventions) were sold to LinkedIn. In 2018, Digg was bought by BuySellAds, an advertising company.

Discovering Digg's History

Digg, version 1.6

Digg began as an experiment in November 2004. It was created by Kevin Rose, Owen Byrne, Ron Gorodetzky, and Jay Adelson. The first design had no ads. To make money, Digg first used Google ads, then switched to MSN adCenter in 2007.

The main idea of Digg was to help users find, share, and recommend web content. Anyone could submit a webpage. Other members could then vote for that page ("digg") or against it ("bury"). Many websites even added "digg" buttons so users could vote while browsing. This created lists of popular and trending content from all over the internet, chosen by a community.

Digg added new features and improved over its first few years. Digg v2 came out in July 2005 with a new look. It added a friends list and made it easier to "digg" a story. A year later, Digg v3 added specific categories for technology, science, videos, entertainment, and gaming. By 2008, Digg's main page was getting over 236 million visitors each year. Sometimes, a story on Digg would cause a huge increase in visitors to that website, which was called the "Digg effect".

Big Changes and Challenges

In 2010, CEO Jay Adelson announced that Digg would undergo major changes. He said that "Every single THING has changed" and the "entire website has been rewritten."

Jay Adelson stepped down as CEO in April 2010. Kevin Rose, another founder, temporarily took over.

Digg's v4 update was released on August 25, 2010. It had many problems and bugs. Users were very unhappy with the new design and missing features. Digg also faced issues with "power users" who would unfairly promote their own articles. This made it hard for new or different content to appear on the front page. Because of these problems and competition from sites like Facebook, Digg's traffic dropped.

In September 2010, Matt Williams became the new CEO. In 2013, Andrew McLaughlin took over after Digg was sold to Betaworks. Gary Liu became CEO in 2015, followed by Joshua Auerbach as interim CEO in 2016. In 2017, Michael O'Connor became CEO and still leads the company today.

In September 2016, Digg started working with Gannett, a large news company. This partnership allowed Gannett to use Digg's data to see what was trending online.

Digg's Sale and Relaunch

In July 2012, Digg was sold in three parts:

• The Digg brand, website, and technology were sold to Betaworks for $500,000.
• 15 staff members joined The Washington Post's Code3 project for $12 million.
• Digg's special inventions (patents) were sold to LinkedIn for about $4 million.

There were reports that Digg had been trying to sell itself since 2006. The biggest attempt was in July 2008 when Google considered buying Digg for around $200 million. However, Google decided not to buy it. Digg then received more funding from investors to move its offices and hire more staff.

On July 20, 2012, the new owners, Betaworks, announced they were rebuilding Digg from scratch. They wanted to make it feel like a new startup again. They used surveys from existing users to help design a new look and feel for the website.

The "rethought" Digg launched as Digg v1 on July 31, 2012. It featured a front page chosen by editors, more images, and sections for top, popular, and upcoming stories. Users could also share content more easily on social media like Twitter and Facebook. Unlike sites like Reddit, Digg's main page content was chosen by editors, not just users.

Until its sale in 2018, Digg's offices were in New York City's Chinatown.

Digg's Features

Digg Reader

When Google Reader announced it was closing, Digg decided to create its own RSS reader. Digg Reader launched on June 28, 2013, as a website and an app for iPhones. An Android app came out in August 2013. Digg announced that it would shut down Digg Reader on March 26, 2018.

Issues with the Old Digg Website

Unfair Promotion and Hiding Stories

It was possible for some users to have too much power on Digg. They could work alone or in groups to unfairly promote or hide stories. This sometimes happened for political or money reasons.

Serious attempts to "game" the site started in 2006. One top user was banned for agreeing to promote a story for money. Another group of users formed a 'Bury Brigade' to remove articles about US politician Ron Paul. Critics said this group was trying to stop any mention of Ron Paul on Digg.

Digg hired a computer scientist to create a special algorithm. This algorithm was meant to stop special interest groups from controlling Digg. Digg also removed some features that gave "superusers" extra power.

However, later, some "pay for Diggs" companies started. These companies would charge money to get stories promoted on Digg. One top user reportedly charged $700 per story, with a bonus if it reached the front page.

The Digg Patriots was a conservative group accused of working together to hide liberal articles on Digg. A blogger wrote in 2010 that this group tried to get liberal users banned and created fake accounts. These actions would break Digg's rules. After this was revealed, the DiggPatriots group closed, and Digg investigated the matter.

Problems with Digg v4

Digg's version 4 update was very unstable at first. The website was often down or slow for weeks after it launched in August 2010. Many users were upset about the new design and that many features were removed. These missing features included the "bury" button, favorites, friends' submissions, and search history. Kevin Rose, the interim CEO, promised to fix the problems and bring back some features.

Alexis Ohanian, a founder of rival site Reddit, wrote an open letter to Kevin Rose. He said that the new Digg seemed to be influenced by investors. He felt it was copying features from other sites and moving away from Digg's original idea of "giving power back to the people."

Unhappy users declared a "quit Digg day" on August 30, 2010. They used Digg's own tools to fill the front page with content from Reddit. Reddit even changed its logo temporarily to welcome users leaving Digg.

Digg's traffic dropped a lot after version 4 launched. Publishers also saw fewer visitors coming from Digg's front page. The new CEO, Matt Williams, tried to address users' concerns in October 2010. He promised to bring back many of the removed features.

Digg's Journey Through Time

See Also

In Spanish: Digg para niños