Digg invites going out... $5 entry fee
Posted by ColdMeatStick@reddit | RedditAlternatives | View on Reddit | 248 comments
Email I just received:
======
Hey.
You’re getting this email because you were first in line.
Before the homepage. Before the platform. Before most people knew something was even happening.
So… welcome. You’re officially invited to become a part of Groundbreakers, a small group of early supporters helping shape what Digg becomes next.
If you’re just tuning in, here’s the short version: Digg is coming back.
Not as a throwback. Not as a museum. But as a reboot of the original social news site—rebuilt for how the internet actually works now.
And we want to build it the right way: with real people involved from the start.
We’re gathering on Circle, a private online space where we’ll share early ideas, rough screenshots, updates from the team, and weird internet energy in all forms.
👉 Join the Groundbreakers Community
What to expect:
– Early access to updates, mockups, and experiments
– A front-row seat to how Digg is being rebuilt
– A chance to give feedback, share ideas, or just watch it unfold
– A community of smart internet people who showed up early—just like you
Also: you probably noticed there’s a $5 charge to join. That’s not about access. It’s a simple way to keep things human—a small hurdle that helps make sure the people coming in are, well, actual people. No subscriptions. No gimmicks. Just a quick check at the door.
And since we’re asking for it, we figured we’d put it to good use. Proceeds will go to a nonprofit we’ll choose together inside the community.
Thanks for being early. And for helping us build something new on top of something iconic.
See you inside,
—The Digg Team
=====
I've got $5 but something about charging that really turns me off.
Flagelant_One@reddit
So they've got absolutely nothing built so far, to the point that newcomers have to gather in a different site entirely? And they're charging $5 for the promises, hopes and dreams?
This shit's doomed before it even started lmaoooo
digg_rebooted@reddit
Yep, it’s $5 to hang out in the waiting room while we build the main thing. Money goes to charity. The chaos is free. Might be a mess. Might be magic. Go join and find out.
No_Difference_2273@reddit
Which charity does the money go to?
ghdana@reddit
It says the community is going to get to vote.
INeverSaySS@reddit
The Digg Foundation
UnflinchingSugartits@reddit
asking the real questions
karlkrum@reddit
I bet one could make a digg clone with an ai coding agent
RipleyVanDalen@reddit
Yep. From the page you get when you click the email:
So you're paying $5 for something that's not even built yet.
There's early access games on Steam that at least give you something to play for $5.
passwordstolen@reddit
What could they send you for $5 that you actually need. At least bots could buy oil.
RipleyVanDalen@reddit
I have no idea what you’re trying to say.
passwordstolen@reddit
If it’s just a bunch of robots, they could oil their $5 to give sound oil.
RottingMeatSlime@reddit
This gives off major YAYVIDEOGAMES
RipleyVanDalen@reddit
jbwzrd213@reddit
No, the site (community?) you get access to IS at digg.com and feels like a comment feed thing, not unlike a patreon feed.
ScienceNuts@reddit
Does it seem to be worth your $5. Looking at my email and mulling on.
scoshi@reddit
This feels like it was created by people familiar with crypto scams.
Koraboros@reddit
$5 is nothing and helps get us an alternative to reddit, isn't that why you're subbed in the first place?
Zargawi@reddit
Let me get this straight, in an attempt to escape corporate control of reddit, you're excited about paying $5 to another corporation to "help build" their corporate controlled reddit alternative that they hope to generate profits from using your data?
And the new platform is the old platform that refused to listen to its users 20 years ago and went bankrupt because it insisted making unpopular decisions for profit? The same platform that pissed off its userbase so much they literally made took Reddit from a nerdy tech forum to the front page of the Internet? That's the exciting alternative you want to pay to preview?
Koraboros@reddit
It's a cup of coffee lol. I was also a digg refugee. If it turns out to be garbage, at least I'll know before the general public.
lrellim@reddit
Ok let us know lol
jameson71@reddit
An alternative to Reddit, that Reddit is involved in making.
Splatty15@reddit
I wouldn’t be surprised lmao.
UnflinchingSugartits@reddit
Yup looks like it
Curious-Bear-9398@reddit
Called it. Just another cash grab…
digg_rebooted@reddit
Totally fair reaction—and honestly, not the worst instinct in 2025.
But here’s what’s actually happening: the $5 isn’t a cash grab. We’re not pocketing it. Every cent is going to charity, chosen by the community inside. No subscriptions, no upsells, no sneaky monetization. Just a simple way to keep things human and bot-free at the door.
You’re not funding a platform—you’re helping shape it. Or not. That’s your call. But if you change your mind, the door’s still open.
Techarus@reddit
If you wanted more people to join you shouldn't have made it a barrier to entry.
digg_rebooted@reddit
Totally get that. The barrier is on purpose! It keeps things small, real, and human while we figure this out.
prankster999@reddit
Don't listen to the negative naysayers... $5 is nothing.
If people have a problem, and want to continue being peasants, then leave them at the door.
GirthyPigeon@reddit
Calling people peasants makes you a horrible person. I am sick of people like you on social media. I hope you receive all you deserve.
digg_rebooted@reddit
Skepticism is fair. $5 means different things to different people, and questions are part of the process. Good to have you in our corner.
prankster999@reddit
I think this subreddit's users have bigger problems if they can't stump up $5.
How do you think Digg (or any site for that matter) is going to be funded? Who is going to be paying for it?
Not the useless tramps on here who can't even stump up $5.
Brad_Brace@reddit
Good to have in your corner the person calling peasants those who can't pay five dollars? Well this is telling.
No_Difference_2273@reddit
lol what? Either this is an alt account or you really think that paying someone who torched a prior social media site for money is a better alternative to any of the free sites.
Either way, I’ll stick to being a peasant lol.
reaper527@reddit
you're keeping it real... real dumb.
Agreeable-Housing-47@reddit
I commented this in the thread but I imagine it will get lost in a sea of downvotes. Figured I'd respond to your comment directly so you can hear support:
"I'm actually fine with digg being a paywalled service in general. Lemmy is free if you prioritize decentralization. Reddit is free in its current ad- filled and bot plagued form.
Ultimately, I'd like a forum based site offering spaces for hobbyists and professionals alike to discuss their interests in depth with verified real people and less bots, all while interfacing via a beautiful and smooth UI that isn't spammed with ads. That is worth a premium.
Happy to give $5 if it means I can be involved with an online community actively working towards a better online space for tomorrow.
DataDecay@reddit
Its your opinion no down vote here.
However, paywalls are not some perfect solution to bots. Claiming the money I send them is going to a charity in some thinly veiled paywall to stop bots is... Questionable. There exists solutions to mitigating bots that don't require people shelling out money... And the fact that Tue first email I get from them is, "spend money to be part of an exclusive group" feels like a huge kickstarter scam.
No_Difference_2273@reddit
Which charity is the money going to?
miicah@reddit
The users will decide. It literally says that.
HorseFD@reddit
It says absolutely nothing about charity on the website though https://early.digg.com/
burlycabin@reddit
And how are they guaranteeing it goes to charity? I sense a likely rug pull since they are already charging $5 for access to a product that does not at all exist yet.
RipleyVanDalen@reddit
Stop using AI to make your comments.
digg_rebooted@reddit
Not AI. Just a real human with a keyboard and too many browser tabs. Appreciate the vibe check though.
ScienceNuts@reddit
Chuckling at the "too many browser tabs". Staring at the same.
Qwiggalo@reddit
You're lying, nobody uses the — symbol when they type, that's an AI thing. Real people use a -
Brad_Brace@reddit
What about humans who literally can't pay those 5 dollars?
I'm not food bank poor, but I'm not "give away five dollars to prove I'm human" not-poor either. And my specific economic and living situations made it so I do not have access to ways to make digital payments for anything. Not that I would, I'm not an early adopter, not a community shaper, but I'm sure there's people out there in a similar living situation, who would like to be early adopters, who would have important things to add to "shaping" a community, and who won't be able to because they can't, economically, prove they are human.
Which, on principle alone I find it fucked up that you'd have to pay to prove you're a human. I know there's forums which have done that successfully. But particularly now with AI growing, taking away jobs, replacing human voices, feels fucked up that the way to assert humanity is disposable income.
Speaking of, was that comment generated by AI? It reads very bot-y, ironically. Or maybe it's just the PR talk in it.
ScienceNuts@reddit
This was the thought that went through my head, as in some countries $5 US is a lot of money, and that limits the voices to those from more affluent countries or affluent people within countries where $5 US is a big ask.
I realise you can't please everyone all of the time, and in building you need to keep to a limited community, but this thought did go through my head.
QueefBurgers_@reddit
Why not just return the $5 after you've checked we're human?
AugustusLego@reddit
The point is that if it costs $5 to make a bot, then there will be fewer bots.
Azuvector@reddit
I don't necessarily think it's $X to discourage bots. More $X tied to an identifiable payment method gets hard to do for mass accounts. Only very big players can do that kinda thing and not get noticed. Not just the money, but the unique credit cards/etc. Else it's easy for them to just go "huh, looks familiar, banned all".
Toomanydamnfandoms@reddit
Unfortunately it’s very easy for botters to use prepaid cards to get different looking payment methods when it’s all one person. I don’t think fees will prevent all botters, as a decent amount of people bot for reasons other than profit nowadays, it can be ideologically (hate) driven. I know for a fact there are some coordinated homophobe botters in small lgbt subs that are spending a good deal of resources to just be obnoxious.
smh our entire species needs to touch grass and log off for a couple weeks
Toomanydamnfandoms@reddit
There won’t be. Botters value “account authenticity” over nickle and diming. They will even pay a lot for well established accounts on platforms because reach is more important than maximum profits at all times.
reaper527@reddit
don't bot makers literally buy existing reddit accounts with age/karma on them? spam bots don't care about a $5 charge. that's just cost of doing business to either sell their shit or push their political agenda. hell, it's not like people are hosting those bots from their home pc, they're paying to host it anyways.
hotdogs666x@reddit
did AI write this
FellowKidsFinder69@reddit
Is this ai written?
I think so. The dashes give it away.
coopers_recorder@reddit
Will Digg pay its mods or take steps to make sure powermods aren't a thing?
If so, I'll definitely get involved.
If not, it will end up sucking as much as Reddit. The type of people who assist with the bot-pushed narratives on Reddit can easily do the same thing on any site that uses unpaid powermods to keep it running.
BTC_is_waterproof@reddit
$5 is not a cash grab. It’s probably to keep the bots out.
reaper527@reddit
if that was really the goal, they'd offer free solutions similar to how financial institutions handle their KYC stuff or their account ownership authorization where they deposit (then take back) a random amount of money < $1 and have you confirm how much it was.
BTC_is_waterproof@reddit
It’s probably much easier to just charge $5
Mr_Lobster@reddit
How's that working for the site formerly known as twitter? I've seen loads of blue checks that were obvious propaganda accounts.
BTC_is_waterproof@reddit
Propaganda accounts =/= bots
Mr_Lobster@reddit
https://techcrunch.com/2024/01/10/it-sure-looks-like-x-twitter-has-a-verified-bot-problem/
burlycabin@reddit
The $8 monthly charge on xitter hasn't slowed down the bots, so this won't do much.
BTC_is_waterproof@reddit
It makes it very obvious which accounts are not bots.
No_Difference_2273@reddit
I think the fact that the creators have reputations of pumping out cash grabs might be a warning sign of why we shouldn’t support the reboot
RacingGoat@reddit
Fyre Festival 2
villageidiot33@reddit
Wouldn’t a captcha prevent that as well?
Techarus@reddit
Yes, and they also could've just charged a single cent.
It's weird as fuck
AugustusLego@reddit
Captchas have famously made it so that no bot accounts exist on reddit, twitter, and facebook, right?
FanClubs_org@reddit
Captchas help, but they’re far from perfect. They block most bot registrations, but spam accounts can still be an issue.
No_Difference_2273@reddit
It was never really a true option
kdjfsk@reddit
"Hey! We want something totally different than reddit! Oh, look! Something made by the people who made reddit!"
I seriously cant understand how people are this dumb.
TheDaveWSC@reddit
It's made by the people who made Reddit? Do you mean originally or the current Reddit staff?
Lancet@reddit
Kevin Rose and Alexis Ohanian own the current incarnation; Alexis co-founded reddit.
TheDaveWSC@reddit
Well I mean Reddit was good until recently and those folks weren't involved in the enshittification, right? So I don't know why that's a concern. If anything that sounds ideal.
burlycabin@reddit
The worst came after Alexis left, but he definitely kicked off the enshittification here (was in charge when they fired Victoria, for example).
x21in2010x@reddit
Alexis had that "grab the popcorn" comment when Iama went private. Victoria was really pulling so weight in what would ultimately legitimize Reddit as a major and mainstream platform in social media and one of the active founders had no fuckin' clue and was pretty heartless about her firing.
reaper527@reddit
not really. it's been on a steady decline for at least decade, going all the way back to before the revolt that lead to pao's resignation.
kdjfsk@reddit
Not current. Former founder/former CEO.
Note plenty of bad admin decisions happened during their tenure, so dont be fooled by some 'from when reddit was good' nostalgic propaganda.
teflonbob@reddit
Well they try that, with mixed results, in the video game industry all the time. Name recognition or success recognition can work and does.
Cheese0089@reddit
The $5 goes to charity
burlycabin@reddit
And they've offered nothing to guarantee it goes to charity (or which charity) besides "trust me bro".
I'm so sick of the silicon valley grifters.
Separate_Ad_8451@reddit
Which charity?
digg_rebooted@reddit
Someone brought their context goggles today!
proverbialbunny@reddit
This is a lie. They're not off to a great start. You can verify if someone is human by keeping track of a legal name tied to a credit card number. What websites do for verification is have you put in credit card info but there is no charge. The $5 doesn't aid verification.
retrorays@reddit
think ill wait
SoggyGrayDuck@reddit
That circle group, well the app itself, is horrible. I hate apps that are just one huge unlinked conversation. Try to ask a question and it's instantly lost in the mix. It's only good for circle jerking
Studds_@reddit
Same reason I don’t like discord
UnflinchingSugartits@reddit
No pun intended
middlebird@reddit
Sigh, I miss the old Internet so much.
villageidiot33@reddit
Aaah, remember the days of no pop up banners, no ads in videos, no pay subscription to read an article.
arbitrosse@reddit
Hell, some of us remember Lynx.
redworm@reddit
what days were those? because pop up ads have been around as long as the web has
and if you don't want to pay for news articles then you can't expect quality journalism
ChunkyLaFunga@reddit
Okay, remember journalism?
redworm@reddit
well it's what happens when people aren't willing to pay for journalism
if you want news articles for free then you're going to get the quality of articles that can be written for free
jameson71@reddit
Journalism began to decline when Regan repealed the fairness doctrine. After that entertainment (and propaganda) could disguise itself as news.
DarkGamer@reddit
The fairness doctorine was strictly for broadcast media. Even if it had never been repealed it wouldn't have applied to cable TV or Internet.
jameson71@reddit
Likely because it was written before either of those two existed, which outlines how our government changed over time. Instead of expanding it to cover new media, we dumped it.
black_pepper@reddit
What would it take to bring that back?
ChunkyLaFunga@reddit
I don't think Reagan changed the economics of journalism for the entire world.
jameson71@reddit
Regan didn;t change the economics of journalism anywhere, he changed the quality of it in the USA by changing the standard it was held to.
0riginal-Syn@reddit
I miss the old BBS days myself. They are still around, but not as active.
Mylaptopisburningme@reddit
I think this is rose colored glasses for pop-ups. I ran adult sites in the late 90s. Pop-ups were everywhere. I hated it my parter use to do them. Despite me not like it they worked. Remember pop unders?
TheOneTrueJazzMan@reddit
Adult sites were the exception, not the rule
EmilioMolesteves@reddit
https://maddox.xmission.com/
Www.thehun.com
Www.rotten.com
Sigh...the good ol days
reaper527@reddit
sounds close enough to how things currently are speaking as someone who uses ublock and knows how to use archive.is.
Real_FakeName@reddit
Add blockers will solve most of those problems, there's a way around most article pay walls as well
Imanisback@reddit
Yep. I had high hopes for the digg reboot. Looks like the idiots who ruined digg are just picking up where they left off.
Its a disappointing morning.
NewManufacturer4252@reddit
Do we get Kevin rose drinking 40s and throwing raccoons of his doorstep alone with tech TV guy yelling at him for not knowing the ppm of a printer?
April_Fabb@reddit
I remember when Google search was useful and even reverse image search was working.
bking@reddit
You mean like the Something Awful forums where everybody paid $10 to get in (and prove humanity), and then pay another $10 to come back if you get temporarily banned.
Pretty sure Lowtax wasn't sending that to charity.
middlebird@reddit
They never suckered me into paying. I remember they provided enough good free content to satisfy me.
bking@reddit
The main page was free. Forum accounts were universally 10bux
RipleyVanDalen@reddit
Metafilter does a $5 fee too, or at least did years ago when I last logged in.
Training-Ruin-5287@reddit
It'll never be the same again. Governments have found a way to control it now. It'll never go back to the lawless place we grew up on, sadly
AutiCat4@reddit
🖕🖕🖕🖕🖕🖕🖕🖕🖕🖕🖕🖕🖕🖕🖕🖕🖕🖕
torryton3526@reddit
Pay a fee or accept ads. That’s the choice. If something is free then YOU are the product.
takinaboutnuthin@reddit
lol
RevolutionaryLength9@reddit
5 bucks to keep out the brokies that turn every sub and lemmy into a socialist political shit hole? seems good to me
raccoon54267@reddit
🤡
RevolutionaryLength9@reddit
🪞
raccoon54267@reddit
Terrible idea. Fuck em.
prguitarman@reddit
Kevin Rose is a notorious scammer
milogan@reddit
Oh no. Don’t love that…
Epictetus190443@reddit
It sounds like it's just to keep bots away.
kaesylvri@reddit
If $8/mo didn't keep bots away from Twitter what good do you think $5 will do?
Epictetus190443@reddit
I've never been on twitter. Do you have to pay $8/Month now to use it?
ScienceNuts@reddit
Don't waste your time on. Elon basically turned it into an echo chamber for the far right.
alytle@reddit
It's a one time fee, not monthly
kaesylvri@reddit
Yes. I know.
That is what makes it stupid easy for bots to get in.
x21in2010x@reddit
The Digg revival is nowhere near as high a value target as Xitter was when they started charging. If Digg can reconstitute even a hundredth of the unique daily visitors that Xitter does, then your point would apply.
robbier01@reddit
Guys, come on. They’re not charging $5 to use the site. Anyone can do that once it launches. They’re charging $5 to be a part of the pre-launch community to get involved in the development / launch process. That seems completely reasonable for someone who is interested in that. If you aren’t interested, just wait until the site is live and join for free.
BrownButteredSage@reddit
“This isn’t the website, it’s literally just early access if you want it to see what happens as we build the website.”
Reddit: Fucking thieves! I still don’t know how to read
I cannot wait for the day I never have to deal with you shitty fucking, zero critical thinking or reading comprehension people ever again.
Ex-PFC_Wintergreen_@reddit
People here whining about a one time $5 fee and reminsicing on the "old" internet are clearly too young to either have five dollars to spare or to remember places like Something Awful that charged for access to its community.
dragonscale76@reddit
I remember DIGG being more like Reddit. But now it just looks like old twitter. Am I remembering that wrong?
Azuvector@reddit
There are a few screenshots of old digg on wikipedia if you want the memory refresh.
alsarcastic@reddit
There’s no other way they could prove you were human!? Sounds dogshit.
digg_rebooted@reddit
Totally fair reaction. But yeah, proving you're human online is weird now. $5 slows the bots. And it all goes to charity. Not perfect, just practical. And a little chaotic. Like us.
tiilet09@reddit
That’s a load of bull****! If it was simply about verification you could do a card authorization for the $5 and return it once it clears. A forced “donation” to an unknown charity is not cool.
digg_rebooted@reddit
Totally fair to side-eye it. But promise, it’s not a mystery fund or secret yacht money.
Everyone inside gets to vote on where the donation goes. Real charity, real choice, probably some strong opinions. And if you’re not into it, that’s completely fine too. We’re still glad you’re here.
Azuvector@reddit
Sounds like card auth and refund is the vote thus far. Rather than being charged and donated elsewhere. Not listening very well again? Remember what happened to Digg and why?
DataDecay@reddit
A "trust me bro"; paying or even authorizing transactions is not the only way to mitigate bots. I hope the decent amount of feedback here on the numerous different methods you could use to mitigate bots is taken into consideration.
tiilet09@reddit
Then why don’t you do the card authorization and then cancel the charge?
No_Difference_2273@reddit
Which charity?
digg_rebooted@reddit
The Groundbreakers will be voting on it. So it's up to you. If you're in.
Scott_my_dick@reddit
Who taught you this writing style
No_Difference_2273@reddit
I see. Well, I won’t be buying in but I am excited for your post on which charity was chosen and the proceeds amount donated.
keepthepace@reddit
A petition website in France used credit cards for that but all they were doing was a test transaction of 1 euro that was then reimbursed (cancelled).
Weenyhand@reddit
The popup is still very much alive in the form of the unrelenting cookies pop up that now plagues every site.
esean_keni@reddit
sigh, meanwhile spyke is in dead cyberhell limbo
UnflinchingSugartits@reddit
forgot about them
Kriem@reddit
That link you shared works btw
Cum-in-My-Wife@reddit
can't believe my username was also available there, too!!!
frontpageDSbot@reddit
Nothing you say is funny.
Cum-in-My-Wife@reddit
Your wife thinks I am.
Kriem@reddit
You’ll wear it with honer
sareuhbelle@reddit
I think part of what's turning you off is the fact that it's very obviously written by ChatGPT.
coffunky@reddit
Yeah, the first comment or two I didn’t notice (and for the email text who cares) but every. single. comment. from this Digg account is so repetitive and phrased like awkward ad copy. Feels gross to read.
$5 dollar fee to keep out bots promoted by a bot. 🤦🏼♀️ I was already pretty on board with the whole watch Digg get made thing but it’s like their promotions are actively trying to gross me out. I was more bought in before I read all these obviously LLM generated responses.
TuffGnarl@reddit
Totally fair dude, like I get it, Maybe he is totally a bot, maybe it’s totally an actual human who’s totally out of touch. Keep questioning, totally 🙏
coffunky@reddit
UnflinchingSugartits@reddit
Oh my god lol this is hilarious 😂
Beliriel@reddit
Wtf the similarity is uncanny. Damn that's super creepy.
coffunky@reddit
Aztecah@reddit
Is it? I feel like it could just genuinely be the palatable salesman voice that it emulates
RipleyVanDalen@reddit
Yep it is obvious ChatGPT text.
The "breezy" tone, the emdashes, etc.
Sauce: I have been using these models for over 2 years and also work as an AI model trainer, so I read this shit all day.
Did they do a light edit on top afterward? Maybe. But it's clearly AI text as a basis. Which is gross. There's enough of that shit online already. And asking people to pay $5 to prove they're not bots while using AI to generate your emails and comments is even more gross.
Aztecah@reddit
Eh, either way Turing test success I guess
Beliriel@reddit
That's not a good thing imo ...
Krocsyldiphithic@reddit
I was really hopeful about this, but it sounds like a crapshoot
Hazelnutcookiess@reddit
Can we just go back to forums instead of these all in one places, I liked forums more.
Kriem@reddit
I’m in. It’s a discussion forum where we can discuss ideas. Kevin dropped a screenshot of the new digg and does a 15m talk about the current status. It looks legit.
digg_rebooted@reddit
Appreciate you giving it a shot — and yep, this early space is all about ideas, screenshots, and figuring it out with people.
Legit? We’re trying. Weird? Absolutely. Glad you’re in.
baxil@reddit
It's a little dismaying to see the number of people misreading the whole entry fee thing. Honestly, though, that's making me more interested in joining. It suggests you're filtering out people with low reading comprehension.
digg_rebooted@reddit
Totally get where you’re coming from and appreciate you reading the full thing.
But we’ve got love for the skimmers too. The internet is loud, fast, and full of stuff that looks like a cash grab. We don’t blame anyone for being skeptical.
If people stick around long enough to ask questions, we’re already winning.
RevolutionaryLength9@reddit
I literally don't care if you're using AI for these comments, but it really seems like y'all are but denying it, which is a bit weird
Delicious_Ease2595@reddit
Tell us about the AI they use and worldcoin they talk there
donotconfirm778@reddit
Ehh ur getting modded by AI its wordt than reddit
SubstantialIncome555@reddit
Its god awful, save your money.
barrygateaux@reddit
Americans trying to monetize everything is a big part of what's wrong with the world today.
digg_rebooted@reddit
Fair take. And honestly? You’re not wrong—there’s a lot of monetization fatigue out there, for good reason.
But this isn’t that. We’re not charging to profit. We’re charging to slow things down, keep it human, and funnel the money to a cause the community chooses. Zero goes in our pocket.
Could we have done it differently? Probably. But we’re experimenting in public, and part of that means hearing takes like yours and adjusting when we miss.
Appreciate you holding us to a higher bar. Keep doing that.
rolyfuckingdiscopoly@reddit
Since you’re open to feedback, I highly recommend a slight change in tone. It’s not that bad, but it def reads corporate “how do you do fellow kids.” That’s… I mean, it’s to be expected I guess, but it’s not what anyone wants to talk to. We want the old internet back, and the I-am-a-hip-cool-company “hey; we get it we; are just like you but with millions of dollars and willing to steal your stories for profit while distracting you with puns” voice is not that.
To be specific, the short sentences and the rhetorical questions are what’s making it sound so corporate. I know it probly sounds good to you guys, and it IS successful at conveying the voice you picked; it’s just not the voice for the moment imo. Also the Groundbreakers (get it?) meeting at the Circle to make Magic (presumably in the Moonlight)… yeah I get the name; it’s cute and clever. People are not into cute, clever covers for soulless corporations that makes millionaires off our data. We are REALLY SICK OF THAT. I am unsure if I should be telling the aforementioned companies what makes us roll our eyes at them… maybe not. Just my 2c so i thought I’d mention it. Then again, what do I know? I never spent time on Digg the first time, so maybe I don’t understand what you’re going for.
I don’t mind the $5 tho.
digg_rebooted@reddit
Totally fair. our voice is genuine, even if it’s not for everyone. We probably won’t change your mind, but the door’s open if you ever want in.
rolyfuckingdiscopoly@reddit
I might check it out; certainly open to it (my dad used to love Digg and I like the idea for that reason). The voice thing isn’t prohibitive. I’m just interested in language and tone and how it affects communication.
digg_rebooted@reddit
Heard. As you clearly know, communication style is tricky. Someone’s always gonna hate whatever tone we pick. And that's ok. But once Digg is live, it’s not really about our voice. It’s about who shows up and what they build.
Tell your dad we said hey. He’s invited back too.
rolyfuckingdiscopoly@reddit
I literally will and I think that will make his day lol. So thanks.
burlycabin@reddit
Can you share how you are going to guarantee this?
Zargawi@reddit
I believe you.
lol
Fatal_Neurology@reddit
Does nobody realize these sites cost real money to operate? These sites are services with full time professional workers and high level equipment running them.
If you aren't the customer, you become the product. This is the only way we ourselves get to have nice things - paying, by ourselves, the actual cost of the service we are using. Otherwise it will only be companies paying to have access to us, as advertising to us and using what we say becomes the service.
Would it be appropriate for you to perform your job for free? How would you be able to live your life if none of your work got compensated? You've got this "hollier than thou" attitude towards "Americans", yet at your core you feel entitled to digital services for free without paying for them or being any part of the investment in developing them - as if you expect everyone around you to create the perfect service for you as you don't lift a finger to contribute, and only expect to be exploited in some kind of way that you never notice. Wages for me, but not fot thee?
barrygateaux@reddit
Are you going to pay the $5 for early access?
No_Difference_2273@reddit
The $5 one time fee won’t help with long term operational expenses which means they’ll still have to go the route of ads or monetization of content.
They’re also supposedly donating the money to charity although they won’t say which one
Cum-in-My-Wife@reddit
We're #1! We're #1!
Just so much freedom here, what with other privatized healthcare, retirements, public utilities, universities, neighborhood associations, etc.
"The owners of this country know the truth: It's called the American dream because you have to be asleep to believe it.". - George Carlin
Daggerfall@reddit
I fled Digg to reddit back in the day, didn't even know Digg still existed.
bking@reddit
I'm in. Having been blessed and subsequently disappointed by the Fark > Digg > Reddit pipeline, it would be nice to see a company with a fresh take on internet communities.
The $10 registration (and "sorry I got banned" fee) for Something Awful made it one of the better communities during early-2000's internet. If there's a way to trade money for good moderation and a community that's not full of scams & assholes, I'm happy to pay it.
Ijustdoeyes@reddit
The SA forums were too long ago for people to see how something like this works, that fee made a real difference, the quality of those posts were excellent and you could see it every time that something leaked out to the rest of the internet and went viral.
$5 is a small price to pay for being in a community of like minded individuals
bking@reddit
IMO, it also prevented a lot of fuckery in the threads. The mods were strict, and the cost to get back in after a moderate infraction was another $10. People were motivated to not get banned and to be funny. The system worked.
GreatBigJerk@reddit
What a fucking grift.
busymom0@reddit
Is anyone able to get screenshots of the supposed "mockups"?
UnflinchingSugartits@reddit
"It's to keep things human" why the fuck do companies always try to dress up extra charges like it's a positive thing for everybody I mean just be blunt about it we need the money Geez Louise
digg_rebooted@reddit
Totally get it, most fees are just PR in a sweater. But this one’s just to keep things human. No bots, no noise. And yep, all $5 goes to charity. No tricks. Just vibes and real people.
reaper527@reddit
that sounds like "this captcha is totally to keep the robots out. please ignore that the bots can solve it faster than humans".
TuffGnarl@reddit
Could you stop totally replying with totally answers. It’s totally annoying and makes you sound like a dude-bot.
RacingGoat@reddit
Totally agree with you on this.
DanSalvatoTouchedMe@reddit
Lmao, getting strong chatgpt vibes from the sentence structure and the forced “witty” tone.
UnflinchingSugartits@reddit
Are you Diggs official reddit account? If so, pardon my being frank here, but why is there a five dollar charge when it's only to join the Circle app and not the official Digg app?
Id say the charge was fair if it was for the official digg app, but it isn't. So, why are y'all using Circle and when is the official digg app coming out?
Bc from where I'm standing, this looks like a lot of talk going on and no active game plan or execution.
digg_rebooted@reddit
Totally fair. You don’t need to pay to talk about Digg, that’s what this place is for, and we’re glad you're here.
Circle’s where we’re already sharing real builds, early features, and letting a smaller crew help shape things while it’s still weird. It’s not vaporware — it’s happening.
The $5 keeps bots out. We donate it. That’s the whole deal.
Reddit’s for takes. Circle’s for the mess.
Join if you're into it. If not, we’re still listening.
burlycabin@reddit
So, instead of paying and supporting mods, early adapters, and likely power users that will make your platform work at all, you're going to charge them?? Y'all are taking crazy pills and should learn to read the room.
Zargawi@reddit
This is so stupid. Fire whoever came up with that marketing strategy, then shut the whole operation down while you're at it.
reaper527@reddit
that's a massive red flag. will wait until free invites are available then will see if it's an improvement from here.
cbulock@reddit
So, it's not even built yet? It's just a concept and they want money. I was excited about the Digg coming back, but this sounds like a bad Kickstarter where you lose money and never see anything come out of it.
AAdmit@reddit
A plan of a concept
RacingGoat@reddit
A hypothetical conceptual plan.
madthumbz@reddit
I signed up and got this email too. What I wonder is if people who haven't signed up are getting it. Also 'limited space' - what ever.
RacingGoat@reddit
In their defense, you need to be careful or you'll fill up the Internet.
ColdMeatStick@reddit (OP)
Can't help but notice the amount of emdashes...
RipleyVanDalen@reddit
Yeah, they're using AI to generate all their comments. Not only has the emdashes but the same kind of style/tone ChatGPT uses.
RacingGoat@reddit
"Totally".
digg_rebooted@reddit
Are we geeks? Absolutely. Are we AI? No — just emotionally overinvested in grammar.
KelbyTheWriter@reddit
You leave em dashes out of this!!
syo@reddit
Alrighty then. NEXT!
Back2funk@reddit
I got the email too. I think I’m going to give it a shot and see how it goes. If they are genuinely getting the users involved right from the start and actually listen to what we are saying then that can only be a good thing. If not then at least a charity got my £5.
burlycabin@reddit
You sure about that?
chloe38@reddit
I got the same thing and it turned me off also. I won't bother lol
iKR8@reddit
Captcha check that costs $5 wtf lol
SunderedValley@reddit
Digg? Seriously?
DanSalvatoTouchedMe@reddit
Almost the same approach valve used to try and stop TF2 bots.
We all know how that first attempt went…
This seems like a drift from Digg, why not use the pseudo captcha 4chan uses if they’re really concerned about bots
FixedFun1@reddit
No thanks, I'd rather use Lemmy.
kaesylvri@reddit
Fuck your $5, and fuck digg.
tunachilimac@reddit
I've paid a lot of money in the early and mid 2000s for donations to to forum sites to help with hosting costs. They were all run by hobbiests who weren't trying to get rich they just enjoyed that technology or hobby or whatever and had taken the initiative to create an online gathering space around it. Advertising, if at all, would be banner type ads mostly bought by companies involved in that space. No profile targeted ads, no slurping up all your data and selling it off, no taking all your comments directly into an AI. Just freeware bulletin board type sites run by normal every day people. I'm happy to pay money.
I paid a $5 fee for joining Metafilter years ago, which is a low volume high-effort reddit type site. It barely makes any money, but has been well worth the $5 entry fee. Despite being a more general interest site the fee does ensure that there aren't bots and mass trolling like you see on sites like Reddit.
I won't pay a penny to join the new Digg. I won't sign up for the new Digg for free. It's run by multi-millionaire and billionaire tech bros. The whole thing is designed around AI rather than human moderation. They have talked about interest in worldcoin which is a company run by Sam Altman wanting to scan everyone's biometrics into a blockchain or something to verify you're human. They have some orb device they're putting in public places where you can go get yourself scanned for it.
New Digg doesn't care about authentic human interaction. It's a bunch of super rich AI bros wanting an AI run platform where not only our comments, but our physical bodies, are slurped into their databases. It would be mocked relentlessly if it had a brand new name considering all the horrible tech and people behind it. That's why they're pushing so hard on the brand recognition of the old Digg days. I hope it's a spectacular failure for them.
Nandulal@reddit
lol
TuffGnarl@reddit
Gosh, if only there was some other way to verify people, other than to take five dollars from everyone 🙄
leshiy19xx@reddit
New capture!
www1z4rd@reddit
What’s the supposed difference between Reddit and the new Digg?
SoggyGrayDuck@reddit
What's the circle app for? Updates and etc until the official app launches? I admittedly have been excited but not really in the loop. I got my username and ready to pivot whenever!
UnflinchingSugartits@reddit
Ok so then that's not digg. Circle is a different app circle
So it looks like they're wanting ppl to pay five bucks to enter some group chat on the circle app
SoggyGrayDuck@reddit
It's really to get your username early,.I think you can join the circle group without paying
UnflinchingSugartits@reddit
If you join, would you tell us what it's like ?
SoggyGrayDuck@reddit
I did, nothing worthwhile yet. Unless you really want a specific username just wait.
UnflinchingSugartits@reddit
K ty
SundaeTrue1832@reddit
ngl the email looks like chatgpt wrote it
notoriousgtt@reddit
A forced “donation” to a charity shower inside….
I’m not OK with that, it’s not even the “donation” that gets me, it’s that we are not being clear about where it’s going beforehand. It might be that most groundbreakers are giant right wing misogynistic pricks who chose an anti abortion or anti trans charity that I would wholeheartedly disagree with.
Unfortunately with that uncertainty I can’t in good conscience sign up.
Spirited_Seaweed7927@reddit
I checked them out on YouTube and lost interest when they were free. Now they want me to pay them? Even harder pass.
makinggrace@reddit
So they’re going to make it elitist from the start? Great plan.
_Mayhem_@reddit
Yeah I saw that too. I noped out.
threevi@reddit
The internet just keeps getting worse, doesn't it...
teflonbob@reddit
Oh fun. Another scheme by rich people to be more rich. Leaning hard on nostalgia factor of digg and greener fields.
collegetowns@reddit
They should be paying me to join their site.
jmcstar@reddit
They will, in $EB (enjoyment bucks)
Mylaptopisburningme@reddit
So we get at pay to be alpha testers. Pass. Was hoping digg could be a good alternative. Oh well.
VT_Squire@reddit
How about no money and "eat me" instead?
dv666@reddit
Fuck off