My quick review of the new Digg: it's just Reddit
Posted by Kindly-Canary-1921@reddit | RedditAlternatives | View on Reddit | 51 comments
I've been sent an invite code and given the opportunity to check out the new Digg. It really is just Reddit, but with less people. A good chunk of the users are Redditors who were around back when the original Digg was a thing, so a bunch of old, smug Redditors. I can't think of a more well behaved, free thinking group of people. There is a politics and news community that already has it's own dedicated group of loons who post about their delusions even outside of those communities. It really is just Reddit, guys. Or, at least, it's going to end up just like Reddit eventually.
AkinatorOwesMeMoney@reddit
Everyone left Digg in the late 2000s because it became overwhelmed by bots, paid posts and corrupt mods.
The big question is: has that been resolved in New Digg?
For as terrible as Reddit is now, Digg during its collapse was much worse. It was unusable. The only posts that ever got upvoted were astroturfed. Everything was fake.
Is New Digg good enough to justify migrating back? Do they have effective measures to stop AI slop and bot manipulation, or have bad actors simply lost interest in Digg because it fell into obscurity?
HotTakes4HotCakes@reddit
Frankly, all I want is Reddit as it was a few years ago, before they killed 3rd party apps, ruined the algorithm, and forced shit into people's feeds.
One of the issues with most of these alternatives is they keep trying to reinvent the wheel, without fundamentally understanding why reddit worked as well as it has for so long.
CarlRJ@reddit
Totally with you on wanting Reddit from a few years ago back (I miss Apollo), but I don't feel like I'm getting anything forced into my feed. I forget which switches I flipped in my settings, ages ago, but I only see posts from subs that I'm subscribed to (along with the occasional ad, because I don't give them money) - the posts tend to be either quite new or from the last 24 hours and popular. So I don't really see the problem there.
scstraus@reddit
The spirit of Apollo is still alive in Voyager for Lemmy
gfa22@reddit
I hated the reddit app in the beginning but it's not too bad these days. I think functionality has improved a lot from when it first launched. I still use RIF for my other devices, but my main phone has the reddit up and I am not completely hateful towards it anymore.
DoINeedChains@reddit
You are missing why those changes were made. The shittification started when Reddit shifted in to public company profit mode. And almost every one of those items you mentioned can be traced back to that.
scstraus@reddit
...And the previous Digg crash was due to the enshittification of that platform.. And the new Digg is owned by the same owner that did that with the last Digg... So if you want to get off this ride, the only option is to get on a platform where the people running the services aren't in it to get rich and where you can easily switch to another and keep all your stuff if they do. The fediverse is this.
thirteenth_mang@reddit
Let's be real, Aaron Schwartz era reddit was the bearablest.
badwolf42@reddit
Isn’t the new Digg a paid thing? Shouldn’t that limit the cost effectiveness of bots?
Blarghnog@reddit
I see utterly no major differences substantively between Reddit as it is now and the new digg — not decentralized, not substantively different, and reliant on the same mechanisms.
Worse, they have seized on the idea to make all moderation AI (to be clear cuts been neither confirmed or denied that all moderation is headed here, but they are leading towards it and public statements lead me to believe) which is just straight short sighted. AI moderation is a weapon, never takes a day off, is a perfect information control system, and it’s in complete control of every aspect of this site. Lame lame lame.
The new Digg resembles Reddit structurally, it is centralized, uses AI for moderation, and has monetization elements — and all that should invite a fair amount of skepticism. I think it’s fair to question whether it brings substantive novelty or non corporate control.
For my mind, looks just like the same old shit: another vc style, corporate controlled money grab social network that “addresses the problems of other systems before it.” Yea, right.
I’m not even vaguely interested in being part of it.
aVarangian@reddit
ironic that your comment was at least partly made with AI
DoINeedChains@reddit
No- this is absolutely not what happened. Everyone left Digg when Kevin Rose unilaterally rolled out the horrible 2010 v4 "redesign" with the borked home page algorithm. By that point, Reddit had reached critical mass and was a viable place for people to switch to.
https://d3.harvard.edu/platform-digit/submission/the-demise-of-digg-how-an-online-giant-lost-control-of-the-digital-crowd/
IWasAGoodDadISwear@reddit
If it is just another Libtard cesspool like Reddit, then it is pointless.
Shigglyboo@reddit
nobody is gonna take you seriously with the childish name calling.
IWasAGoodDadISwear@reddit
That's ok, I don't take you seriously either.
Shigglyboo@reddit
fair enough. I hope you are a good dad. and don't teach your kid to call people names.
IWasAGoodDadISwear@reddit
Oh, I'm actually not a dad. The username is a joke that is a specific reference to something. I do hope to be a father one day, and yes, I suppose I would try to teach my kids not to call people names. But honestly, some people's actions are just begging to be called certain names.
chesterriley@reddit
Traitorapist Trump is a pedophile.
UnflinchingSugartits@reddit
My opinion? Christ, on digg, theres too many ppl link dumping and posting rage bait political shit in like every fucking community. Discussions are rare on there
Und3rO4th@reddit
So, Reddit basically?
Boxagonapus@reddit
Literally. Feels like most posts are just a link with the title of the article… nothing else.
Kindly-Canary-1921@reddit (OP)
Most of the communities where you'd expect people to be posting about themselves and talking to each other in is just people posting links to ads and news articles as if they were bots. It's bizarre.
UnflinchingSugartits@reddit
Exactly my point. It's obnoxious
Direct-Walk-9012@reddit
I've tried UpVote - Post Freely, No Karma Required | Anonymous Social Platform - seems good option!
firebreathingbunny@reddit
Choose one.
LibertyLizard@reddit
Well, you can also choose neither.
DoINeedChains@reddit
Reddit with Kevin Rose. That's something I have zero interest in checking out.
mrcanard@reddit
Old reddit checking in.
When it was obvious digg was going to hell, stopped lurking and joined reddit ~17 years ago.
BrapAllgood@reddit
Same here. It was this way for many people when they messed up Digg. I have more stories than I'm willing to tell on the subject.
Shigglyboo@reddit
I like the new digg. it's got a nice vibe. I like the interface. and the staff all seem on board and friendly.
not many people yet, but it's growing. reddit is declining fast. I've probably blocked more accounts in the last six months than the last six years combined. the algorithm is definitely trying to piss me off. nonstop trump and politics. I've even muted popular news subs. I'm also subbed to squirrels. watercolor. uplifting news. spicy. salsa snobs. etc. nice fun communities that don't piss me off. and I never see them. I have to pull them up manually.
F4STW4LKER@reddit
Who owns it?
HeartyBeast@reddit
It’s Reddit, but without a mobile site. You are forced to use their app. No thanks
kdjfsk@reddit
Its worse. It has AI mods.
alien-reject@reddit
that's actually a good thing
kdjfsk@reddit
No, it isnt.
Its not going to be unbiased. Its going to be just as biased as whoever programs it, but it never sleeps, and can analyze effectively infinite data and delete anything that doesnt conform to its agenda within microseconds of posting, meanwhile whatever corp pays for astroturfing privileges gets a pass.
cptjeff@reddit
Maybe. But the AI won't be the kind of delusional petty tyrant all too many reddit communities are modded by, and mods tying to push agendas and banning people who don't agree is not exactly unheard of here.
kdjfsk@reddit
thats where youre wrong. Its going to do the delusional petty tyrants bidding by doing the exact same things shitty humans mods do, because thats they'll be programmed to be.
cptjeff@reddit
They'll be controlled by the admins, which means much more corporate predictability and far less individual petty bullshit.
Shitty human mods are often miserable people with too much time and no control anywhere else in their lives, so they take it out on users. AI moderation will be controlled by disinterested paid admins pushing whatever corporate BS the business side needs. It will certainly lead to its own problems, but they will be extremely different problems.
Und3rO4th@reddit
You know you’re right on Reddit when you get downvoted for being factually correct.
Kindly-Canary-1921@reddit (OP)
Very good foresight, man. I can see that happening.
HotTakes4HotCakes@reddit
I'm so tired of all the alternatives trying to fix what wasn't actually broken.
Und3rO4th@reddit
That must be a very comfortable rock you’re living under. I’m jealous.
randomlytoasted@reddit
Yes, but Reddit having competition can only be a good thing. Assuming new Digg can last long enough to actually be competition. I'm rooting for it
Kindly-Canary-1921@reddit (OP)
This is also true despite what I've said about it. I don't think there's any chance of Reddit ever improving, though. It's too far gone.
busymom0@reddit
And once one IPOs, they only go downhill from there.
Delicious_Ease2595@reddit
Yep I joined too and the only thing I could like la the AI extensions to summarize posts. Other than that it's same old with a slow app.
Howrus@reddit
What did you expect, it have same people :]
This is the biggest mistake of users here - that jumping ship would make people around you better.
Kindly-Canary-1921@reddit (OP)
You're very right. I think what people really want is a website without Redditors, but they themselves are also Redditors and will make anywhere they go feel like Reddit.
__Pendulum__@reddit
I fear the shiny wore off. Plans that were enacted were already abandoned (new weekly communities), and there is the optics of the developers losing interest - this might not be accurate, but this is a killer for any Reddit Alternative.
jmcstar@reddit
Yeah but let's enjoy it while it's not shitified
employusers@reddit
Interesting.