Permanently Banned? This 2004 Reddit Alternative is Making a Comeback with Alex Ohanian's Help

Tired of being kicked out of your favourite online communities? A blast from the past is making a comeback, offering a new refuge. Founded in 2004, a once-quiet Reddit alternative is roaring back to life—this time with a high-profile backer: Reddit co-founder Alexis Ohanian.

The 41-year-old entrepreneur is joining forces with his former rival, 48-year-old Kevin Rose, to revive Digg. Rose originally launched the social link-sharing site in 2004, but by 2012, it had been dismantled and sold off to various buyers, including Betaworks, LinkedIn, and The Washington Post.

A New Era for Digg: Mobile and AI-Driven

The duo plans to relaunch Digg with AI-powered content moderation, a feature Reddit has yet to adopt. In its original form, Digg allowed users to post links and vote them up ('Digg') or down ('bury'), making it a go-to platform for trending news. Now, the revival aims to modernise the experience for today's internet users.

Moreover, People could comment on the links, and the most liked posts would appear on the homepage. Digg once drew in 40 million monthly visitors, but a 2010 change that eliminated the 'bury' button sparked a user backlash, causing a mass exodus and ultimately its downfall.

On 5th March, Ohanian and Rose revealed their plans to bring back Digg, and focus on a mobile experience. Invitations to join the new platform will be sent out in the next few weeks. Currently, over 175,000 people have signed up for early access.

Leadership For The Future

Bloomberg reported that Digg's leadership will include Justin Mezzell as CEO. Mezzell, a product designer formerly of Code School and RevenueCat, will work alongside Ohanian and Rose, who will serve as board members.

They acquired Digg's domain and assets from Money Group for an unknown amount and secured funding from Seven Seven Six, Ohanian's VC firm, and True Ventures, where Rose is a partner. According to Bloomberg, they chose not to reveal the total amount raised.

AI Moderation: Digg's Differentiating Factor

The idea to revive Digg began when Rose contacted Ohanian last year, proposing a new version that would employ AI to combat spam and manage content.

The New York Times reports that Rose researched AI's potential for Digg by running targeted ads on Reddit, a similar site, spending heavily to gather moderator feedback on their most pressing problems.

'These moderators are pouring their lives into this,' he told The Times. 'We think we can do it better.'

In an interview with The Verge, Rose shared his vision for Digg's AI capabilities, stating, 'everything from an AI agent that converts your entire sub-community into Klingon,' ' a fictional language in the Star Trek universe, 'to another one where you don't allow a certain type of profanity and that's automatically auto-moderated.'

Ohanian, who was a Reddit board member until 2020, said in a press release that AI will handle the behind-the-scenes 'grunt work' of spam control and content filtering on Digg, freeing up human moderators to concentrate on 'building real connections.' He noted, 'I'm all in on this chapter.'

Digg vs. Reddit: A New Rivalry

Digg's direct competition is Reddit, a company valued at £23.29 billion ($30 billion) and with 101.7 million daily active users, based on information from its February earnings. Notably, Reddit has heavily invested in AI, securing a £46.58 million ($60 million) agreement with Google in February 2024 for AI training on its content and a subsequent deal with OpenAI in May 2024.

To enforce community standards, Reddit has AutoModerator, which automatically examines posts for policy breaches. While Reddit launched an AI safety tool in March 2024 to identify online harassment, it lacks AI moderators. According to Business Insider, it has not disclosed any plans to develop them.