DIGG

Digg is a social news aggregator and bookmarking site, launched in 2004 by Kevin Rose and others. Users submit links and stories, and other users vote them up or down. The site's front page displayed the most popular items based on the community's votes and engagement, providing a real-time snapshot of what was trending on the web.

At its height, Digg drew millions of users and became one of the earliest prominent social news platforms, influencing how people discover online content and spawning imitators, including early Reddit. During the late 2000s, Digg faced rising competition from Reddit and others.

In 2010 Digg released a major redesign known as Digg v4, which changed how stories were promoted and reduced the visibility of individual user diggs; the change was met with criticism and is widely cited as a turning point that contributed to a decline in traffic and engagement.

In 2012 Digg was acquired by Betaworks and refocused as a curated news site. The company introduced new features, including Digg Reader as a standalone RSS-like reader and further redesigns to emphasize editorial curation rather than purely user-submitted content.

Over time, Digg's traffic and cultural prominence declined relative to peers, and the service shifted toward niche curation and partnerships rather than front-page mass appeal. As of the 2020s, Digg continues to operate as a digital news aggregation and curation site with a modern front page and edited recommendations, distinct from the early user-driven democracy model. It remains a widely cited example in the history of social news and user voting on the web.