Digg, the once-popular online community that gave Reddit a run for its money, is coming back. During this time, it will be opening its open beta to the public from October 13-15, 2026. This reboot is designed to help us relive the spirit of those early internet interactions while trying to fix what’s wrong with today’s social media. Kevin Rose, the startup’s original founder, and Alexis Ohanian, a co-founder of Reddit, are at the helm of the new Digg. Their passion is to transform the way communities are created and moderated.
The latest version of Digg comes from a place of turmoil. Following its decline and eventual breakup in 2012, the platform went dark for years. That all changed when its largest, ever-increasing stake was sold to Betaworks. Despite their compact size, our talented current team is raising a ruckus—and hoping to make a positive difference going forward. They feel that they have, in their words, “years of runway” to find the niche that really connects with users. Their mission is to fuel the ever-changing needs of virtual cities.
Rather than relying on volunteer moderators like Reddit, Digg’s new strategy involves laying the groundwork for a better moderator experience. During its test-run setup, Digg will appoint a single manager for each community. We expect this structure to grow as we add out new features. This method is designed to foster a less intimidating and more creative space for the moderators and the community, alike.
“We need to figure out a way to make this an equitable experience for everybody who’s actually building Digg into what it needs to become,” stated Justin Mezzell, a key member of the Digg team. The firm is eager for community managers to share their thoughts, so they can listen to what you need and create a better product. To bolster that credibility and fuel that growth, Digg has recruited some former Reddit moderators turned advisers.
Digg is going about social media in a very forward thinking way. It intends to use cutting-edge artificial intelligence to counteract the toxicity and disorganization that spreads like wildfire on these platforms. Kevin Rose emphasized this direction, stating, “I don’t think there’s going to be any one silver bullet here.” He stressed the importance of gathering “small markers of trust in your process.” This focus is crucial when it comes to building a purpose-driven user experience.
Digg aspires to use liveness detection from mobile devices as a way of verifying members without requiring a heavy-handed, crypto-style “know your customer” (KYC) procedure. The platform is going to use location-based signals to find users who are going to the same meetups that are near each other. This strategy removes the requirement for complex identification processes. “We obviously don’t want to force everyone down some kind of crazy KYC process,” Rose reiterated.
Digg’s first beta, which was limited to 67,000 users on an invite-only basis. The upcoming open beta is an exciting progression toward increasing access and fostering more community involvement. The team envisions deploying new features at a breakneck pace (weekly!), further cementing their laserlike focus on improving the product continuously and incrementally.