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I'd add that it didn't succeed in creating it's own subculture. Yes, it was very popular back in the day and lots of people were excited about 'digging', but ce

by zalew 16y ago

I'd add that it didn't succeed in creating it's own subculture. Yes, it was very popular back in the day and lots of people were excited about 'digging', but censoring content and alienating specific communities didn't let them create something Reddit did - a loyal fanbase using their product in various different ways. Redditors identify themselves with the site, while being diversified among various sub-communities of interest - that's awesome. Also, opposed to Digg, Reddit gives the choice to be anonymous - throwaway accounts are what drive one of the most successful subreddits - IAmA. Digg vs Reddit is an interesting case, where a technically similar idea is implemented in a socially different way.

kn0thing 16y ago
But with some significant technical advantages. That said, I'd like to shamelessly point out 2 articles I wrote (one before digg v4 launched and the other after) that sum up why I think reddit has triumphed in social news (and with only one programmer at the moment no less!). http://alexisohanian.com/an-open-letter-to-kevin-rose http://alexisohanian.com/an-open-letter-to-kevin-rose http://alexisohanian.com/how-reddit-became-reddit-the-smallest-biggest http://alexisohanian.com/how-reddit-became-reddit-the-smalle... I'm also a bit sad this article refers to these sites as social bookmarking -- delicious is/was the canonical one of those (where the byproduct of everyone storing their bookmarks online was a glimpse into good content being saved for later). Something like 1/3 of all reddit submissions are self-posts anyway (they don't link anywhere but to a reddit comments page) so the 'social bookmarking' classification is all the more absurd...
seanalltogether 16y ago
Honestly I think both digg and reddit are on cruise control now. Don't get me wrong, I love reddit, but the leadership and passion are clearly gone, and it may not take much for the community to unravel itself.
- wvenable 16y ago
  I think you're right, the top-level control of reddit is gone but the users have almost completely taken over that role. Reddit recently blogged about how IAmA is now the most popular subreddit and it was entirely a creation of the community. Reddit even has a strong female community which is rare for any of these sorts of sites; again that wasn't created by fiat from the company but generated by the users. Reddit just needs to keep the lights on and the leadership and passion of the community will keep it going.

by zalew 16y ago

kn0thing 16y ago

But with some significant technical advantages. That said, I'd like to shamelessly point out 2 articles I wrote (one before digg v4 launched and the other after) that sum up why I think reddit has triumphed in social news (and with only one programmer at the moment no less!). http://alexisohanian.com/an-open-letter-to-kevin-rose http://alexisohanian.com/an-open-letter-to-kevin-rose http://alexisohanian.com/how-reddit-became-reddit-the-smallest-biggest http://alexisohanian.com/how-reddit-became-reddit-the-smalle... I'm also a bit sad this article refers to these sites as social bookmarking -- delicious is/was the canonical one of those (where the byproduct of everyone storing their bookmarks online was a glimpse into good content being saved for later). Something like 1/3 of all reddit submissions are self-posts anyway (they don't link anywhere but to a reddit comments page) so the 'social bookmarking' classification is all the more absurd...

seanalltogether 16y ago

Honestly I think both digg and reddit are on cruise control now. Don't get me wrong, I love reddit, but the leadership and passion are clearly gone, and it may not take much for the community to unravel itself.

wvenable 16y ago
I think you're right, the top-level control of reddit is gone but the users have almost completely taken over that role. Reddit recently blogged about how IAmA is now the most popular subreddit and it was entirely a creation of the community. Reddit even has a strong female community which is rare for any of these sorts of sites; again that wasn't created by fiat from the company but generated by the users. Reddit just needs to keep the lights on and the leadership and passion of the community will keep it going.