Digg Relaunches with AI-Powered Community Focus as Alexis Ohanian Advocates for Continuous "Shipping"

Social media pioneer Alexis Ohanian, co-founder of Reddit and founder of Seven Seven Six, recently underscored his philosophy of product development with a concise tweet stating, "Shippin'." This message aligns with the March 2025 announcement of the reacquisition and relaunch of Digg, the once-prominent social news aggregator, by its original founder Kevin Rose and Ohanian himself. The duo aims to revitalize the platform with a renewed emphasis on human connection and community, leveraging advanced artificial intelligence.

The decision to revive Digg stems from a shared vision between Rose and Ohanian to address the current landscape of social media, which they describe as increasingly combative and cluttered with misinformation. "Online communities thrive when there's a balance between technology and human judgment. We're bringing Digg back to ensure that balance exists," Ohanian stated in a press release. Their goal is to restore the spirit of discovery and genuine community that characterized the early internet.

A core component of the new Digg's strategy is the integration of artificial intelligence to streamline content moderation and enhance user experience. AI will handle the "grunt work" of identifying spam and policy violations, freeing human moderators to focus on fostering positive discussions and shaping their communities. Kevin Rose, who will serve as Board Chair, suggested AI could even enable playful features, such as translating community discussions into fictional languages like Klingon.

The relaunched platform, with Justin Mezzell as CEO, will adopt a mobile-first approach and focus on creating smaller, interest-based communities. Notably, the new Digg will retain its "Digg" (upvote) feature but will remove the "Bury" (downvote) option, aiming to cultivate a more constructive environment. Backed by Rose's True Ventures and Ohanian's Seven Seven Six, the venture also plans to share economic growth with its community once monetization begins.

The new Digg launched in a limited form in March 2025, with invitations for the mobile app rolling out in the subsequent weeks. This iterative approach to development resonates with Ohanian's broader advice to founders: "Founders: SHIP. Your fear of getting embarrassed isn't real

when you're starting out, no one cares!

you should be afraid of never shipping." The return of Digg marks a significant attempt by two internet veterans to redefine online community in an AI-driven era.