Two OG Internet Founders & Former Rivals Team Up with Goal of Using AI to Bring Humanity Back to Social Media
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LOS ANGELES, March 5, 2025 /PRNewswire/ — Social media pioneers Kevin Rose and Alexis Ohanian have acquired Digg. Once industry competitors, with Rose the Founder of Digg and Ohanian the Founder of Reddit, the duo have teamed up to revive the social platform with a fresh vision to restore the spirit of discovery and genuine community that made the early web a fun and exciting place to be.
In the current social media landscape, community discourse has grown increasingly combative, cluttered, and exhausting. Users are bogged down by misinformation, spam, and the emotional toll of navigating hostile interactions. The upcoming relaunch of Digg is offering a solution. By combining Ohanian’s and Rose’s historical knowledge and deep understanding of what has and hasn’t worked from their experiences at Reddit and Digg with today’s technological advancements – particularly in AI – Digg plans to become an online destination with humanity and connection at its core. Invites for the new version of Digg will be rolling out in the coming weeks.
Digg launched in 2004 with its innovative crowdsourced voting system. Users could “digg” (upvote) or “bury” (downvote) content, shaping what trended online. At its peak, Digg was widely regarded as the “homepage of the internet,” attracting 40 million monthly unique visitors. In 2012, Rose sold Digg to Betaworks, while its most valuable assets, including its patents, were acquired by LinkedIn, now one of today’s dominant social platforms.
“At various times over the years I had been approached to repurchase Digg; it never felt right. The technologies to solve our biggest pain points didn’t exist,” said Kevin Rose, Digg’s original founder and founding CEO, who will serve as the new Digg’s Board Chair, investor, and key advisor. “Just recently we’ve hit an inflection point where AI can become a helpful co-pilot to users and moderators, not replacing human conversation, but rather augmenting it, allowing users to dig deeper, while at the same time removing a lot of the repetitive burden for community moderators”. Rose continued, “With Alexis on board, we bring a shared history, a deep respect for online communities, and a new perspective on what the internet needs today. Our goal isn’t just to honor Digg’s legacy as a trusted news source and discussion hub, but to evolve it. We believe users and moderators should have more control, transparency, and ownership over the communities they work so hard to build.”
“Online communities thrive when there’s a balance between technology and human judgment. We’re bringing Digg back to ensure that balance exists,” said Alexis Ohanian, Founder & General Partner at Seven Seven Six and Co-Founder of Reddit. “Kevin and I are here to build something better than what social platforms are offering today. AI should handle the grunt work in the background while humans focus on what they do best: building real connections. No one dreams of spending their day hunting down spam or playing content police – they want to create, connect, and build thriving communities. I’m all in on this chapter.”
Backed by True Ventures (Fitbit, Peloton, Ring, BlueSky, Blue Bottle Coffee), where Rose is a partner, and Seven Seven Six (Stoke Space, Mr. Beast Industries, Angel City FC, and Riverside), founded by Ohanian, Digg is primed to set itself apart from other platforms by focusing on AI innovations designed to enhance the user experience and build a human-centered alternative, one that prioritizes transparency, rewards human effort, and fosters enriching discussions. Along with key members of the small team empowered to execute the new vision for Digg, Rose and Ohanian have been meeting with experienced community managers from various online forums to understand pain points and build innovative solutions. The company’s ongoing commitment will be to use the best of AI to create a consistently meaningful user-driven experience. Using a mobile-first approach, Digg will aim to provide value to community managers and creators for engaging with their communities on the platform.
Justin Mezzell, a longtime collaborator of Rose’s and a seasoned product design leader, will take the helm as CEO. With more than 15 years of experience in product design across SaaS, mobile, media, and agency sectors, Mezzell has worked with major technology brands including Google, Facebook, Twitter, and PayPal. The company’s Board of Directors will include Mezzell, Rose, Ohanian and True Ventures Partner Tony Conrad.
In August 2024, Rose teamed up with former diggnation co-host Alex Albrecht to relaunch the show to a welcoming and nostalgic audience, playing a key factor in acknowledging that now is the right time for a Digg reboot. Rose and Albrecht have released several episodes over the past six months and will continue to do so regularly.
To celebrate the news and discuss this next chapter of Digg, Rose and Albrecht will host a live episode of diggnation in Austin, TX on March 8, 2025 with special guest Tim Ferriss and more. Learn more here.
ABOUT DIGG
Digg is a pioneering digital media platform that curates and highlights the most interesting stories on the internet, making it easier for users to discover, discuss, and share trending news. The platform remains widely recognized in the online community, even today, drawing over 600,000 monthly viewers who engage with our streamlined and user-friendly interface to explore curated, high-quality content.
Media Contacts:
Chelsey Northern / The Untold
cn@wearetheuntold.com
Alana Battaglia / The Untold
ab@wearetheuntold.com
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