Digg Alpha: Review from an Experienced Digg User

Digg Alpha opened its doors to several thousands users on 29 June (I was one of the lucky ones to get access.) So far, I’ve seen many reviews on it from various mainstream resources. However, they all failed to address the main points most active Digg users care about when it comes to the new Digg Alpha features.

I will attempt address some of the most important issues, we, as active Diggers have regarding this V4. I’ll pin-point to several design changes they made (and whether they are good or bad), how the new Digg will affect power users and at the end try to make some prediction on how the new Digg version is going to look in terms of design and functionality.

The new ‘Digg’ Button

At first, you’ll probably say the same thing like me: Damn, they should make it wider so it feels like the old (current) button.

In terms of design, the new button is awesome. In terms of functionality, not really. It’s easier to click on ‘Digg’ using the current button. On this one I need to click on the center. I can’t click on the edges if I want to digg something which is a major hassle.

My news? People to follow? What the…

It’s nice if, let’s say, I love BBC stuff, to be able to see their stuff more often.

But, don’t I have RSS/Twitter for that?

Here’s the major mistake Digg did: It assumed what users wanted, instead of asking them.
This was the most dugg comment on the first front page story on the main Digg features:

I think that Digg is risking a lot by putting ‘My News’ in front of ‘Top News.’ I predict they’ll change so Top News comes in front of My News or otherwise risk ruining the visitor experience of many regular users as well as changing its core from find interesting stuff (interesting = people you don’t know really well, websites you probably haven’t heard of before) to find predictible stuff (from sites you like, people you are familiar with) and so on. I think Digg needs to focus on making things simple (like this public records search site) rather than complex.

Power users and front-page system…gone?

Digg power users will be pissed because Digg Alpha doesn’t have the usual ‘Submitted by friends’ button where they can digg their mutual friend’s submission every day. Either Digg will add such an option or risk losing a bunch of its power users.

Also I didn’t see any Front Page system. It’s simply that the most Dugg stories get to the FrontPage and this can be manipulated very easily. Definitely an issue Digg needs to pay careful attention.

Digg Alpha…………….Digg V4 (a long, long journey)

It will probably take several months before Digg rolls its final version. The current alpha version is far from perfect. I predict the following features to be added:

• Changed ‘digg’ button
• Added ‘following friend’s’ submissions (to stop the rage of power users)
• Get some portion back of its Front Page system

The idea of letting everyone has its chance to get on the Front Page is a noble one. But when you consider things like SPAM and JUNK sites then you want to be extra careful who you gonna let go and have a share of the traffic.