Digg Rolls out New Features

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Friday, June 23, 2006; 04:42 AM

digg, Inc., the pioneering Web community that enables the mass Internet audience to prioritize news and content, announced the rollout of new features and functionality for the digg.com Web site, including the ability for users to prioritize content in new subject areas, such as World & Business, Entertainment, Science and Gaming. The company also announced the ability for users to customize their views based on specific areas of interest, and the application of the digg concept to videos - the first ever use of the digg methodology in areas outside of news. A public Beta of the new digg site will be available on June 26th.

In addition to the existing Technology section, the four new category areas will include a variety of subcategories, such as: World & Business (Business & Finance, Politics, World News, Offbeat News), Entertainment (Celebrity, Movies, Music, Television), Videos (Animation, Comedy, Educational, Music, People, Gaming), Science (Space, Environment, Health, General Sciences), Gaming (Gaming News, Playable Web Games), and Technology (Apple, Design, Gadgets, Hardware, Industry News, Linux/Unix, Mods, Programming, Security, Software, Tech Deals).

"The digg concept of giving the Internet mass audience unrestricted power to determine what content is relevant and timely has taken off beyond my wildest expectations," said Kevin Rose, founder and chief architect of digg. "We are now responding to requests from the digg community to give them even greater control over the content filtering process with the ability to digg in new content areas, customize their view, and apply the digg functionality to non-news areas, such as videos."

Also included in the new version of the digg Web site is the ability for users to create a digg view that displays only the specific content areas of the user's interest, as well as the ability to digg videos, the first time that the digg voting concept has been directed at Internet content other than news. The new customization functionality will provide users the easiest and cleanest method for viewing relevant content amidst the overwhelming amount of content on the Internet today. Similarly, additions have been made to the friends section of digg whereby users can now be alerted to content that friends have agreed upon as well as listing people who have added you as a friend.

"From only a few users just a year a half ago, digg has grown to more than eight million unique visitors each month, with more than 300,000 active registered users," said Jay Adelson, CEO of digg. "digg is harnessing the tremendous interest from the mass Internet audience to participate in and access relevant content more conveniently and faster than traditional means."

digg has developed a large community that allows users to submit any Internet content (news, blogs, commercial offerings, etc.) for review. Then, based on whether the community likes, or "diggs," the content, it moves up the digg hierarchy according to its popularity. digg takes editorial decisions from a few editors and brings them to the mass Internet audience, creating a new form of "social content" that instantly reflects Internet user interests. As blogs and other user generated content available on the Internet can quickly move up the digg hierarchy long before newsroom editorial cycles can process and publish news, digg has the ability to "break" news stories even before media institutions.

digg also incorporates an element of social networking, as users can share the content they digg with others, and they can add their comments to content, enabling the creation of communities with thought leaders. As the community grows, the efficacy of the digg prioritization process increases, giving a true snapshot of public opinion and the ability to watch news move up the digg hierarchy as it breaks.