<2> Digg Shuts Down for a Hard Reset Due to Bot Activity
<3> The Rise and Fall of a Community-Based Website
Digg, a social news and networking website, has shut down temporarily due to an overwhelming influx of bots. The website’s CEO, Justin Mezzell, explained on the home page that the company noticed hours after its open beta launched that it was being targeted by SEO spammers. “The internet is now populated, in meaningful part, by sophisticated AI agents and automated accounts,” he wrote.
<3> The Unpreparedness of Digg’s Team
Apparently, the Digg team wasn’t ready for the scale and speed at which bots found and started flooding the website. Mezzell said that Digg banned thousands of accounts and deployed both internal tools and external solutions, but they weren’t enough. He admitted that the votes and comments on the website couldn’t be trusted due to the amount of bot activity it received.
<3> The Downsize and Rebuild
While Digg has decided to significantly downsize its team, a small number of staff members has stayed to rebuild it completely. Mezzell said that it wasn’t enough to present Digg as an alternative to current social networks and community-based websites.