Reddit vs. Digg – The Smackdown!
October 30, 2009 by redsneaker
Filed under Web Stuff
Both Digg (http://www.Digg.com ) and Reddit (http://www.Reddit.com ) are social news sites that accept stories from users and then let users vote for stories they like and allow them to make comments.
Reddit was founded in 2005 by two university of Virginia graduates and grew to become a super power of weird news current events. The simplicity of Reddit design puts function before form. There is no glitz, just content and lots of it. Compared to Digg, Reddit wins the simplicity award. Reddit also squeezes more content per page than Digg by foregoing hover-overs and fly-outs. The straight forward approach of Reddit appeals to reader who wants simplicity and content.
Digg, on the other hand, was founded by Kevin Rose in 2004. Starting primarily as a tech news site, it has grown to include World & Business news, Science news, Gaming news, Sports and other more mainstream content. This has lead to a growth in popularity of the site that allows users to Digg stories they like and Bury stories they don’t. Stories that are popular can experience spikes in traffic causing what some refer to as a Digg effect where the sites get really slow or even go down completely.
With that in mind, let the Smackdown begin!
Round 1:
Content. Digg ds have a more mainstream group of news and a popular podcast, Diggnation, highlighting some of the more popular stories on Digg. Reddit packs more punch by utilizing a streamlined interface loaded with odd stories. For my needs, Reddit wins this round.
Round 2:
Audience. Reddit has a very active community submitting and commenting on stories, but Digg has enough traffic to bring down otherwise stable web sites. That’s a significant power to wield to be able to drive that sort of traffic to any site that the community that deems interesting. Digg wins this one hands down.
Round 3:
Design. Digg has always been a clean interface with iconic Digg buttons that are spread throughout the web by imitators. Digg has always stayed true to simplicity of design and easy to use navigation interface. Reddit’s design is barebones which is perfect for the loads of content on the site, but the reddit site design hasn’t been stolen near as many times as the Digg interface.
I’m looking at you http://www.yigg.de/, http://shoutwire.com/, http://www.shakk.us/ and http://www.fuzz.fr/ . Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, so I will give the design round to Digg.
So in this three round smackdown, Digg takes the title, but I am anticipating this won’t be the last time we will see Reddit bring some innovative ideas and excellent content to the smackdown ring. Congratulations, Digg, on winning this match up. Until next time.
Stumble It!
Gerald Weber on Sat, 31st Oct 2009 4:15 am
You forgot to mention a big comparison.
Digg has a staff and a tos that they go by when it comes to content allowed and rules that must be followed.
Reddit on the other hand has give users the ability to control and moderate submission. Some of the most popular sub reddits are controlled by single users who are allowed to play god with submission. i.e. they can bury a submission simply because they do not like a piece of content or perhaps because they don’t like another users.
Digg wins this one hands down.