Reddit Vs. Digg: The Best Online User Sites

Of these two popular social news networking sites, Digg is considered by many to be the more successful and popular of the two. While Reddit has some major downsides, it also has some features that are somewhat better than its competitor.

Reddit:

Reddit was started by Steve Huffman and Alexis Ohanian, when they were 22 years old, in 2005.

For some, a big downside for Reddit is that the site does block submitters and even entire sites from delivering content. Those sites include some of the most popular blog sites, Associated Content, and others. There are numerous complaints throughout the Internet from users that have been blocked from submitting not just their own content, but any other content as well. Also, Reddit will often not let users submit more than one piece of news per day. This blocking is instituted under a stated karma rule which basically indicates that if you only submit your own content, you will be blocked. Many people have been blocked after submitting one or two pieces of their own content. However, even if you or a site is blocked, you can submit as much as you like under "self" which basically redirects the URL to Reddit. There's no penalty for this as of yet. It's also rumored that the only people able to get past the karma rules are those with the technological skills to get past Reddit's barriers, and that while Reddit is supposedly aware of this, they do nothing to counteract the accusations of abuse.

On the plus side, Reddit's interface is more simple than Digg's. There's no need to fill out a lengthy sign-up form and then wait for e-mail verification. The pages are plain and easy to use, and, once signed in, users can vote content up or down with the click of a button, as well as comment on submitted stories. While the separations for news content aren't as cut-and-dry as Digg's, they do include a simple search to help readers find stories they are looking for.

Digg:

Digg was started by Jay Adelson, Owen Byrne, Ron Gorodetzky, and Kevin Rose in 2004.

Unlike Reddit, users are also required to fill out a fairly cumbersome information form in order to submit any news stories. However, similar to Reddit, the Digg site has come under fire for supposed cheating by users that pay companies to vote up their submitted content. Also, there has been some indication that those with the technical expertise are the ones that truly benefit from Digg, thereby negating the stated democracy and balance of the site's top news stories. There are various other accusations of misuse, all very similar to the same complaints directed at Reddit.

On the plus side, Digg allows users to submit content to a variety of categories, and the site itself has a number of features that users find helpful and entertaining.

Despite criticisms, Digg and Reddit are the two most popular social news bookmarking sites, and the negative publicity has not stopped users from submitting stories or from using the sites. As part of the Web 2.0 movement, they have risen within the tech field as two examples of what is possible within the potential of the Internet.