Why Is New Digg Still Unusable?

by alec on October 28, 2010 |   Trackback URI   |     Email This Post Email This Post   |   11164 Views  

New Digg Is Broke

Two months after the release of Digg v4, the website remains largely unusable, especially for (former) heavy users like myself. Instead of writing up all the difficulties, I thought a photo gallery of the multitude of errors I encountered during one hour of surfing Digg would best illustrate why using new Digg is largely an exercise in futility.

It all started when I went to the Digg homepage and found myself logged out, though I had been logged in 20 minutes earlier:

digg random logout Why Is New Digg Still Unusable?

Well, better try to login again:

digg random logout logged in Why Is New Digg Still Unusable?

Apparently I can’t log in…. because I’m already logged in? A reload fixed the problem. I then tried to click on a story to join the discussion, only to be greeted with this:

digg user not found error Why Is New Digg Still Unusable?

Again, another reload fixed the problem. But who wants to click reload every other page? I liked the story so I tried to Digg it, but alas, I hit another roadblock:

digg unable to complete request Why Is New Digg Still Unusable?

Sigh, another reload fixed the problem. On to another story, and I notice another problem. The story lists having 1 comment, yet there are none to be found. I add my own comment, refresh and… the other comment is still gone:

digg miscounted comments Why Is New Digg Still Unusable?

Little did I know this would be the first of many issues with the comments. I jump to one of my submissions to respond to someone who couldn’t find a video on the link I submitted.

digg broken comments Why Is New Digg Still Unusable?

Apparently adding a new comment is a forbidden request now! I move on to a front page story published by Slate that has made the front page, even though it was submitted at 1 AM and mysteriously had 60 Diggs (but no comments):

digg disappearing comment post Why Is New Digg Still Unusable?

Well, I’ve said my piece. A few minutes later, let’s make sure it’s still there by checking out my comments page:

digg disappearing comment user page Why Is New Digg Still Unusable?

As you can see, it’s…. disappeared! Grand. In the meantime, I’ve found an article that’s been submitted to Digg recently that I want to Digg:

log in error Why Is New Digg Still Unusable?

Digg apparently wants me to log-in again, but I’m not allowed to log-in, because I already am logged in (this is when an emoticon of a guy with steam coming out of his ears would suffice). Let’s try to go back to Digg’s front page:

digg broken axle Why Is New Digg Still Unusable?

The icing on the cake. Through a couple of hours of using Digg, I ran the gamut of errors: getting logged out, unable to Digg articles, unexpected system errors, disappearing comments, and the ever-annoying broken axle. Even when you want to use new Digg, it’s too broken to be enjoyable.

My advice to those still at Digg: just make the site work. Stop spending so much time trying to implement new features when the current ones barely work.

Technorati Tags: new digg, digg errors, problems with new digg, usability, functionality, why is new digg still broke, development, social media, do you understand how to beta test, website design


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  • Kit

    It’s a good thing they fired like half their staff, I’m sure that will help things get better!

  • http://the-reviewer.com TheReviewer

    Every time I click on some user which I don’t follow, I got internal error. They can’t fix this and even they need more people to solve this, they are firing people… strange

  • X . Digger

    Kevin killed the pony. Digg v3 was apparently the pinnacle of Digg’s success. Any normal corporate management moron would jettison v4 and reinstitute V3 of Digg. Kevin being an extra ordinary moron flogs on doing the same dipshit stupidity and expecting miraculous results.

    Kevin Rose has certainly earned a name in web and business history, his failure will be widely taught and remembered. Perhaps he will become a verb, when someone fails in spite of the answer being obvious, he will be said to have pulled a Kevin.

    • http://andrewkentdesigns.com/ Andrew Kent

      > Any normal corporate management moron would jettison v4 and reinstitute V3 of Digg.

      I agree V3 maybe with a new palette.

  • http://zybler.blogspot.com Hao Wooi Lim

    Came here to say I have similar experience. The difference is I didn’t even bother to do a writeup. That said, I still like Digg and I really hope they can fix Digg v4. They should focus on making the site work well! Right now I can’t get shit to work.

  • Dig Dud

    Fuck the D.I.G.G.

  • http://digg.com Kevin Rose

    Son, was that ‘fall on a sword’ comment a gay joke? Cause I am ALL MAN? HAVE YOU SEEN MY GF??? HAVE YOU????

    When I finish working the kinks out of my site I just might works some kinks into your pansy ass. I’M STRONG!

    Watch your step, bud. Tread lightly. Apologize and I just might forgo the extreme ass kicking.

  • aedile

    reddit.com.

    No. Seriously.

    • http://arse.com Da da da

      rules 1 & 2, dude. rules 1 & 2.

  • Jimmy Wing

    Is this just a case of “I can’t believe we’re wrong” going on at Digg? Is there someone over there with so much clout that they are perpetuating this v4 nonsense forcing a “wait, you’ll see. it’ll get better”? Is there some notion that corporate income “has to go up” with this new version? How can they misread so many of their users feelings, and then continue to do so in the daylight?
    They obviously know SOMETHING is wrong, but are unwilling to accept the undeniable.
    How could be they be so foolishly stubborn?

    So many questions.

  • Barnacle

    Reedit works fine

  • http://G@G.com Grayson Knightly

    Digg sucks

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  • http://protest@digg.com Vote to Revolt!

    Despite Digg’s huge population of Liberals and Obamabots, there were many Ron Paul supporters who managed to create a presence for themselves on Digg, and those Ron Paul supporters used Digg as one of their many tools as they made Ron Paul a popular political figure. (Many Ron Paul supporters used Digg, appropriately and brilliantly, until they were banned and had their accounts deleted, that is.)

    Today, the people that run Digg, one of them admittedly ex-CIA [Kevin Rose] (“ex”, depending on whether you believe him or not), they obviously don’t want the power of dissent to rise so strong again — not for the Tea Party supporters, not for the Ron Paul supporters, and not for the angry personalities speaking against Obama, Globalism, or Tyranny. So, in other words, the people running Digg are intentionally sabotaging their own website and rendering it a deadzone, for they want to hinder growths/re-growths of revolutions before the next big elections.

    • http://protest@digg.com Vote to Revolt!

      I just tried googling all of the articles regarding Kevin Rose’s connection to the CIA, and I came up with nothing.

      A few years ago, the articles were all over the place. Now, they’re nowhere to be found.

      It’s strange, because they disappeared from the Internet, like the Ron Paul supporters disappeared from Digg.

      • MsM

        Yeah, because it’s so easy for stuff to “disappear” from the Internet. Maybe your tin-foil hat is blocking your view of the screen.

        • Anonymous

          Stay as beautifully naive as you are..

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  • http://pbjbreaktime.com/ Icechen1

    Pretty sure I speak for the rest of the Internet when I say FUCK DIGG!

  • Ex-Digger

    I’m filled with mixed emotions about digg falling apart. I loved that site so much but if it didn’t fail with the V4, I’d probably wouldn’t have found reddit which has a better community along with the similar content.

    But I just want to say **** V4 and Kevin Rose.

  • http://blog.hiremebecauseimsmart.com/post/1352682134/mba MBA$$hole

    Did you hear they laid off 25% of their staff?

    una palabra: Schadenfreude.

  • http://blog.hiremebecauseimsmart.com/post/1352682134/mba MBA$$hole

    Anyway…Why not just use reddit?

    • Kit

      Reddit’s cool, but it’s nice to have multiple spots to go. Like there is a dive bar near my house I frequent, but sometimes I like to just go dance to house music all nice. It’s kind of like that. Choice is good.

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