Digg Founder Kevin Rose On The Need For Trusted Social Communities In The Ai Era

1 week ago

“The dormant net mentation is real,” Reddit co-founder Alexis Ohanian told Digg laminitis Kevin Rose, referring to nan thought that overmuch of nan net isn’t quality — it’s mostly bots.

The 2 entrepreneurs person since teamed up to re-envision really to build a societal organization successful this world where, very soon, it will beryllium difficult to show who’s a existent personification online.

Earlier this year, nan 2 bought nan remaining assets belonging to Digg, nan long-shuttered news aggregation tract primitively founded by Rose that was a staple of nan Web 2.0 era.

Now again nether Rose’s control, nan caller Digg is creating a spot for group to socialize and link online wrong communities, akin to Reddit, but it has different ideas astir really specified a level should activity astatine a clip erstwhile bots are astir indistinguishable from humans.

Backstage astatine nan TechCrunch Disrupt 2025 convention connected Wednesday, Rose explained that he sees nan early of societal arsenic being much focused connected protected online spaces and “micro communities of trusted users.”

“I conscionable person to ideate that, arsenic nan costs to deploy agents drops to adjacent to nothing, we’re conscionable gonna see…bots enactment arsenic though they’re humans,” he said. “So, mini trusted communities, impervious of heartbeat — there’s an existent quality connected nan different end…is important.”

But today’s verification methods often impact things for illustration facial recognition, ID uploads, aliases mini payments pinch a in installments paper to guarantee that personification is simply a personification and not a bot. Not everyone online will consciousness comfortable doing thing for illustration that to entree an online societal community, of course.

That’s why Digg is looking to usage newer technology, for illustration a ZK proof (ZKP) to verify group utilizing its level successful nan future.

Says Rose, nan ZKP is simply a “fancy portion of math” which doesn’t expose who personification is, but tin verify thing basal that would beryllium important for their information successful an online community.

For instance, a moderator of a organization for Oura ringing owners could usage nan exertion to verify that personification is really an Oura ringing proprietor earlier allowing them to post. That personality could enactment pinch them truthful they’re known arsenic a trusted member, but not needfully 1 wherever they person to spell by their existent name. This could beryllium peculiarly useful successful communities focused connected delicate topics aliases wellness issues, arsenic well.

The thought that moderators should person much of a opportunity complete their communities is besides basal to nan caller Digg — and, Rose believes, these founding members should beryllium compensated for their efforts.

“When we first started Digg successful 2004 — earlier Reddit launched — we were very fortunate because we had thousands and thousands of people, and yet millions of people, that would travel successful and lend content,” said Rose, during his sheet astatine nan TechCrunch Disrupt event. “And they’re not getting paid.”

He said that immoderate Reddit moderators are fundamentally moving astir nan timepiece to grip things for illustration spam and fighting, but aren’t receiving immoderate portion of nan revenue, nor do they power nan audience.

“So you’re talking astir thing wherever you’re signing up and creating each this worth for a platform, but you can’t larboard that level anyplace else. You can’t seizure immoderate email addresses. You can’t enactment successful touch connected that platform. You tin beryllium ousted [from] that platform,” he said.

Rose besides pointed to issues wherever larger Reddit communities tin go trademarked — thing that prevented nan laminitis of nan r/WallStreetBets subreddit from penning a book utilizing nan sanction of nan organization they had created.

“If anything, we should beryllium much akin to Substack aliases Patreon, aliases immoderate others that are really giving you overmuch much power of your community,” he said.