Once the users realised they had little sway in getting a post to the front page they left.
The only reason they left was because there was an alternative - reddit. If reddit wasn't around, digg would have a captive audience and they would be as big as reddit today. Reddit now has the same problem with power users + corporate/news/think tank/political party affiliated subreddit mods with heavy censorship. Fortunately for reddit, there really is no alternative. Also the same thing with youtube. People complain about censorship and mainstream corporate nonsense being peddled on reddit, youtube, etc, but they have nowhere to go.
If digg had waited a few years til reddit folded or they had a secure monopolistic position, they would be relevant today. Digg made the same mistake myspace did, piss off their users with a viable competitor around. And once the migration started, it was over.
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The only reason they left was because there was an alternative - reddit. If reddit wasn't around, digg would have a captive audience and they would be as big as reddit today. Reddit now has the same problem with power users + corporate/news/think tank/political party affiliated subreddit mods with heavy censorship. Fortunately for reddit, there really is no alternative. Also the same thing with youtube. People complain about censorship and mainstream corporate nonsense being peddled on reddit, youtube, etc, but they have nowhere to go.
If digg had waited a few years til reddit folded or they had a secure monopolistic position, they would be relevant today. Digg made the same mistake myspace did, piss off their users with a viable competitor around. And once the migration started, it was over.