1. Bots & AI‑generated spam are destroying trust
“The bot problem is serious right now.” – jjcm
“We really need some way to ‘verify as human’ in the next coming years.” – georgemcbay
“The dead internet theory… is probably not just a theory anymore.” – deanc
2. Digg’s abrupt shutdown and lack of communication alienated users
“Now it's gone, again. Without a head's up or a way to get a backup out of it, it seems like.” – MildlySerious
“They could have at least put it in read‑only mode for a short time and allowed downloading of extant community content.” – calmbonsai
“They just went public in Jan. Building it back up was going to take years.” – softwaredoug
3. The future of online communities hinges on verified identity / human curation
“Only sites which verify identity will have any value in the future.” – b112
“The age of the anonymous internet is over, it's done.” – b112
“If it truly is bots, maybe a private invite‑only social network is the way to go.” – tannhaeuser
4. Existing platforms (Reddit, Lemmy, etc.) are also failing moderation, but users still compare them to Digg
“Lemmy has the same energy as ice: a bunch of rejects from other mod communities.” – joeross
“Reddit can't even manage to regularly identify and ban bots that copy previously popular posts/comments verbatim.” – sunaookami
“The new Digg was just Reddit with the exact same type of comments you can find there.” – sunaookami
These four threads capture the bulk of the discussion: the bot crisis, Digg’s mishandled relaunch, the push for identity‑based platforms, and the broader comparison to other social sites.