[jolie]

One thing we're really wondering is whether the redesign will make the site more democratic and each person's finds more relevant to their friends... and if Digg has managed to do all that in a way that won't piss off/alienate the power users.

Thoughts?

[wanderboy]

I think Digg is at a stage now where power users are not only non-essential, but detrimental to its progress. If MrBabyMan stopped digging stories, those same stories would still find their way to the site - they often do, BEFORE he submits them.

Digg was at its best, IMO, when it focused only on the tech industry. Now that I can specify whose news I want to follow, I think any Digg user can create a niche Digg experience that harkens bark to that first version.

People are undervaluing what Digg is doing here - it's creating what I think is the best RSS reader available. Rather than subscribing to Mashable's RSS, TechCrunch's RSS and RWW's RSS, I have friends with similar taste adding content to "MY NEWS." Each one of these stories is something interesting enough to merit submission, whereas in a traditional RSS reader 1/10 of the TechCrunch posts would be one of those "Jason Calacanis: the Attention Whore" type of posts that Arrington publishes.

In short, Digg doesn't need power users, and its redesign is going to bring a lot of users back who liked the tech-centric Digg of old.

[andrewtj]

I don't think there's anything there that will make the site less shallow so the power users should still be quite at home.