Apollo Reddit Dev Joins Digg as Advisor

Apollo Developer Joins Digg as Advisor

Christian Selig, the iOS developer responsible for the popular third-party Reddit client Apollo, has accepted a position as an advisor with the newly revamped Digg platform.

Digg's Revitalization and Key Players

Earlier this year, Digg’s original founder, Kevin Rose, and Reddit co-founder, Alexis Ohanian, completed the acquisition of Digg’s remaining assets. Their goal is to restore Digg to its former prominence as a leading online destination.

The pairing of Rose and Ohanian is noteworthy, as they were previously considered rivals. Digg and Reddit were once direct competitors in the social news aggregation space.

Signaling a Shift with Selig's Addition

The inclusion of Selig on the Digg team strongly indicates a desire to innovate and disrupt the current social media landscape.

The Apollo Shutdown and API Pricing

Selig was a vocal critic of Reddit’s 2023 API pricing changes. These changes rendered free, third-party apps like Apollo unsustainable due to the prohibitive costs.

Selig publicly revealed that maintaining Apollo under the new API pricing structure would require approximately $1.7 million in monthly payments. Consequently, Apollo was forced to cease operations, causing significant disappointment within the Reddit community.

Digg's Vision and Community Focus

“We’re excited to have Selig bring that same craft and community-first thinking to Digg, helping us build something that feels good to use and even better to be a part of,” stated Justin Mezzell, Digg’s CEO.

Reclaiming the Social Internet Experience

Digg aims to recapture the enjoyment previously found in social internet interactions. Currently, many feeds are dominated by AI-generated content and low-quality posts.

However, Digg is not yet fully accessible to the public. An early-access program, called “Groundbreakers,” is currently underway.

Groundbreakers Program and Bot Mitigation

The “Groundbreakers” program requires a one-time $5 fee to deter automated bots. All proceeds from this program will be donated to nonprofit organizations selected by the Digg community.

A Subtle Nod to Reddit's Challenges

Mezzell offered a playful comment regarding the API controversy at Reddit. “I simply won’t comment on that. We’re charting our own course here at Digg,” he said. He then added, “But if I did comment, I would probably say ‘[redact] me sideways, what a fumble.’ But that would only be if I did say something publicly.”