This is pretty hilarious, and dramatic at the same time. As digg is releasing it’s new categories and features in 3 weeks time, they will no longer have a (completely) seperate demographic from Netscape. Previously, Digg would have had it’s own Tech niche to stick to and do it well, however it is quite timely for them to be entering the current affairs style areas, which is an unknown area for them. With this introduction, and Netscape being re-jigged as a “Digg Killer”, the two are shaping up to collide straight on.

Personally, I think Digg is the current authority on Tech news, and this is almost certain to remain the same, but I have a feeling that the race will be a lot closer with other news areas, especially with users who currently do not use Digg religiously.

If you have ever used Digg, you have surely come across the comments and whining that annoy the crap out of everyone except those that write them. Bitching about Duplicate stories, calling someone a “Fanboy” or cutting-down Windows/Linux/Mac/Nintendo/Sony/Microsoft, can get quite grating. The mechanism exists for burying these comments, but they still exist on the comments page, and when a reply is related to one of them, still get opened and read.

A big factor in this competition (Although they both seem to claim they aren’t competing) will be how Netscape can handle these annoyances that exist on Digg, or whether they will be as big a factor. Netscape has had a chance to overcome some of Digg’s downfalls, and whether they learnt anything from these could prove to make the new site a success a success.
Digg

Beta of new Netscape Site

Read/WriteWeb: Netscape wears Digg’s clothing - but underneath it’s still a portal