Digg Version 3

So Digg v.3 officially launched this week. Hmm… I’ve got to admit I was expecting a bit more for this being the big 3.0 update. As predicted, the content covered on one of the internet’s favorite social news sites has been expanded to include news about not just technology, but also topics as diverse as science, business, and entertainment.

And while there are also a generous amount of well thought out refinements such a streamlined layout, easier login, and better sorting of stories, somehow I feel like Digg 3.0 is lacking… umph?

Now I’ll fully accept that I’m just being dense and haven’t found a way to do this, but shouldn’t we have the ability to setup custom story lists that we can filter as we desire: say, a list that covers only content about the Xbox 360 and the Wii. That’s the kind of precision guided content I thought was coming down the line, but regretfully all I can find are high level sorting options like “gaming news” and “programming”.

Being able to filter stories by a more specific topic is certainly helpful, yes, but that’s the type of functionality I’d like to afford the user, rather than setting up concrete options that don’t change. Still, the websmiths at 37 Signals do advocate releasing small feature upgrades often, so maybe Digg is onto something?

Regardless of the update feeling a little light, Digg 3.0 is a very well thought out upgrade that creates palpable benefits for the user: give it a look!