Having to read the article before commenting

Digg has a real opportunity to set itself apart from Reddit by addressing one of the biggest problems on social media: people leaving comments on articles they never actually read. It happens constantly. Users click straight into the comments, skip the article entirely, and then give an opinion based on nothing but a headline or someone else’s reaction. We’ve all done it, but it leads to endless low-effort, low-value discussion.

The fix doesn’t mean blocking access to comments. People should still be able to read the comment section first if they want to. The difference is that they shouldn’t be able to post a comment until they’ve actually opened the article. Even something simple like requiring 30–60 seconds on the page would help. Ideally, there would also be a basic in-browser check that confirms they scrolled, just so there’s proof they interacted with the content and didn’t immediately close it.

Digg already has a TL;DR feature, which is great because it gives people the gist without forcing them to read a long article. But adding this extra step would go further. It would filter out the people who aren’t even willing to look at the content they’re responding to. Sure, some users might complain or comment less but that’s entirely the point. If someone can’t spend even a minute skimming the article, their comment likely isn’t adding much anyway.

Most articles only take a few minutes to read. A small requirement like this would dramatically cut down on uninformed responses, reduce the usual “brain rot,” and improve the quality of discussion across the platform. It rewards the people who actually read, and discourages the ones who just react.