For its 2009 April Fools’ redesign, Reddit imitated the rival site Digg.
Reddit changed its layout to resemble Digg and temporarily rebranded itself “Reddigg.” The joke worked because Digg was a major competitor in social news at the time: both services let users submit links and vote on stories, helping popular items rise toward the front page.
The prank also captured a real rivalry between the two communities. Digg had launched in 2004 and became a prominent link-ranking site, while Reddit was building its own audience around a similar user-driven model. Their visual and cultural competition made Digg a recognizable target for Reddit’s April 1 imitation.
A common mix-up is to reverse the direction of the joke or connect it with the later Digg redesign controversy. In 2010, Digg’s poorly received version 4 redesign contributed to a mass migration of users toward Reddit. That later event helped cement Reddit’s reputation as Digg’s successor, but it was not the 2009 April Fools’ gag itself. The 2009 prank specifically copied Digg’s appearance and used the name Reddigg.