Christian Selig, the iOS developer behind Apollo, one of the most popular third-party Reddit clients, has some pretty amazing news. He’s an advisor at the newly re-imagined Digg! This transition comes on the heels of major backlash over Reddit’s spike in API costs earlier in 2023. The changes have had an outsized negative impact on independent developers and their applications.
Selig played a key role in the backlash against Reddit’s decision to hike API prices, which many viewed as a detrimental move for third-party applications. It was his app Apollo that users particularly loved, and largely for the ways it improved the Reddit browsing experience. Thanks to the new pricing structure, it is now facing tough financial straits. In a viral Reddit post, Selig revealed that maintaining Apollo under the new API pricing would cost him approximately $1.7 million per month. This jaw-dropping number served as a reminder to everyone of the struggle that independent developers have in keeping their apps alive with constant-on platform policy shifts.
For his exciting new role at Digg, Selig comes with the perfect mixture of timing, experience and expertise to lead Digg’s editorial direction. He received a Bachelor of Arts degree in English from the University of Pennsylvania. Prior to these roles, he served as a Princeton in Asia Fellow in Laos. His software development background and his international perspective are sure to help shape Digg’s future vision growing even stronger.
Justin Mezzell, a spokesperson for Digg, confirmed that,
“I simply won’t comment on that. We’re charting our own course here at Digg.”
That’s a positive sign and shows that Digg understands the long and strategic road ahead of finding their own identity and mission in the competitive digital ecosystem.
Selig’s decision to leave Reddit for Digg represents a watershed moment for him and the company. As he navigates this new chapter, industry observers will be keenly watching how his insights and experiences shape Digg’s evolution.
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