Digg founder steps back to launch new startup

Digg founder Kevin Rose has resigned from the powerhouse link-sharing and social networking site to launch a new, $1 million startup company, reports TechCrunch.

Rose founded Digg in December 2004, and has gradually faded into the background of the site. While Digg came close to being sold to Google for $200 million in 2008, the deal fell through, and site numbers have been dropped. Since Digg's relaunch in August 2010, the site has gone from 18 million users to 12 million, a 33 percent drop in traffic in a matter of months.

Thursday night, TechCrunch published an article headlined "Not Even Kevin Rose Really Uses Digg Anymore, saying that there were periods as long as a month where the site's founder didn't digg or submit a single story.

Rose responded with a tweet: @arrington @techcrunch I think you forgot we shoot a weekly podcast about digg stories..

Rose also denies he is completely leaving Digg, though he did say on Twitter that there would be more about his "new project" soon.

"Wow, tons of questions - I'll continue advising Digg / on the board of directors, & taping Diggnation (as i have been since @mwdigg joined)," he tweeted.

In a very meta turn of events, TechCrunch's story about Rose's digg departure has already found coveted front-page space on digg itself.