Are social platforms doomed to be overrun by bots?
And is the dead internet theory already inevitable?
We don't think so.
Discourse CEO Hawk explains why.
https://blog.discourse.org/2026/05/the-digg-lesson-why-moderation-infrastructure-matters/
The Digg Lesson: Why Moderation Infrastructure Matters
Digg was a platform many of us loved, and we were excited to see its return - and it’s easy to see its second downfall as the result of an Internet Gone Bad. But that implies social platforms are doomed. And at Discourse, we don’t believe that’s the case.
This is the real-world experience of the AI translation feature we shipped in 2025…
Exactly what it’s like to use Discourse in another language.
https://blog.discourse.org/2026/05/what-its-actually-like-to-use-discourse-in-another-language/
What It's Actually Like to Use Discourse in Another Language
The real-world experience of the AI translation feature we shipped in 2025
6/6 These defaults come from how we run the Feature category on Meta and they're not law, so if the setup feels wrong for your community, tell us what's missing.
Full write-up with screenshots:
https://meta.discourse.org/t/easily-create-ideas-categories-using-the-topic-voting-plugin/399365
Easily create Ideas categories using the Topic Voting plugin
We’ve made it easier to create ideas / feature request type categories on Discourse! This update leverages our existing Discourse Topic Voting plugin, but simplifies the setup process and makes it easy to manage related settings during category creation. Note: On our hosting, Discourse Topic Voting is available on the Business or higher tiers. In this topic, we’ll review the major changes and share how you can start using this today. 🔬 What’s changed When creating a new category,...
5/6 It's experimental, so you opt in per site: Admin → Upcoming changes → "Enable idea category type setup." Flip it on and try it on a test category first.
4/6 There's also a new "Limit member votes" setting. Cap how many votes each person gets, or switch the limit off entirely. Some communities want scarcity because it forces people to pick their real favourites, others want a free-for-all, and both are fine.
3/6 Voting changes who gets heard. People who'd never write out a full feature request will click a vote, and product teams stop guessing at priorities because they can see what users want, and in what order.
2/6 When you create a new category on Discourse, there's now a dedicated "Ideas" type. Pick it, and we handle the Topic Voting plugin setup with working defaults, so you skip the plugin hunt and the 12-checkbox settings page.
1/6 Great feature ideas die in a few places: buried in chat, lost in support tickets, drowned out by whoever emails you most, or forgotten between planning meetings. We made it easier to stop that.
Episode 3 of the Discourse podcast!
We're talking to Richard Millington about community, psychology, brand and what it means to bring humans together...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CobPX1Sra0s
Richard Millington on Community
This week's case study - what started as a conventional points program now operates as a community-led experience that drives ongoing engagement, connection, and long-term value...
https://blog.discourse.org/2026/04/case-stuhow-we-gave-brand-loyalty-a-community/
Case Study: How We Gave Brand Loyalty a Community
A high-end lingerie brand found in malls across America needed a new loyalty program: a tiered system offering perks and rewards for increasing customer engagement
