I didn't mind the sexism, but did mind the leftism. Another person might not mind the sexism or the leftism but might be turned off by the geekiness. Digg merely managed to box itself into a small demographic (young male leftist atheist geeks), such that anyone who wasn't in that demographic would take a quick look, get turned off, and go elsewhere.

It's not a general indictment of democracy, but it does prove that there can never be such a thing as a general-interest social news site. The future is nichey.