Not only have Twitter and Facebook stolen Digg’s media buzz, they’ve now invaded founder Kevin Rose’s home turf. The Digg company blog has verified that the site no longer supports its Shout social-networking feature. Instead, Digg will let members use Facebook, Twitter and email to share stories posted to Digg’s website.

The little-used but often-exploited Shout was meant to encourage Digg users to interact with one another directly, rather than posting public comments. But for many it became a turn-off, filled with relentless self-promoters.

In some ways, Rose and company have thrown in the towel on growing Digg as huge as Facebook or Twitter. But they’ve also outsourced a feature that falls outside of Digg’s core competency of peer-voted content. It’s a smart split that lets Digg connect with Facebook and Twitter users, without bringing them yet another spam channel.

[Screenshot by Brent Csutoras]