As Propeller posted on its home page last week, the AOL-operated social news site will cease to operate as of October 1.

Originally created by AOL subsidiary Netscape to contend with the uber-popular Digg, Propeller failed to capture a sizeable share of the social news market. Similar to Digg, Propeller users vote content up or down; the most popular stories of the day are displayed on Propeller’s home page.

The shuttering of Propeller is just one sign that social news is losing ground. Even Digg has seen a 26 percent decline in visitors since the end of August, according to Hitwise.  Many place the blame of this considerable plunge in traffic to the Digg 4, a widely unpopular redesign that launched in August. Conversely, Reddit, arguably Digg’s closest rival, has experienced a boom in traffic. Reddit traffic has jumped 15 percent for Reddit since the launch of Digg 4.

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