SocialCode, a subsidiary of The Washington Post, has hired several members of the Digg engineering team. Rumors emerged in late April hinting at the hirings and the company now says it's "excited to have this exceptional team of developers join SocialCode." Alan Lippman will join as Chief Scientist and Will Larson takes on a Director of Engineering role. SocialCode says "additional members" of Digg's engineering team will also join as developers too.

SocialCode has not acquired the Digg.com domain name, service, or technology, but the talent acquisition will likely raise questions about the future of Digg. Previous rumors suggested that the company is looking to take advantage of Digg's Social Reader Facebook app, but SocialCode isn't commenting on its exact plans. The company says the move marks the "first of many planned" ones to focus on performance-based marketing on Facebook and Twitter.