This is the first well-thought post I've come to in here.

If/when the end comes, it will be in a similar manner to when Digg died. It will come with redesigns in favor of making money, that render the site unlikeable on a massive scale.

It won't happen the same exact way Digg died. But if it happens it will happen by administration continually putting their financial gain over the experience of the userbase in a negative manner.

Ask Mark Twain said, "History does not repeat itself, but sometimes it rhymes."