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Reddit is still in turmoil

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Re: Reddit is still in turmoil

#51

Post by jsprogrammer »

minimaxir wrote: post #48
jsprogrammer wrote: post #35

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Do you know where I can find the announcement of the death of the pledge and analysis of how it likely violated SEC rules? I believe Y Combinator was the force behind the pledge, why would they push for and publicly announce something that they couldn't do?

There is no announcement of the death, but the project was under Wong and the blockchain engineer with him, so issue is moot. You are correct Y Combinator is behind the pledge ( http://www.recode.net/2014/9/30/11631424/reddit-raises-50m-p... ), but it was only a plan. Plans fail.

The project was under Sam Altman [0], lead investor of the raise: https://www.reddit.com/r/IAmA/comments/2hwr02/i_am_sam_altma...

[0] http://www.redditblog.com/2014/09/fundraising-for-reddit.htm...

Re: Reddit is still in turmoil

#52

Post by 1_listerine_pls »

jeiting wrote: post #31

Since Alexis and Huffman returned I've seen more happen with the brand than in the several years preceding. I don't know who made their mobile app but it is damn good. I resisted at first but am now using it as my primary means for consuming content on Reddit.

They bought it.

Re: Reddit is still in turmoil

#53

Post by thekevan »

My use of reddit is way own. I'm tired of going to the front page and seeing so many submissions about things I don't care about like multiple video games, dumb inside jokes like r/circlejerk or all those repetitive links about Trump or Sanders.

I know I can buy gold and customize the front page, but I am a little hesitant to pay money to make the front page not suck. I have ads turned on in my adblocker so they do get ad revenue from me, I'm not totally freeloading Also, there is a limitation to the number of subreddits you can exclude. That is the nail in the coffin right there for me buying gold.

Finally, I'm not impressed with some of the censorship and social policies they have and don't really want to support a business who seems to have either questionable or widely varying policies on things.

The result, I check it maybe once a day, down from several times a day.

Re: Reddit is still in turmoil

#54

Post by caf »

olegious wrote: post #28
LA_Banker wrote: post #7

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's not. Reddit could easily sell targeted ads based on subreddits (e.g. inking a deal with Uniqlo to advertise on /r/malefashionadvice or /r/femalefashionadvice). It chooses to pursue other monetization means to preserve the Reddit experience. We'll see if it's able to stumble onto another sustainable business model.

The problem is most high quality advertisers don't want to have their brand promoted along side user generated content. So while Reddit has a ton of traffic, much of that traffic is worthless to the most desirable advertisers.

Isn't that exactly Facebook's business model?

Re: Reddit is still in turmoil

#55

Post by skeletonjelly »

jsprogrammer wrote: post #35
minimaxir wrote: post #22

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That 10% pledge died when "Reddit Coin" died. (And it likely violated SEC rules anyways)

Do you know where I can find the announcement of the death of the pledge and analysis of how it likely violated SEC rules? I believe Y Combinator was the force behind the pledge, why would they push for and publicly announce something that they couldn't do?

> where I can find the announcement of the death of the pledge

The guy who was hired to make it has since left many months ago. Nail in the coffin effectively, they wouldn't announce the death of something they never got off the ground. Just silently brush the remains under the rug.

Edit: Found the article I was thinking of

https://ryanxcharlestimes.com/fix-reddit-with-bitcoin-7da3f8...

> Yishan would resign a month or so later due to exhaustion, and new leadership took over the company who set out a new direction that didn’t involve any of the work I was doing. The cryptoequity project was shelved, and decentralizing reddit indefinitely delayed. I was laid off after being at the company for only four months.

Re: Reddit is still in turmoil

#56

Post by thenadamgoes »

bane wrote: post #39

Why the hell is Reddit trying to make their own content when the entire point of the site is for the users to create the content? Don't make a Reddit podcast, make Reddit a podcast hosting network. Don't make a Reddit video show, make Reddit a video hosting site. Don't make a Reddit magazine, make Reddit a source for anybody to publish their own magazines. Why does Reddit have writers and editors and creative directo…

It's because everyone wants into the content creation game.

It's odd because Youtube, Netflix, Amazon, and Hulu did it because it's about the same cost as paying the content creators. And then they own it.

Reddit is already getting their content for free. They should really just focus on improving community features.

Re: Reddit is still in turmoil

#57

Post by minimaxir »

kickme444 wrote: post #36
twblalock wrote: post #6

I think much of Reddit's problems with its userbase boil down to an early failure to manage expectations. It's pretty clear that the Reddit corporation doesn't want Reddit to be an anything-goes, absolute free speech zone with no moderation or anti-harassment policies -- but that's what the site actually was for many years. Now, when the company cracks down, users think their freedoms are being curtailed. The mistake…

I have a thesis that is basically identical to yours about unmanaged expectations and community being the main root of the problem that reddit/twitter/etc are facing, which is part of the reason why we started Imzy https://www.imzy.com/imzy We got some press early on that really told an untrue narrative of what we are trying to do, but we've made a ton of progress in a few months of our private beta and our communiti…

Self-promotion aside, you should disclose that you are ex-Reddit.

Re: Reddit is still in turmoil

#58

Post by na85 »

minimaxir wrote: post #5

Reddit, from a business perspective, baffles me. During the Yishan Wong/Ellen Pao era, we had Reddit-Made and Reddit TV, both of which bombed especially. Under Alexis Ohanian, we had Upvoted and Formative which as the article notes were killed silently. Reddit released a native app and an image host years too late. (I just checked the data and it is not killing Imgur: Reddit image usage was 18% in the top image subre…

Pao is thoroughly an MBA-type. Business schools teach that the way to wealth is to start a startup and have it acquired. Or, failing that, work your way into a nascent startup and get bought out. Every post from her that I saw simply oozed business-school sleaze. Pao's discourse was more appropriate for the boardroom than for the embodiment of alt-media that is Reddit. Gratingly so, and Yishan to a lesser extent. I honestly think they both were simply too "corporate" to succeed in an environment that resents big interests.

There simply hasn't been someone with vision and the skills to deliver at the helm.

Frankly I think it's because anyone competent is wise enough not to touch Reddit with a 10-foot pole.

Re: Reddit is still in turmoil

#59

Post by lenish »

grandalf wrote: post #15

Why does Reddit have to become a media empire? The formula for doing that is pretty well-known by this point: We'll see a ban on throwaway accounts and a push for real names, then a ban on third party URL shorteners, then interruption ads, and finally some sort of paywall. Reddit is a useful piece of internet infrastructure, and I'd be pleased if it would stay that way. It doesn't need to become its own media empire…

> opt-in home pages that are tailored at specific audiences. The standard one is pretty low quality.

How is that distinct from multireddits?

> more detection/policing of voting rings and vote fraud in general

One thing that'd help with this is better mod tooling for detecting when it's happening on a reddit you mod.

Re: Reddit is still in turmoil

#60

Post by Mahn »

bane wrote: post #39

Why the hell is Reddit trying to make their own content when the entire point of the site is for the users to create the content? Don't make a Reddit podcast, make Reddit a podcast hosting network. Don't make a Reddit video show, make Reddit a video hosting site. Don't make a Reddit magazine, make Reddit a source for anybody to publish their own magazines. Why does Reddit have writers and editors and creative directo…

Right on the nail. To me personally, the moves Reddit has been doing the past couple years read as if they don't know exactly what Reddit should be or what they want it to be. I imagine it's not easy, Reddit is massive and somehow not quite killing it, but somehow it feels like there's a strange lack of focus.
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