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Reddit is still in turmoil

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Re: Reddit is still in turmoil

#101
post #98

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> On Reddit you can't even place an add on a specific subreddit if it's not one of the big ones. Would someone please confirm this? If true, wow.

I just tried to place an ad for /r/pics and /r/gaming and had no problem getting to "pending ad approval" EDIT: I'm an idiot.

those are big ones

Re: Reddit is still in turmoil

#102
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…

[deleted]

Re: Reddit is still in turmoil

#103
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…

I see why they want to create their own curated content. A friend of mine has created and run several user-generated content sites and he said: "user generated content is worthless; largely racism and porn." It's driven by the lowest common denominator. As long as content is hosted on company-controlled servers where ad revenue is the model for survival, you're going to see slow declines and eventual busts like Digg.…

So, Usenet?

Re: Reddit is still in turmoil

#104

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…

Reddit's main problem is that they spent years building their user base as a site to find 'jailbait' porn (it was by far the largest search result that brought people to Reddit for a long time).

That created a toxic culture, which allowed stormfront and similar groups to use it as a recruitment ground for racists.

Reddit still refuses to do anything about it. The 'quarantined' a bunch of truly vile subreddits but all that does is give them a place where they can coordinate brigades of the public subs out of view.

Re: Reddit is still in turmoil

#105

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 g…

> 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

Why on Earth would you go to the Reddit frontpage? I stopped doing that like four years ago. Why not just create a Reddit account and avoid seeing the default subs on your frontpage? Reddit Gold has just about nothing to do with that.

Re: Reddit is still in turmoil

#106

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I see why they want to create their own curated content. A friend of mine has created and run several user-generated content sites and he said: "user generated content is worthless; largely racism and porn." It's driven by the lowest common denominator. As long as content is hosted on company-controlled servers where ad revenue is the model for survival, you're going to see slow declines and eventual busts like Digg.…

So, Usenet?

Yes, but for tech-illiterate millennials. Usenet has to be wrapped in various interfaces to make it usable/searchable, and usually shitty VPNs are hawked as add-on to help you avoid your ISP sending you nastygrams for downloading all of Sex and the City or whatever Marvel superhero movie is the current rage.

Re: Reddit is still in turmoil

#107
post #96

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> The mistake was ever allowing that kind of freedom in the first place, because people developed an expectation that it would persist. Sure, and then we wouldn't be talking about reddit but rather whatever site was actually free at the time. The only reason web forums exist is because people are lazy about adopting decentralized Free software. Yet the owners of these centralized services, as well as paternalistic sp…

> The only reason web forums exist is because people are lazy about adopting decentralized Free software Or because that open-source software is user-hostile and has no serious argument for its use for 99% of people. When users don't do something you like, in almost every instance it's your failing rather than theirs.

Probably because it's free software. "Beggars can't be choosers"

There are very few open software engineers who like improving UX. Since it's free you have to like it to do it, so I don't know if this will ever change.

Re: Reddit is still in turmoil

#108
post #18

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think the biggest problem with it in general was how it greatly relied upon moderators of the individual subreddits. This inherently creates problems as they have to rely upon many individuals who have very different ideas and goals from the Reddit staff, both in terms of monetization and in moderation. It is inherent in social media, the more stuff you allow on your platform, the less able you are to generate reve…

It is an interesting idea that it is the censoring that makes Facebook profitable, but I'm not sure that I agree with it. I would say that the "made a platform that is much more easily advertised upon" is the important part, combined with the massive data-gathering so the ads can be targeted better.

Well I guess I should say that a part of the design is self censoring, as what one says with anonymity is varying ranges of difference from that which one says when they are sharing it with all of their friends and family.

Re: Reddit is still in turmoil

#109
post #96

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> The only reason web forums exist is because people are lazy about adopting decentralized Free software Or because that open-source software is user-hostile and has no serious argument for its use for 99% of people. When users don't do something you like, in almost every instance it's your failing rather than theirs.

Probably because it's free software. "Beggars can't be choosers" There are very few open software engineers who like improving UX. Since it's free you have to like it to do it, so I don't know if this will ever change.

I fully agree with you. Damning the plebs for not being enlightened enough to use stuff that, if we're being real here, is worse by the metrics actual people use to decide what they're gonna use--that way leads to a really gross, insular mindset that doesn't help anybody.

Re: Reddit is still in turmoil

#110

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Or just provide better targeted advertising... On Facebook you can advertise to people based on demographics, interests, behavior, etc. On Reddit you can't even place an add on a specific subreddit if it's not one of the big ones.

> On Reddit you can't even place an add on a specific subreddit if it's not one of the big ones. Would someone please confirm this? If true, wow.

This is incorrect. I have placed ads on /r/postmates, which is a small subreddit. You can't target some of the really tiny ones because they lack volume. I think it also "remembers" which subreddits you've visits, and also uses that to target.

That said their ad targeting system is quite bad in other ways.

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