Reddit Is Raising Funds at a Valuation of $1.7B • Hacker News Board

Re: Reddit Is Raising Funds at a Valuation of $1.7B

#101

Post by G30401 » Sat, Jun 17, 2017, 4:34 AM UTC

37 wrote: post #99

jknoepfler wrote: post #89

I stopped using reddit when they put a "USE OUR MOBILE APP OR DIE" message that cannot be closed conveniently on their mobile page. There is no possible advantage that can accrue to me by giving them app-level access to my device rather than running in my browser, which I trust far more than I trust them. They are literally a dynamic, partitioned page-ranking system, why in the heck would I ever let that escape the b…

I sort of believe that the push to mobile is to utilize technologies like GPS, and for tracking purposes / more information points. To get to know the [s]customer[/s] mark better than they know themself. Also, the ISPs may help this push since mobile data is more costly to the consumer than regular ethernet cable type data. wired > wifi /takes off tinfoil hat

Well... why would I need them to "serve" me content. When I am supposed to subscribe to what I want?

Re: Reddit Is Raising Funds at a Valuation of $1.7B

#102

Post by makecheck » Sat, Jun 17, 2017, 4:37 AM UTC

It seems like Reddit would be a good candidate for experimenting with tiny fees: namely, $12 per year just to use it. That’s one (moderately priced) lunch in total, a dollar a month, for a site that provides a huge amount of content and discussion or just distraction. Far less than one crappy movie in a theater, too. And if everyone paid this, they’d have tons of cash.

Re: Reddit Is Raising Funds at a Valuation of $1.7B

#103

Post by yskchu » Sat, Jun 17, 2017, 4:37 AM UTC

jknoepfler wrote: post #89

I stopped using reddit when they put a "USE OUR MOBILE APP OR DIE" message that cannot be closed conveniently on their mobile page. There is no possible advantage that can accrue to me by giving them app-level access to my device rather than running in my browser, which I trust far more than I trust them. They are literally a dynamic, partitioned page-ranking system, why in the heck would I ever let that escape the b…

The workaround I use is appending "/.compact" to the url, it shows the old mobile format. It still works fine for all pages/comments.

But yes, I find this highly annoying also.

Re: Reddit Is Raising Funds at a Valuation of $1.7B

#104

Post by dredmorbius » Sat, Jun 17, 2017, 4:37 AM UTC

jordache wrote: post #26

GSimon wrote: post #9

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Too busy working on April Fools day material: https://redditblog.com/2017/04/13/how-we-built-rplace/

I don't get the need for all these tech companies to prove their "wit" by trying to out do each other on 4/1. Then the tech blogs all rush to cover the various 4/1 "jokes"

Creative people like creative outlets.

Creative outlets that you can share with others are also rewarding.

Re: Reddit Is Raising Funds at a Valuation of $1.7B

#105

Post by circadiam » Sat, Jun 17, 2017, 4:38 AM UTC

jknoepfler wrote: post #89

I stopped using reddit when they put a "USE OUR MOBILE APP OR DIE" message that cannot be closed conveniently on their mobile page. There is no possible advantage that can accrue to me by giving them app-level access to my device rather than running in my browser, which I trust far more than I trust them. They are literally a dynamic, partitioned page-ranking system, why in the heck would I ever let that escape the b…

This is the most neckbeard, privacy-obsessed comment of the thread. Can’t tell if trolling or actually serious.

Re: Reddit Is Raising Funds at a Valuation of $1.7B

#106

Post by BEEdwards » Sat, Jun 17, 2017, 4:38 AM UTC

ben_jones wrote: post #24

FullMtlAlcoholc wrote: post #13

Earlier quoted context omitted.

With the immense and demographically diverse userbase, I imagine keeping the site running smoothly and user analytics is their chief focus. Their strategy probably is to introduce changes slowly so as not to alienate or confuse people (I'm looking at you Facebook). Also, they expose their data via an API that developers have used to make all sorts of features, giving them the luxury of being able to basically test fe…

Isn't the modern approach to that problem simply limiting new features to a subset of users then analyzing the result and deciding whether or not to release it to the full user base? As a heavy user of Reddit there is an argument to be made that it is (mostly) feature complete to the average user, and they have certainly made significant strides in scalability (though not without a decade of hiccups). I'd really like…

RES kind of disproves the feature completeness theory though, most of the features in RES should just be default features.

https://redditenhancementsuite.com/

Re: Reddit Is Raising Funds at a Valuation of $1.7B

#107

Post by nso » Sat, Jun 17, 2017, 4:39 AM UTC

makecheck wrote: post #102

It seems like Reddit would be a good candidate for experimenting with tiny fees: namely, $12 per year just to use it. That’s one (moderately priced) lunch in total, a dollar a month, for a site that provides a huge amount of content and discussion or just distraction. Far less than one crappy movie in a theater, too. And if everyone paid this, they’d have tons of cash.

You'd probably be suprised to learn that for large chunks of reddits demographics 12 USD is a large sum of money.

Re: Reddit Is Raising Funds at a Valuation of $1.7B

#108

Post by erikpukinskis » Sat, Jun 17, 2017, 4:43 AM UTC

intruder wrote: post #91

jknoepfler wrote: post #89

I stopped using reddit when they put a "USE OUR MOBILE APP OR DIE" message that cannot be closed conveniently on their mobile page. There is no possible advantage that can accrue to me by giving them app-level access to my device rather than running in my browser, which I trust far more than I trust them. They are literally a dynamic, partitioned page-ranking system, why in the heck would I ever let that escape the b…

OT: but I feel the same about imgur. You can't use their mobile site to upload pictures anymore. You have to request the desktop site or install their app.

Yelp also. They put up bizarre barriers, like you can't view the 11th photo in a gallery without installing the app, can't read specific reviews, etc.

It has bred surprising resentment in me! I'm plotting a Yelp killer in the back of my mind now.

Re: Reddit Is Raising Funds at a Valuation of $1.7B

#109

Post by dredmorbius » Sat, Jun 17, 2017, 4:43 AM UTC

_uhtu wrote: post #40

hitekker wrote: post #38

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Three factors. 1. Reddit's internecine subreddit wars required constant admin intervention and mediation. Reddit only has so many hands on deck, so more of than not, they pulled engineers in to help moderate.[1] 2. Reddit is unprofitable, so they have trouble affording top talent. [2] 3. Finally, Reddit's vision for the future has been hazy for the last decade. If the navigators can't chart a course, all the rowing i…

1. This doesn't require developer talent, or any real expense at all, social media marketing interns will do the job at barely any cost. 2. They've had plenty of money from investments though, their dev team is reasonably sized. 3. This one seems pretty accurate.

Abuse, like everything else, changes at scale.

There's only so much moderation a single person can handle in a day. The NY Times moderation team posted some stats a ways back, it worked out to about 800 items/person/day. Which, in an 8-hour day works out to an item every 35 seconds. Sustained. Throughout the entire day.

Techs can leverage patterns, even if it means a lot of ad hoc code.

Building training systems is even better.

Considering what Reddit's been through in the past couple of years by way of direct information attacks (even not counting any systems-level attacks), involving coloured tablets and giant orange peaches, I don't find the story that dev time has been accounted for particularly unreasonable.

Re: Reddit Is Raising Funds at a Valuation of $1.7B

#110

Post by kermittd » Sat, Jun 17, 2017, 4:44 AM UTC

jknoepfler wrote: post #89

I stopped using reddit when they put a "USE OUR MOBILE APP OR DIE" message that cannot be closed conveniently on their mobile page. There is no possible advantage that can accrue to me by giving them app-level access to my device rather than running in my browser, which I trust far more than I trust them. They are literally a dynamic, partitioned page-ranking system, why in the heck would I ever let that escape the b…

Noticed as well a while back. It is super annoying but they got me anyway. I downloaded the app but use the browser still about 50% of the time.