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Reddit CEO tells employees that subreddit blackout ‘will pass’

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Re: Reddit CEO tells employees that subreddit blackout ‘will pass’

#81

Post by EA-3167 »

seanosaur wrote: post #59
EA-3167 wrote: post #16

Earlier quoted context omitted.

From Reddit's perspective overall this is a terrible idea, but from Huffman's perspective it's purely rational. If he has to walk this back it's probably not compatible with his continued tenure after all, the question of why this was done so hastily and rudely would inevitably undermine his leadership. If he just barrels ahead though, and prays that the addictions of mods and users are greater than their pride/desir…

> he can't realistically get rid of the mods and replace them, then expect that to not blow up in his face I'm not so sure about that. I would be very surprised if there was a high % of redditors that know / care about the mods or mod system. This could be the cynic in me but I bet he could eject all the mods tomorrow, replace them with more faceless accounts, and the vast majority of reddit's userbase would not see…

I don't think the problem with ditching the existing mods for new ones has much to do with how users would perceive the shift. You have to ask how the hell Reddit would vet that number of replacements in any way, how they'd find the required number of able replacements, and not just people who would (through incompetence or malice) run things into the ground. That's doubly true for the mega-subs which genuinely require a LOT of constant moderation, specialized automated tools, and so on.

That doesn't seem like a feasible path to me, and I think if it was remotely possible it would have already happened. The only way it COULD work is to get rid of the volunteer mod system and replace it with paid mods... and I don't think Reddit has the funds for that.

Re: Reddit CEO tells employees that subreddit blackout ‘will pass’

#83

Post by oxygen_crisis »

98codes wrote: post #46
TheFreim wrote: post #9

If the blackout is only for two days then they're right, but if they continue indefinitely it could force a change (reddit is currently unusable since all but one sub I enjoy is gone, if it was gone indefinitely then reddit would be indefinitely out of the picture for me).

The only thing they care about is bottom line, and this, "Huffman says the blackout hasn’t had “significant revenue impact”," is key. To lose 95.8% of your site (judged by the 8467 out of 8838 subreddits gone dark) and not have a revenue impact at all raises some questions, primarily if there are any revenue streams based on usage, or only on monthly subscriptions and non-view-based ad contracts?

> To lose 95.8% of your site (judged by the 8467 out of 8838 subreddits gone dark)

That's out of the 8838 that made a pledge to go dark. Those ~400 are just the ones that went "restricted" (read-only) instead of private, or flaked on the pledge.

There are over a million subreddits, the blackout doesn't even reach one percent of them.

Re: Reddit CEO tells employees that subreddit blackout ‘will pass’

#84

Post by thegreatdukd »

adrr wrote: post #36
TheFreim wrote: post #9

If the blackout is only for two days then they're right, but if they continue indefinitely it could force a change (reddit is currently unusable since all but one sub I enjoy is gone, if it was gone indefinitely then reddit would be indefinitely out of the picture for me).

They’ll just replace the mods if the popular subreddits go longer than 2 days.

Cheering for them to do that for r/nba already. Mods blacked out the sub on the last day of the NBA finals. Zero common sense.

Re: Reddit CEO tells employees that subreddit blackout ‘will pass’

#85

Post by ehutch79 »

TheFreim wrote: post #9

If the blackout is only for two days then they're right, but if they continue indefinitely it could force a change (reddit is currently unusable since all but one sub I enjoy is gone, if it was gone indefinitely then reddit would be indefinitely out of the picture for me).

It'll only be for two days. Which means it's exactly as effective as gas boycotts.

Re: Reddit CEO tells employees that subreddit blackout ‘will pass’

#87

Post by MuffinFlavored »

nequo wrote: post #77
MuffinFlavored wrote: post #62

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> If the blackout is only for two days then they're right Yeah... I don't know the tradeoffs at play but 2 days is... extremely insignificant / probably a bad decision by all of the moderators? It sends a message sure but, it's a bunch of "whiny reddit mods" versus C-level executives in a "help us make API more affordable versus help us not lose a ton of money offering generous free API hosting/usage" negotiation. Ho…

What the 2 day blackout does is it nudges people to explore alternatives. With this, Reddit management has lowered the barriers to exit. When the next boycott comes, migration for many subreddits will be easier.

> What the 2 day blackout does is it nudges people to explore alternatives

I don't think 2 days is significant enough for that slash I don't think an alternative to reddit exists given the fact that it has millions of users and millions of different niche subreddits

Re: Reddit CEO tells employees that subreddit blackout ‘will pass’

#88

Post by xyst »

Reddit CEO's fragile ego was hurt during the AMA and his personal account was downvoted into oblivion. All he had to do was keep his mouth shut and tank a couple of news cycles of bad press.

This 2 day moratorium is now much more likely to become a multi-week protest/blackout. Reddit board should look at issuing a "no confidence" vote on this guy.

Re: Reddit CEO tells employees that subreddit blackout ‘will pass’

#89

Post by mr_00ff00 »

mrits wrote: post #54
mr_00ff00 wrote: post #32

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The irony of organizing a blackout to teach Reddit a lesson while organizing it on a subreddit.

It isn't irony at all. Reddit gets almost zero revenue from the sub organizing it. People aren't protesting Reddit in general, but a policy of reddit.

It’s not about revenue. As people have mentioned already, the CEO said the blackout has had almost no revenue impact.

it’s funny to create a protest and hoping for change by showing Reddit that the community can walk away…and then using reddit to organize it.

You are basically showing you can’t think of any good alternatives to organizing or chatting with people. So you will continue to use Reddit, even during a protest specifically about not using reddit.

“we will leave you if you treat us badly” and then also “I have to use your product cause I can’t find anything else.” Doesn’t work well together.

Re: Reddit CEO tells employees that subreddit blackout ‘will pass’

#90

Post by jamcrimer »

nequo wrote: post #77
MuffinFlavored wrote: post #62

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> If the blackout is only for two days then they're right Yeah... I don't know the tradeoffs at play but 2 days is... extremely insignificant / probably a bad decision by all of the moderators? It sends a message sure but, it's a bunch of "whiny reddit mods" versus C-level executives in a "help us make API more affordable versus help us not lose a ton of money offering generous free API hosting/usage" negotiation. Ho…

What the 2 day blackout does is it nudges people to explore alternatives. With this, Reddit management has lowered the barriers to exit. When the next boycott comes, migration for many subreddits will be easier.

but we're already commenting on the only good reddit alternative... :)
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