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RIF developer counters Reddit CEO’s claims

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Re: RIF developer counters Reddit CEO’s claims

#61

Post by Timon3 »

chii wrote: post #59
ummonk wrote: post #58

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The prices they're charging for API access are wildly disproportionate to the cost of the physical infrastructure required to run the services.

oh i'm sure they are charging up the wazoo, because they aim to make a profit off it, rather than to just sustain operations. I'm just refuting the fact that they're merely middlemen and is charging rent for no value delivered.

But that's not accurate. If they wanted to profit off of it, they would have chosen a more reasonable price, which would still keep 3P clients alive, but paying a bit more than they earn through ads. They chose to set the price so high that it's not possible to run a 3P client anymore. It's not a profit motive, it's only about consolidation.

Re: RIF developer counters Reddit CEO’s claims

#62

Post by predictabl3 »

Timon3 wrote: post #61
chii wrote: post #59

Earlier quoted context omitted.

oh i'm sure they are charging up the wazoo, because they aim to make a profit off it, rather than to just sustain operations. I'm just refuting the fact that they're merely middlemen and is charging rent for no value delivered.

But that's not accurate. If they wanted to profit off of it, they would have chosen a more reasonable price, which would still keep 3P clients alive, but paying a bit more than they earn through ads. They chose to set the price so high that it's not possible to run a 3P client anymore. It's not a profit motive, it's only about consolidation.

I honestly can't believe the good faith people are willing to afford spez at this point.

I can see it, it's the "temporarily disenfranchised millionaire" effect in front of us. Some here have said as much: "But surely he has a plan/knows what he's doing/it's all calculated". Or you know, he's a narcissistic liar. For fucks sake. (Insert the article about his doomsday prep and how he won't be a slave. You can't make this crap up.)

Idk, I have a nose for bullshit and it went off a long time ago.

Re: RIF developer counters Reddit CEO’s claims

#63

Post by Timon3 »

predictabl3 wrote: post #62
Timon3 wrote: post #61

Earlier quoted context omitted.

But that's not accurate. If they wanted to profit off of it, they would have chosen a more reasonable price, which would still keep 3P clients alive, but paying a bit more than they earn through ads. They chose to set the price so high that it's not possible to run a 3P client anymore. It's not a profit motive, it's only about consolidation.

I honestly can't believe the good faith people are willing to afford spez at this point. I can see it, it's the "temporarily disenfranchised millionaire" effect in front of us. Some here have said as much: "But surely he has a plan/knows what he's doing/it's all calculated". Or you know, he's a narcissistic liar. For fucks sake. (Insert the article about his doomsday prep and how he won't be a slave. You can't make t…

Me neither, but at this point I think it's an unavoidable fact of our industry. It's very similar to pick-me behavior ("look, I see that this is a necessary business decision, please pick me!").

The frustrating part is: people like spez or Elon show us time and time again who they are and what they want, and yet people try to gaslight you into believing in that distorted reality.

Re: RIF developer counters Reddit CEO’s claims

#64

Post by Seattle3503 »

ummonk wrote: post #58
chii wrote: post #55

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> And they don't produce or moderate content. Rent-seeking middlemen. But they do pay for the physical infrastructure required to run reddit. I would consider that as part of production of the "content", even tho it's indirect.

The prices they're charging for API access are wildly disproportionate to the cost of the physical infrastructure required to run the services.

Reddit is charing the opportunity cost per user, not infrastructure cost.

Re: RIF developer counters Reddit CEO’s claims

#65

Post by mdekkers »

pityJuke wrote: post #7

> Shu also tells me that RIF was paying a “sizable revenue share” to Reddit beginning in 2012, which was during Yishan Wong’s tenure as CEO. Shu says he says initiated the talks with Reddit to create the agreement, which allowed for the licensed use of Reddit’s trademarks. (At the time, the app was called “reddit is fun.”) Shu says Reddit terminated the agreement in 2016 — which was the year after Huffman took over a…

Every time I see Huffman quoted it strikes me how much his communication patterns mirror those of Trump

Re: RIF developer counters Reddit CEO’s claims

#66

Post by freediverx »

fnimick wrote: post #22
u10 wrote: post #4

Barring all of the arguments for or against why reddit is doing what it is doing, why does spez keep lying? Like he must realize that emails don't disappear and phone calls can be recorded?

Don't forget that Steve Huffman legitimately expects all of society to collapse and makes plans to survive it, including getting as much money and as many resources as possible. (The part where he helps to bring it about doesn't seem to register). https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2017/01/30/doomsday-prep-...

Steve Huffman fantasizes about becoming a dictator after society's collapse. So in a future, Mad Max-style dystopian hellscape, what would be the most suitable role for a blond, blue-eyed, narcissistic plutocrat with a background in competitive ballroom dancing?

https://shorturl.at/fuxN7

Re: RIF developer counters Reddit CEO’s claims

#67

Post by shagie »

twobitshifter wrote: post #49

Can RIF and Apollo stand up a clone of reddit in reasonable time and point their clients that way?

Who is going to moderate the clone? If the clone isn't moderated, we've got a clone of voat rather than reddit. If the clone is moderated... part of this was because people are saying that Reddit is profiting off of unpaid moderator work, right?

How is the clone going to be financed? Are you going to sell ads on it? If so, who is handling that? ... and making sure that the advertisements don't show up where the advertisers don't want them to.

Who is going to handle the inevitable legal takedowns for copyrighted works, trademark infringements, or things that may be illegal in some country? Is it going to serve porn in the Apple App Store?

Standing up a clone is easy. Keeping it up with a healthy community there (even if you are able to grab all of the existing users of an app) and being able to afford to keep it running - that's the hard part.

Re: RIF developer counters Reddit CEO’s claims

#68

Post by nerdbert »

shagie wrote: post #67
twobitshifter wrote: post #49

Can RIF and Apollo stand up a clone of reddit in reasonable time and point their clients that way?

Who is going to moderate the clone? If the clone isn't moderated, we've got a clone of voat rather than reddit. If the clone is moderated... part of this was because people are saying that Reddit is profiting off of unpaid moderator work, right? How is the clone going to be financed? Are you going to sell ads on it? If so, who is handling that? ... and making sure that the advertisements don't show up where the adver…

The financial situation is different if you only have to keep the servers humming and pay some technical people, and aren't driven by VC funding that demands constant revenue growth.

Re: RIF developer counters Reddit CEO’s claims

#69

Post by shagie »

nerdbert wrote: post #68
shagie wrote: post #67

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Who is going to moderate the clone? If the clone isn't moderated, we've got a clone of voat rather than reddit. If the clone is moderated... part of this was because people are saying that Reddit is profiting off of unpaid moderator work, right? How is the clone going to be financed? Are you going to sell ads on it? If so, who is handling that? ... and making sure that the advertisements don't show up where the adver…

The financial situation is different if you only have to keep the servers humming and pay some technical people, and aren't driven by VC funding that demands constant revenue growth.

If that was the only challenge, then why aren't Discourse deploys, reddit clones, or Lemmy instances dominating the social media world?

Voat would be an example of a social media site that was spun up without VC interest (it started up as a hobby project from a college student as an alternative to reddit in part because of moderators).

And so I return to my question: if it is viable to do without VC funding and the demands of revenue growth - why aren't there more of them out there?

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