Reddit is raising a huge round near a $3B valuation • Hacker News Board

Re: Reddit is raising a huge round near a $3B valuation

#11

Post by TarpitCarnivore » Tue, Feb 05, 2019, 5:59 PM UTC

dswalter wrote: post #6

I expect this raise to result in a number of enhancements to the user experience which make it a more pleasant and enjoyab[Open this link in the Reddit App?]le place to discourse.

The abundance of AMP links in Google search results, and how they purposely block actions, feels like some cheap SEO hack ala Experts Exchange in 07/08 or Quora.

Re: Reddit is raising a huge round near a $3B valuation

#12

Post by trumped » Tue, Feb 05, 2019, 5:59 PM UTC

Hopefully that will be the end of reddit and the start of something new.

Re: Reddit is raising a huge round near a $3B valuation

#13

Post by ihuman » Tue, Feb 05, 2019, 5:59 PM UTC

kozikow wrote: post #9

EnFinlay wrote: post #2

Fun, I deleted my 9 year old account last night. It's wasn't out of some high-minded thing about how they're turning more into Facebook or privacy or anything. That site just hits my dopamine so effectively I had to quit and block it in my /etc/hosts. I am spending more time on HN though...

My solution is unsubscribing from subreddits that are too clickbaity and do not "educate" me. I sometimes realize "Reddit is too fun today", "oh yeah, I am logged out".

Is there something wrong with it being fun?

Re: Reddit is raising a huge round near a $3B valuation

#14

Post by replicatorblog » Tue, Feb 05, 2019, 6:00 PM UTC

It might soon be time for The Oatmeal to add a new panel to his famous "Digg vs. Reddit" cartoon:

https://theoatmeal.com/pl/state_web_winter_2012/reddit_digg

I love Reddit and have no problem with this move in principle, though I do wish there was at least one social platform that would try to follow the Craigslist ethos and stay "proudly independent."

I'm not a big believer in crypto, but Reddit seems like one of the few platforms that would allow a crypto economy to develop and provide an alternative to the dominant money-making models.

Re: Reddit is raising a huge round near a $3B valuation

#15

Post by YeahSureWhyNot » Tue, Feb 05, 2019, 6:00 PM UTC

last round was 200 million in July of 2017. if we assume they had around 30 million left of it in bank today that puts them in 10 million negative every month. how does an online community/discussion website that makes money from ads and with not a lot of staff and no other expenses lose 10 million per month? when are they going to become profitable and how? Is it just a tax write off thingy? I never understood these things.

Re: Reddit is raising a huge round near a $3B valuation

#16

Post by minimaxir » Tue, Feb 05, 2019, 6:00 PM UTC

I've been a fan of Reddit for a very long time (as the amount of data science work I've done with their data can attest to), but lately it seems like the incentives between Reddit as a business and Reddit as a community leader are not aligned, and that is a problem.

The increasing amount of dark patterns Reddit has been employing lately is concerning. (recent example: Reddit now gates content in mobile Safari to push users to the app: https://twitter.com/minimaxir/status/1086002848926593025 )

That said, it seems like the really bad dark patterns I reported 7 months ago (https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=17446841) no longer appear to be in place.

Re: Reddit is raising a huge round near a $3B valuation

#17

Post by wowzap » Tue, Feb 05, 2019, 6:00 PM UTC

brettgriffin wrote: post #5

I've given up most social media but have become obsessed with Reddit. No matter how much I use it, I'm constantly amazed that I can be immediately connected with the most knowledgeable and enthusiastic people on virtually any subject I care about. I'm not a fan of the redesign or their push to look at other social media platforms, but I understand the direction they have to go to build revenue.

Seriously? I just assume most people on there are in high school, it seems like a place where the lowest common denominator ideas get upvoted and everything else gets nailed.

Re: Reddit is raising a huge round near a $3B valuation

#18

Post by omega3 » Tue, Feb 05, 2019, 6:01 PM UTC

I find that the quality of the content and discussion on Reddit has been slowly declining. Even previously high quality/very specialized subreddits are getting overrun by poor content and snowflakes.

Re: Reddit is raising a huge round near a $3B valuation

#19

Post by sf_rob » Tue, Feb 05, 2019, 6:01 PM UTC

EnFinlay wrote: post #2

Fun, I deleted my 9 year old account last night. It's wasn't out of some high-minded thing about how they're turning more into Facebook or privacy or anything. That site just hits my dopamine so effectively I had to quit and block it in my /etc/hosts. I am spending more time on HN though...

Agreed, I've mostly quit Facebook, which was never that enthralling to me, but Reddit / Twitter / Podcasts / Hackernews are all much more interesting. None of them are adding significant value to my life other than that dopamine hit, but I still haven't left them.

Re: Reddit is raising a huge round near a $3B valuation

#20

Post by c0nfused » Tue, Feb 05, 2019, 6:01 PM UTC

ihuman wrote: post #13

kozikow wrote: post #9

Earlier quoted context omitted.

My solution is unsubscribing from subreddits that are too clickbaity and do not "educate" me. I sometimes realize "Reddit is too fun today", "oh yeah, I am logged out".

Is there something wrong with it being fun?

It's a pretty bad time sink for some of us. I have it blocked on my work machines so I don't get sucked down the click and scroll rabbit hole when I should be working.