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The Growth of Reddit

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Re: The Growth of Reddit

#101

Post by Avery3R »

propogandist wrote: post #36

Reddit was great, many years ago, although there are many sub-reddits that are still excellent today. Moves they've made in the recent years, like hiding vote counts, were to improve growth, but it has also enabled more astroturfing and censorship (widespread). More recently, they started injected tracking into outbound link clicks and introduced the terrible redesign to help with growth/monetization also. As they've…

They started tracking outbound links before the redesign, so it's on old reddit too. You can disable it in user prefs.

Re: The Growth of Reddit

#102

Post by ThomPete »

michaelleslie wrote: post #64
ThomPete wrote: post #34

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Agree The obvious way out of that is to join bubbles that are aligned with your interests rather than political views. If your interest is politics then find a better interest :)

That's a remarkably privileged and blasé take, denying the importance of civic engagement.

Civic engagement happens in the real world, not by commenting on reddit, fb or Twitter.

Re: The Growth of Reddit

#103

Post by rolleiflex »

dunmalg wrote: post #55
rolleiflex wrote: post #51

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Disabling the new design still requires you to be signed in, though. I don’t sign in most of the time I’m using Reddit. (Which makes for poor monetisation, and even being able to disable the new redesign only when signed in is a win for them over the current situation.)

Not signing in to reddit is the surest way to experience the online equivalent of a table next to the bathroom.

Not always. I don’t go to Reddit.com, I always go to Reddit.com/r/motorcycling, or r/leathercraft, for example. You don’t have to be signed in for that.

Re: The Growth of Reddit

#104

Post by HeadsUpHigh »

naravara wrote: post #75
propogandist wrote: post #36

Reddit was great, many years ago, although there are many sub-reddits that are still excellent today. Moves they've made in the recent years, like hiding vote counts, were to improve growth, but it has also enabled more astroturfing and censorship (widespread). More recently, they started injected tracking into outbound link clicks and introduced the terrible redesign to help with growth/monetization also. As they've…

it never occurred to me before, but seeing it in a chart like this it really seems like Reddit has basically just turned into Gamers and their side interests, politics, and a few vestiges of old Reddit, like AskReddit, which at this point might as well be their own separate site for what all they have to do with the main demographic. The Video Game sphere takes up a huge chunk of it. Then many of the other subs are b…

This really surprises me. Reddit to me feels like the easiest social network to customize your feed towards what you want( the redesign sucks though). Only recently after years of using it I found out that there are default subs and I was only subbed to r/funny and r/askreddit Every time I want information on whatever subject, be it a game or technology etc I first look if there's a subreddit for it and most often there is. I'm also building a multireddit for photography related stuff. You don't have to follow outrage or game-culture related subs whatsoever. Just sub to what you want to read about.

Re: The Growth of Reddit

#105

Post by chrisdhoover »

Zarath wrote: post #69
spookthesunset wrote: post #62

Earlier quoted context omitted.

"table next to the bathroom" This is a phrase I'm not familiar with. What do you mean?

Was trying to understand this myself. I guess the table next to the bathroom is the most undesirable location for a table since there are smells/foot traffic/noise? Whether parent meant reddit is the bathroom, or the restaurant, I'm not sure.

Reddit is a restaurant. If you winnow your subscriptions you’ll have the best seat in the house. If you leave the default subscriptions in place but log on your jammed three deep at the bar wanting a classic cocktail but having to settle for a miller lite. If you dont log on you are seated at the table next to the bathroom where a stream of drunk sorority girls and fraternity boys stand in line waiting to piss and yelling woo hoo! Everytime the door opens you get a waft of stench that puts you off your food.

Re: The Growth of Reddit

#106

Post by rolleiflex »

ObsoleteNerd wrote: post #67
rolleiflex wrote: post #50

Earlier quoted context omitted.

There are still some of us that are trying to keep the old internet alive. (Shameless plug: https://beta.getaether.net )

All I see is big "Download" links everywhere, that just go to a JS alert popup saying it's not out yet. It looks interesting but with no way to preview the current communities or content before downloading, I'm hesitant to go through downloading, installing, and signing up to a new service, only to find out it's another Voat.

I’m trying to build something I like, beyond anything - so I’d rather have it not be Voat.

Re: The Growth of Reddit

#107

Post by chrisdhoover »

fazzone wrote: post #32
cm2012 wrote: post #28

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Imagine FB's data attached (by email or cookie) to Reddit's screentime - would easily quadruple Reddit's ad revenue with the same ad inventory. If they got away with it without driving away Redditors, would be salivation worthy as a marketer. Reddit's main traffic problem for advertisers is that most users don't really subscribe to subreddits or make accounts, but rather browse the front page casually. So you can tar…

Wow, I really can't imagine an acquisition that I would less rather learn about than FB hypothetically buying reddit. Considering how FB has all the money in the world it is probably wise to start editing/deleting all my reddit comments now because once FB slurp the whole DB it's already over - the fact that I would never visit reddit again wouldn't save me.

You haven’t done that already? Most I leave any comment is 1 week.

Re: The Growth of Reddit

#108

Post by retsibsi »

selestify wrote: post #94
naravara wrote: post #81

Earlier quoted context omitted.

One of the cool thing, basically THE cool thing about the old internet was the exposure to a giant wide world with all different kinds of people and interests from all walks of life. It skewed technical, because you had to be technical to figure out how to work it. But once people got over an initial barrier it was cool, and it's not like there was anywhere else they could go if they wanted to reach whatever communit…

Why would the technical bubble of the old internet be so interesting and diverse, but the technical bubble if today is so "one-note"?

The suggestion is that the old internet wasn't a pure technical bubble: although the barrier to entry made it more technical than average, it was still fairly diverse because the alternative to passing that barrier was staying off the internet entirely. Now, getting online is easy, and there are millions of alternatives to the techy corners of the internet. So nobody who isn't specifically interested in that stuff has any motivation to join in.

Re: The Growth of Reddit

#109

Post by HiroshiSan »

propogandist wrote: post #36

Reddit was great, many years ago, although there are many sub-reddits that are still excellent today. Moves they've made in the recent years, like hiding vote counts, were to improve growth, but it has also enabled more astroturfing and censorship (widespread). More recently, they started injected tracking into outbound link clicks and introduced the terrible redesign to help with growth/monetization also. As they've…

Not to mention their dark patterns to get you to install the mobile app while browsing on mobile.

Re: The Growth of Reddit

#110

Post by damon_c »

spookthesunset wrote: post #62
dunmalg wrote: post #55

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Not signing in to reddit is the surest way to experience the online equivalent of a table next to the bathroom.

"table next to the bathroom" This is a phrase I'm not familiar with. What do you mean?

You have been waiting all week for this occasion. You made a reservation at this great restaurant with someone you are really excited to make a closer connection with. Finally, the moment comes, and you are led to your table.

Unfortunately your table is within 2 meters of the bathroom. Every time the door opens, the bathroom light casts shadows on your silverware and lights the back of your head highlighting the thinness of your hair. This is followed, a few seconds later, as the smell of urinal mints wafts over and mixes with the delicate anise and dark plum notes of your $26 glass of wine.

I guess you have to have been there :|

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