Some subreddits could be paywalled, hints Reddit CEO
Posted by RedditWater7@reddit | RedditAlternatives | View on Reddit | 147 comments
Posted by RedditWater7@reddit | RedditAlternatives | View on Reddit | 147 comments
Practical_Tea_7930@reddit
I can’t wait for this hell site to die off
PuddingFeeling907@reddit
BlazeAlt@reddit
Hello,
I've seen you promoting LW a lot lately, and that's great. Please consider maybe https://lemm.ee/, LW have some technical issues with remote instances (think Australia) due to how centralized a lot of things are on that instance.
PuddingFeeling907@reddit
Good suggestion! I should read up more on Lemm.ee.
brentsg@reddit
That sounds like a terrific way to get people to stop using those subreddits.
Buckowski66@reddit
Reddit has been VERY lucky that no real competitor has ever showed up so they'll probably get away with it.
Frugal_Ferengi@reddit
Lemmy is basically a clone. People are just too lazy to switch to it.
TechFiend72@reddit
it isn't a clone. it is pretty subpar.
BlazeAlt@reddit
Support of apps and alternative web interfaces is already much nicer
ParticleExtractor@reddit
ive switched to it today, the more people who contribute, it can eventually cross the lack-of-community horizon
BlazeAlt@reddit
Welcome!
PuddingFeeling907@reddit
Nope Lemmy is completely open source, has community ran instances and is better moderated.
Buckowski66@reddit
I looked at it and was not impressed with the interface. It seemed unnecessarily complex, as I recall.
BlazeAlt@reddit
Looks quite similar to Reddit: https://lemm.ee/
Secret_Combo@reddit
People overestimate Reddit's value compared to the other social media giants. Reddit is a distant 5th in the peaking order of active users IIRC. And it's monetization isn't good in comparison, either
AnotherUsername901@reddit
Reddit is a shell of it's former self and bends over for corporate.
They straight up killed the old AMAs because celebs would do them and get pissy when people asked them things they didn't like.
Reddit used to have balls but it's been sanitized as well as most of the big subs are moderated so you can't get off the narrative without getting banned.
ParticleExtractor@reddit
Reddit became leftwing emotional rubbish.
BlazeAlt@reddit
Lemmy is there!
Beelzebub789@reddit
hate to break it to you, but lemmy is not worth using :(
snow_cool@reddit
Why is that? I really want to get off reddit. Can’t deal with the censorship anymore
Beelzebub789@reddit
there’s a lot of issues here, but - for better or for worse - ther’s no censorship
snow_cool@reddit
No censorship in reddit? Yes there is a lot. I have been banned from a couple subs by asking sources to people claiming that the international boxing association released fake results regarding biological tests to a certain athlete.
Beelzebub789@reddit
sigh
moderation is distinct from censorship, and it’s an important distinction - there is no mass censorship here on reddit, just community-led public moderation (of varying quality).
note that moderators are required to combat misinformation (apart from an arguable moral dury to their communities, the user terms of service prevent the malicious spreading of misinformation).
this principle can be taken too far - such as your being banned from subs for what i hope were polite comments - but is fundamentally necessary to deter false claims (especially those which can lead to bigotry).
Imane Khelif, the Algerian Olympic boxer, is a woman.
snow_cool@reddit
I appreciate your answer :) i want to learn more about the topic regarding the boxer but i have noticed that reddit is not the place for that because it stirs people’s emotions. I was accused of sealioning and women need to be protected from me or something. I have been banned before for asking questions or having a different opinion than the majority and it seems to me i should keep my reddit usage just for browsing and so i would rather search for alternatives where i can actually debate.
snow_cool@reddit
And i have been banned more times by stating facts regarding a certain religion. There is a lot of censorship
BlazeAlt@reddit
If Reddit keeps messing up, it will become one soon.
Buckowski66@reddit
If they added features to allow people to peacock and monotize themselves as hacky Z level celebrities, Reddit would be more popular but I'm tired of the relentless narcissism and bullshit so I hope they don't.
Gummyrabbit@reddit
I'm surprised Zuckerberg hasn't come up with a competitor. Maybe he's just waiting for the right moment.
ParticleExtractor@reddit
zuckerberg, another leftwing nutter we dont need.
id prefer if elon musk made a reddit.
truthputer@reddit
These social media sites like Slashdot, Digg, Reddit - have all initially had the appeal of a secret club that the "cool kids" migrate to, moving away from the burning wreckage of what came before.
ParticleExtractor@reddit
from today ive started using lemmyverse, screw reddit.
AnotherUsername901@reddit
There's clones but they don't have moderation so they are filled with racist and extreme content.
Add the fact reddit has been here for a long time so it's secured a large crowd.
That being said I have been on and off since 2016ish and the quality has nose dived like you used to be able to refresh and get new content now it's all the same things and filled with bots.
I really hope there is a new place everyone migrates too
BlazeAlt@reddit
Lemmy has moderation, modlogs are even public which allows to call out power tripping mods
WaterIsGolden@reddit
It's a site for people who read. The market is shrinking so no real business people can be bothered.
The competition is easily luring the majority of people with 'cute' and 'trendy' short videos. Reddit grew in a bygone era. A site like this will probably never happen again. It will get crushed instead of recreated. The literates are a problem to be solved.
stay_fr0sty@reddit
I use Reddit a ton. Maybe too much. But I like the anonymity. If I have to pay I’ll have to identify myself, which I will never do.
I guess they could accept Bitcoin and I might pay if it’s reasonable ($1/mo) or something. But even this hurdle will lose Reddit a LOT of eyes if it paywalls popular subreddits.
raseru@reddit
Reddit has cannibalized all the old forums and then bigger entities have taken notice and now dump tons of money into politicizing it for favor.
Honestly, communities are a lot more enjoyable when they stay a little bit smaller and outside of mainstream, if Reddit manages to kill itself off, then doubtlessly others will step in and it honestly might be for the best.
stay_fr0sty@reddit
I grew up on dial-up BBSs...then Usenet, then Forums, then Slashdot...there is a reason Reddit is so popular. Browsing Reddit is effortless compared those other ways (aside from Slashdot, they got close).
Forums are okay, especially for sharing file uploads and stuff...but I do not miss them. They are much less efficient to browse and find good content.
I can even make my point with one word: bump
raseru@reddit
Your points are for browsing, not for discussing. Reddit has indeed evolved for browsing, but it is supposed to be a place for communication fundamentally. I can get passive stimulus from a million other websites, even youtube fulfills that. It's not that a website for browsing is inherently bad, but when it consumes the competition that did the discussion part better, it is unfortunate.
Bumps weren't really problematic in my opinion, it just meant people were there to continue a discussion. When a Reddit thread gets old, it's dead, making a new one isn't going to generate the clicks anymore. Conversations do not evolve either, they're sandboxed in each little section and people constantly have to make the same point in 12 other locations.
The worst part though is when a Reddit thread gets enough traffic, it's like pissing in the ocean, your comment will be in vain. Your best bet is to hijack a comment at the top with your reply and hope people click "Show more replies" to finally see yours.
VisualNinja1@reddit
I agree with both of you.
To the very last point, pissing into an ocean of a very popular thread is a spot on analogy. Usually I bypass them for that reason, but conversely you do get people discussing via the ‘newest comment’ sort option on those threads too
raseru@reddit
You refresh the newest comment section and your comment is already lost into the abyss. There's always some guy out there though downvoting every new comment for some reason though.
Not really sure what is the solution when something gets that big. Spitballing here but it makes me wonder if you could do something like multiple "lobbies" for the same giant topic or something. Threads that do well could be shown on a main lobby while actual conversations could be held in other lobbies.
RearAdmiralP@reddit
I built a Reddit archive/client where posts are sorted by bump order. Subthreads in the post comments are also sorted by bump order. So, posts that get comments show up first, and within the comments for the post, subthreads with the newest activity show up on top.
Since sorting is based on activity rather than votes, my archive/client doesn't bother capturing them. Browsing comments without votes took a little bit of getting used to-- it's a bit like watching a sitcom without a laugh track, but I think I prefer it now.
If you'd like to check out how it works, here is this thread: https://theaterfi.re/post/1293774
ericfromct@reddit
Just on the topic of downvoting new comments, that had happened in a couple subs and it was determined individually in each one that it was (a) bot(s) doing it. Not to say it couldn't be someone disgruntled doing it just for the fuck of ir
Buckowski66@reddit
Reddit mods not big fans of free speech and not creating echo chambers. I can't imagine paying to put up with that.
questionablejudgemen@reddit
I like Reddit, but 90% of my use is doomscrolling. There’s useful information in 10% of my use. Kinda like when FB threatened to charge. Okay, good. If I end up using both apps less because I don’t want to pay (they’re not premium products) I’d be better off anyway. It’s not like I ever close Reddit and think “wow, that was an excellent use of my time.”
ToTakeANDToBeTaken@reddit
It had BETTER NOT be an anti-NSFW tactic, not that it will work, since that will just result in a free NSFW Reddit alternative.
Also, I’m getting sick of “protecting the children” being an excuse to suppress anything people don’t personally like. Unless you are actively and knowingly grooming someone you already know is underage, them being exposed to inappropriate content should otherwise be no one’s legal responsibility except the parents.
PrincessNakeyDance@reddit
Yeah and people could just make an alternative sub. Like are they going to ban other competing subs? If /r/pics was paywalled, /r/pics_free would appear the next day and would probably be worth subscribing to again.
Reddit is low effort social media. Yeah some creators promote here, but it’s not like there’s rich content to consume like on YouTube or something. These idiots need to stop trying to make Reddit a profitable entity, breaking even is probably the best you could or should ever hope for.
_JudgeDoom_@reddit
Oh making a subreddit? “That’ll be $4.99”
Rich-Masterpiece6411@reddit
Guys, crowdfund me for my new subreddit, today's goal five hundred dollars.
PlasmaChroma@reddit
And going to create new batches of r/free
DefinitelyNotDrTurd@reddit
Sounds like a terrific way to keep brigades from infesting the subs.
funnyBatman@reddit
I think that could be the aim no? Reddit has a general narrative... If you're not going to stick to that narrative, monetize your sub, and you don't have a platform for your views that don't go with the reddit narrative, unless you pay for it... It's a win-win...
ThreeLeggedChimp@reddit
Sounds like a perfect way to get certain people to use those subreddits.
Blarghnog@reddit
This guy seems determined to kill this site.
PuddingFeeling907@reddit
Man is determined to get everyone onto Lemmy.
sunk-capital@reddit
Thats one way to make yourself Quora
PuddingFeeling907@reddit
I will be urging my friends to Join Lemmyworld after this.
HannyBo9@reddit
That will be the end of Reddit.
iamcleek@reddit
what he said was: in the future, there could be a private/paid access type of subreddit.
he didn't say it would apply to existing subreddits.
IAmDeadYetILive@reddit
I knew this was going to happen, started suspecting it a few years ago. I have saved every post and every comment in my sub, should we need to migrate.
Commodifying community and discourse for profit is disgusting, it goes against every reason why this site was built in the first place. Sites like reddit flourish because of what the users bring to the platforms, not the other way around.
Switch to lemmy.
faintlight@reddit
You should make a backup now. That way people will know where to go when it's time to go.
IAmDeadYetILive@reddit
Yes, that's why I said I have saved every post and comment in my sub.
faintlight@reddit
No I meant make the new site NOW, and let people know where it is. Like it's dangerous to only have videos on youtube because they ban accounts left and right, so people dupe their posts on bit-chute and rum-ble.
IAmDeadYetILive@reddit
Ah, I see. I have been putting it off, first because of time and now when I have time, because I ... am on reddit lol.
Delicious_Ease2595@reddit
This is just going to make Lemmy adoption higher.
IAmDeadYetILive@reddit
Yes.
It makes me bonkers though. People's number one objection to using lemmy is that it doesn't have as many users... yeah, that's because everyone is still posting on reddit. Move over and lemmy gets traffic. The inability to see how individual choice makes a difference hinders change on so many levels.
BlazeAlt@reddit
Preach to the choir
Delicious_Ease2595@reddit
Lemmy is smaller but conversations are way more authentic in some instances, how it was when Reddit or Digg started over. When it gets big enough Eternal September happens.
Zhjeikbtus738@reddit
That’ll be the day I delete the app without hesitation
Riverrat423@reddit
So, Reddit now has shareholders who suddenly realize that Reddit doesn’t make any money. Now they are desperately trying to find revenue.
Icollectshinythings@reddit
It will last a month or two and then they’ll realize they fucked up and just throw in more ads instead.
takingphotosmakingdo@reddit
i mean i've already had a subreddit stolen from me under the guise of the reddit purge, so sure let's do it.
Delicious_Ease2595@reddit
Not worth $5 if you are not even sure if you are speaking with a real people or the thread is pure bots engagement.
SpaceSolid8571@reddit
I hope its all the large ones. They have become radical echo-chambers of nasty people, controlled by nastier people.
Delicious_Ease2595@reddit
And nastier bots.
formerfatboys@reddit
lol
sassergaf@reddit
Me too and I hope they don’t have a minimum amount of karma to participate in them. There’s a deluge of brand new bots using hobby subs with relatively few users to farm enough karma to enable the new bots to post on their intended subs, and that has overwhelmed the little subs with crap posts. There are now more bots than hobbiers. It’s killing the subs.
DrSeuss321@reddit
Honestly if alphabet was smart they’d try and buy up Reddit before it self imolates itself out of existence simply for the sake of the fact that SEO has ruined basic search and having Reddit intact for people to search forum posts makes Google much more usable
rogerwilko1@reddit
If they do that, I give reddit 18 months before it ends up like the others
here_now_be@reddit
WTF chromecast is dead?!
sanger_r@reddit
They just made the announcement yesterday.
here_now_be@reddit
I hate google so much.
I like android OS, but this is about the twentieth reason to switch back as soon as the next iPhone comes out.
Delicious_Ease2595@reddit
You can get Walmart Onn stick and stream from your device with Android TV. It's seems understandable they can target more ads to Google TV home screen. What's dumb is they sell their new streamer as premium device
IAmDeadYetILive@reddit
What is alphabet and what are they like with regards to privacy etc?
CraigEllsworth@reddit
Alphabet is Google's parent company.
IAmDeadYetILive@reddit
Hard no from me then.
sassergaf@reddit
Shhhh
-CJF-@reddit
I like and use Reddit a lot, but I won't pay for it. Pay-walling social media seems like a huge mistake. I think it would kill the individual subs and maybe even the overall site if it becomes widespread enough.
InstagramLincoln@reddit
I can't believe I might be defending Spez here, but the headline is slightly misleading. The full quote:
I take that to mean that they are looking at offering an option for NEW subreddits that are paywalled for people to offer exclusive content. Similar to Patreon. A Podcast/Club/whatever could offer a paid tier with access to their insider subreddit.
That seems like a no-brainer. I don't take this to mean that /r/AskReddit is suddenly pay walled.
vriska1@reddit
Yeah tho I think I don't think this will even happen. They are going to backtrack and say the article took his words out of context.
IAmDeadYetILive@reddit
Spez isn't exactly an honest person. He claimed Apollo tried to blackmail him. Probably one of the best moments of my internet life was Apollo revealing the recording of their conversation.
vriska1@reddit
True but if you read the articles he not talking about paywalling the whole site or major sub reddits.
IAmDeadYetILive@reddit
Probably use the first subs as testing grounds. It would drive millions of people away, it's a terrible idea. Reddit is sinking further and further into a corporate shithole.
xRyozuo@reddit
You’re being really dense. Paywalling existing subreddits would just drive users away. They’re looking to open patreon like subreddits so that content creators share their stuff here and reddit gets a cut
IAmDeadYetILive@reddit
Sounds like enshittification to me.
People don't want that bs, reddit is driven by community and discourse. Who wants to navigate through all that other garbage.
xRyozuo@reddit
I mean yeah there’s only so long they can sell investors air and non profitability lol.
IAmDeadYetILive@reddit
Then they should look at restructuring from their end, not the user end.
They are commodifying the user base.
Grumpy_Old_Mans@reddit
I see it basically being where a user can create a subreddit, think like only fans, where they can post their content, but make it pay-walled to keep it exclusive. It doesn't need to be specifically NSFW content, but anyone who makes content for those types of sites.
If that's the case, I can see it making sense. Reddit can make a few bucks off those "subscriptions," and the content creater can also.
icebeancone@reddit
Some subreddits could be moved to Lemmy, hits Reddit users
LibertyLizard@reddit
Www.join-Lemmy.org
Still going strong, just sayin. Don’t join Lemmy.ml though.
faintlight@reddit
I had to take the front off and just use lemmy.org to visit it.
LibertyLizard@reddit
Weird, looks like others corrected my mistake though.
BlazeAlt@reddit
Lemmy.org is outdated and probably not maintained.
https://lemm.ee/post/37715 is a good starting guide.
BlazeAlt@reddit
https://join-lemmy.org/ , the version you provided doesn't work for some reason
kurttheflirt@reddit
Meh we tried that last year. No one besides the mods who were fed up left. 98% of Reddit users don’t care sadly. Myself included. I deleted the apps for a long while and said I was done, but now look at me.
icebeancone@reddit
Well that was only because they killed 3rd party apps.
Going from "you have to use our app now which is still free but shit" to "you have to give us money to use these subs at all now" is a huge difference.
Efficient_Star_1336@reddit
Honestly much smaller effect. Mobile users are a huge share, and forcing them to use a terrible app is a major thing. Locking off a few subreddits nobody cares about isn't really meaningful.
mangamaster03@reddit
I've used nothing but mobile old.reddit.com and RedReader for Android since most 3rd party apps were shut down. If there is NSFW content, I just bookmark it for later, and use a computer. I will not use the official app
GetSlunked@reddit
Huge freaking difference between a minority using third party apps (myself included, rip Apollo) and the entire user base being paywalled on subreddits. That’s twelve steps passed increasing the price on an API. Only issue is lack of serious competitors, however paywalls would speed up the competition significantly. I hope. Maybe I’m coping.
moonsiner@reddit
Wrong, Reddit has lost 50% of users in the last year alone, still losing more users than gained every month, it's in a death spiral.
Wyrd_ofgod@reddit
Got your info from Reddit huh
ChicoTallahassee@reddit
Where did they go?
fineillmakeanewone@reddit
Outside, hopefully.
But probably TikTok. Or pornhub.
youessbee@reddit
You got proof there buddy? I'm interested to look at those numbers.
BlazeAlt@reddit
Are those number available somewhere? I know subredditstats stopped working after the API shutdown
kurttheflirt@reddit
That’s not true. I can see the numbers behind my subreddits and that’s simply not true. More than ever using Reddit. Sadly though, more does not mean higher quality
here_now_be@reddit
a ton left, but the options were very splintered, and none of them ever reached the level of engagement that we were addicted to, so most of us stumbled back to reddit for more hits.
gvbargen@reddit
Lol this is the first thing I see on Reddit after not visiting for months, essentially because of the API change
KingDorkFTC@reddit
How about paying to be untouchable to mods?
faintlight@reddit
You have brilliant thinking.
AppropriateSeesaw1@reddit
Yeah bring back banned subs and paywall them
Son_of_Sophroniscus@reddit
LMAO 😂
This guy really thinks reddit is providing a service worth paying for?
A-KindOfMagic@reddit
I mean 5 bucks a year? maybe. $10? fine kitty videos and talking about acid is fun for me!
Anything more? fuck off. It's also the fact that I like the anonymity which gives me some freedom to say whatever I wanna say, of course as long as it is not hate speach etc.
Ok_Strength_7827@reddit
I mean, people spend more time on Reddit than they do on Netflix. So why not?
I personally might just see it as an opportunity to quit, but others: they pay for other trash, why not a social media site?
marc512@reddit
Almost certain musk bought reddit years ago. It's the only reason why they would do this.
TheDude9737@reddit
I’ll leave.
kralvex@reddit
This very newspaper websites of them. They gave away their product for free for years and now they suddenly think they can charge money for it and people will pay for it? Unlikely. Sure some will, but most will not. People will just avoid those subs and maybe leave the site entirely.
Seumuis80@reddit
That’s when we be signing off permanently. Nope they can’t charge us for making the content they are selling. Anyone checked up on Digg lately?? We really need to figure a decent alternative.
gayfucboi@reddit
bots upvoting bots is already here. it’s just going to get worse reddit ceo warns
ToTakeANDToBeTaken@reddit
It’s like YouTube, in the sense it almost seems like they are actively begging their users to finally suck it up and actually look for alternatives, instead of continuing to put up with their B.S.
And let me guess, making alternative subreddits to have a non-paywalled community about that topic is not allowed, which is also a convenient way to ban/paywall subs they don’t like but otherwise don’t have an excuse to ban. (Except “unmoderated” but that leaves the door open to have new mod requests to rescue the community.) Or they paywall a sub and install their mods on it, thus ensuring any community about that specific topic on Reddit is under their direct control, because alternatives are banned.
Do they seriously think people won’t just use an alternative site at that point? When they literally can’t access their own community on the current site? Seems like another short-sighted decision.
Hairy-cheeky-monkey@reddit
The crowd is fickle and will move on.
Kitchen-Discussion95@reddit
The issue is they will disperse. No more one stop forum and link dossier for all the issues of my life in a single place.
jeffa_jaffa@reddit
I know they have to keep the lights on somehow, but they seem to be blind to the fact that it’s the users who produce the content that brings people to Reddit,
ChuckECheeseOfficial@reddit
Spez has to personally make all paywalled content
Kitchen-Discussion95@reddit
Llms will take care of it. Your electricity bill gonna rise.
A_norny_mousse@reddit
I don't know for sure but I don't think it's about keeping the lights on. It's about what every company does: maximizing profits.
rchiwawa@reddit
I don't think they are blind to it at all. They recognize that the content amassed so far, even if the ship sank today, is worth oodles and oodles of loot for years to come given the depth and breadth. The c suite attitude has to be something along the lines of "fuck the enterprise long term if we can't get some subscription money on top of the free, but now less frequent quantity (excluding bot circle jerks), ever shittier overall quality content; we have our cash cow already on the servers "
JacobStyle@reddit
There is no way the people I come here to interact with will pay for paywalled subs, so there is no point in me paying either.
BlahBlahBlackCheap@reddit
YFTS
MrSanchez1@reddit
Embrace, extend, and extinguish
Now that they've smothered out most of the competition, and wrecked 3rd party apps, it's time to really crack down on censorship and force everyone into something that will maximize ad revenue, and then ramp up the profits.
mollician@reddit
inb4: people who produce content on those subs won’t get paid
HotTakeHoulihan@reddit
It was always an option. Back in 2011 when childhood me got online, one of the subreddits I wanted to join required you show a mod (privately) proof of ID and that you'd paid a qualifying fee before you would have more than lurking privileges. And it was for a good reason, too.
I'm confident that if the Reddit CEOs are involved then the thing they're involved in is gross and will make everything worse, but the baseline premise isn't necessarily without sane implementation possibilities.
equalitylove2046@reddit
Man I tell you this greed nowadays is out of control smh.
DirtySchlick@reddit
Fuck that!
Blackstar1886@reddit
I've been waiting for the unskippable ads to start. Any day now.
bwolf384@reddit
IF they give mods and content contributers in those subs a cut of the revenue then I would actually be for it. If not, then wtf. Now instead of just doing reddit's job for them and providing free content to attract users & generate clicks and be sold to ai bros, we now also get to pay for the privaledge of helping them make money off of our work?
theoneandonlyfester@reddit
And that will be the death of Reddit. Seriously pay walling a forum site is how you kill it.
notananthem@reddit
I imagine they'll make moderators pay for the dubious honor of working to keep their site afloat without pay