Reddit CEO Steve Huffman has hinted that in future some subreddits could be paywalled, as the company seeks to devise...

“I think the existing, altruistic, free version of Reddit will continue to exist and grow and thrive just the way it has,” Huffman said. “But now we will unlock the door for new use cases, new types of subreddits that can be built that may have exclusive content or private areas, things of that nature.”

  • comicallycluttered@beehaw.org
    38·
    3 months ago

    I’ve been waiting to see how they’re going to fuck up NSFW subs and I’m willing to bet that’s where this is going.

    I can only hope it affects the ones that focus on self-promotion, but I wouldn’t be surprised if they just decide to charge users directly for access to NSFW subs entirely, since they already removed it entirely from the free API, which apps like RedReader use.(*)

    I know I’m not the only one who basically only has an account for that stuff, although a lot of those subs have turned to shit over the last year or so, anyway. AI generated nonsense, self-promotion even when it’s discouraged, bad moderation, some disappearing entirely because they were abandoned back last year…

    (*) Technically, you can still view that content without an account via Old Reddit (or at least you could a few months ago, haven’t checked recently), but that’s inevitably going to be killed as well, it’s just a matter of “when”.

    • vinniep@beehaw.orgEnglish
      10·
      3 months ago

      NSFW subs are exactly where my mind went as well, but monetizing some of that content could prove legally fraught. Instead, I’d wager the scope narrows a bit to a very specific OnlyFans type of model. Weren’t they already looking at paid awards that provide a cash reward to the recipient? Sure sounds like a tipping model to me 🤔

    • PenguinCoder@beehaw.orgEnglish
      7·
      3 months ago

      I find a lot of good content on Reddit, but its different now as opposed to the early days. The good content used to be on Reddit. Now its not, its on one of 6 other sites, and Reddit is just the ad service they’re posting on. I am sick of the in joke comments and inane comments like “this”. I want discussion.

      Reddit no longer has that.

      • JohnEdwa@sopuli.xyz
        7·
        3 months ago

        It’s going back to the roots, just in an extremely twisted way - I’m old enough to remember when Reddit was just a link aggregator. You put your stuff on your own site/blog/forum (remember those?), and linked to that from reddit.
        People could then upvote and comment on it on reddit, but the idea of posting something there directly was ridiculous - how could anything be found later when it would get buried under the new stuff in a few hours, and bumping isn’t a thing at all?

        Fuck reddit and social media, I want my forums back :(
        Also my back hurts, music these days is terrible, and the 90s’ were just a decade ago or so.