this post was submitted on 07 Aug 2024
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Reddit CEO Steve Huffman has hinted that in future some subreddits could be paywalled, as the company seeks to devise new sources of income.

He suggested that the company might experiment with paywalled subreddits as it looks to monetize new features. “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.”

This is another move likely to anger Redditors. While the platform is a commercial enterprise, its value derives almost entirely from freely offered user content. That means Redditors feel at least some sense of ownership in a community endeavour, so the company needs to tread carefully when it comes to monetization at user expense.

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[–] [email protected] 2 points 4 months ago

I want to switch aswell, but what is to stop bigger servers from doing the same on Lemmy?

Also where can I find the best instance for each of the Reddit equivalent? For instance I want wall street bets, where is the most active instance of that?

[–] [email protected] 2 points 4 months ago

How about instead of paywalling. They just sort of concrete wall the entire site then leave it there too rot for all of eternity?

[–] [email protected] 6 points 4 months ago

Why "some"? It should be "all". Select the subs you want to subscribe to and get billed monthly.

I don't see what could go wrong.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 4 months ago

been telling everyone on the reddit post about this to ditch reddit for lemmy. this could be a really good thing for this platform

I am going to try to revive some of the dead subs in here with posts and engagement.

[–] [email protected] 20 points 4 months ago

Lol glad to move to lemmy

[–] [email protected] 8 points 4 months ago* (last edited 4 months ago)

Bye reddit, it was fun while it lasted. Comments like this from out of touch ceos make me stop using the product. Same reason I canceled spotify after years of being a subscribing customer to move to Tidal

[–] [email protected] 11 points 4 months ago* (last edited 4 months ago)

If you're gonna spend money to post on a forum, might as well just sign up for Something Awful. Or pay for access to Usenet if you don't get free access from your ISP.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 4 months ago

Gave me the excuse to check this out. Makes me sad to kill my 11 year old Reddit account, but "needs must when the devil vomits in your kettle" as they say.

[–] [email protected] 13 points 4 months ago

Go ahead. Only the occasional link brings me to reddit these days and I will treat his paywall just like all the others. By closing the tab and moving on.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 4 months ago

Enshitification is inevitable

[–] [email protected] 8 points 4 months ago (2 children)

Morals aside, this wouldn't work from a business perspective.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 4 months ago

You might have to pay the moderators, God forbid.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 4 months ago

TO ANY LEMMY NEW USER: Welcome! Beside the search bar, you can use this link to find various communities on the Fediverse -

https://lemmyverse.net/communities

[–] [email protected] 12 points 4 months ago

Reddit is a media company now, they're not a community. Tons and tons of ads, thin skinned moderators with God complexes running completely out of control, and they now have platform profit responsibility.

Will cost them - this is a significant change to, by definition, some of their most popular content. Many people go to Reddit purely to find non-paywalled versions of content.

[–] [email protected] 29 points 4 months ago (5 children)

I don't even get how this would work. If you paywalled, say, /r/gaming, could you just make a new community called /r/freegaming? And do the moderators get paid for the communities they created?

It all feels really half-baked and a desperate plea for money from investors when the money well is drying up.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 4 months ago (1 children)

There's probably something in the terms of use that prohibits that.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 4 months ago

there's dozens of gaming subreddits already though. like truegaming or something else. i don't think many existing subreddits will do this. i do think nsfw creators will paywall their posts

however if reddit goes that route i hope OF sues apple/google. I don't like how some nsfw apps like reddit or x are allowed but others aren't

[–] [email protected] 1 points 4 months ago

Post submitters would have to get a cut to encourage them to post OC on the pay subs and file takedowns if anyone else reposted their content elsewhere. I think it could only work for single user subs.

[–] [email protected] 4 points 4 months ago

My first thought was that they are trying to be a new onlyfans.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 4 months ago

Elon comes to make Reddit worse

[–] [email protected] 12 points 4 months ago

Then they'll skate around that by implementing a paywall for creating new subs.

[–] [email protected] 18 points 4 months ago (1 children)

Why I'm here (first comment yay)

[–] [email protected] 2 points 4 months ago* (last edited 4 months ago)

While it isn't great, because one of the biggest issues with social media is the users, its design, and philosophy, are way ahead. Welcome.

[–] [email protected] 54 points 4 months ago (3 children)

After seeing this article on Reddit, that’s what made me finally jump ship and join in here. It’s been nice so far.

Reddit is hardly even the same site it used to be. Especially with bots taking over. And I just don’t think it makes sense to make people pay for what was meant to be a user-generated experience. We’ve sadly come a long way from the narwhal baconing at midnight.

But here’s to new beginnings!

[–] [email protected] 3 points 4 months ago

Same joined Lemmy yesterday.

[–] [email protected] 8 points 4 months ago (1 children)

Me too! I just made an account. I’m discovering Lemmy right now. This is my very first reply. Hello Lemmy world!

[–] [email protected] 5 points 4 months ago

Welcome to the Fediverse! I think you'll like it here.

[–] [email protected] 10 points 4 months ago

Much like you I saw this article on my reddit feed today, googled 'reddit alternatives, and ended up here.

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