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] 69 points 4 months ago (2 children)
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[–] [email protected] 13 points 4 months ago
[–] [email protected] 23 points 4 months ago (1 children)

I got offered a chance to buy into reddit's IPO. Im glad i didn't

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[–] [email protected] 45 points 4 months ago (4 children)

Porn, they're going to monetise it.

I always wondered when they will do it. They have the set up.

[–] [email protected] 11 points 4 months ago

Yup, this is going to be their first stop

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[–] [email protected] 139 points 4 months ago (5 children)

I just made a Lenny account because of this. Fuck them

[–] [email protected] 22 points 4 months ago (16 children)

I’ve switched to using this as well but it has very little user interaction. I hope it grows and is able to compete with Reddit one day. It would be nice to be able to go to a basketball or political subreddit (what do we call them here?) and actually be able to have a nice conversation.

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

It would be great to have people like you on https://fediverser.network. Follow the subreddits that you miss from there and use to promote the Lemmy alternatives.

And I hope to see you soon on [email protected]. :)

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

they're called lemmy communities, and there's plenty of interaction! honestly it reminds me of the old days on Reddit before it ballooned into the monster it is today, I legitimately prefer it in every way other than lacking the niche communities (looking at you [email protected] >.>)

you can find good political discussion in [email protected] or [email protected]

dunno if there's any good basketball communities tho, not my bag lol

[–] [email protected] 7 points 4 months ago (1 children)

Thank you! And I like the interactions I’ve had so far. It’s just that I’m a huge NBA fan and that’s where I spent most of my time on Reddit. The nba Lemmy community isn’t very big yet but I’m trying to change that by being more active here. I really enjoy this and it feels like actual discussions can be had here unlike on Reddit.

[–] [email protected] 7 points 4 months ago* (last edited 4 months ago) (1 children)

Lemmy is naturally more focused on technology, so sports communities will probably continue to be mostly on Reddit.

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[–] [email protected] 7 points 4 months ago
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[–] [email protected] 62 points 4 months ago* (last edited 4 months ago) (8 children)

I think this comes down to what the intentions are

Paywall /r/videos? Fuck off.

But create a system like Patreon where a content creator can put their own content and interact with their own users and there's a revenue share between reddit/creator that doesn't sound terrible.

If they're gonna do it on Patreon, why not try and lure them to reddit?

[–] [email protected] 14 points 4 months ago* (last edited 4 months ago) (4 children)

Just had some more thoughts on this as well.

If Reddit can lure Patreon users, they could also likely protect that content creators data from being shared on the platform. The creator uploads a commissioned drawing for it's paid users, and then someone tries to copy it and show it in /r/pics. But since reddit has the source image, they could be scanning for identical images by hash, or matching images via AI and then prevent it from being posted outside the community.

It definitely isn't THAT easy, but it opens up the potential, and being able to tell your potential customers you have tools to help prevent unauthorized sharing on a prolific platform probably has some merit.

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

Don't make me dream....

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[–] [email protected] 16 points 4 months ago (3 children)

Okay now which one are we all expecting?

[–] [email protected] 22 points 4 months ago

Honestly, they'll probably paywall porn first

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

Starting with the second but eventually the first

[–] [email protected] 12 points 4 months ago (1 children)

Welcome to /r/PremierCatPics where only the best of the best cat pics are allowed to be posted, moderated only by yours truly, ME!

If you want to see the best of the best cat pics, that'll be $9.99/month, you won't find cat pics this good in one spot easier anywhere on the internet!

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[–] [email protected] 25 points 4 months ago (1 children)

Rotating paywalls on any sub greater than 10,000 users.

[–] [email protected] 7 points 4 months ago

I hope they do that. Another brick in the wall for reddit's demise.

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[–] [email protected] 13 points 4 months ago (1 children)

I'm assuming this is going to be more like a creator space type thing like patreon/OF. It will make reddit worse of course because patreon and OF already exist we don't need reddit for that but as long as they aren't trying to paywall user generated content on existing subs I don't really care that much tbh.

If they paywall my old comments that I've left up to help others I'm going to go back and delete them.

[–] [email protected] 5 points 4 months ago (1 children)

I could also see them banning outside links for patreon etc if they're trying to take over that space and get a cut. Huh, guess they're not happy just getting money from user content, they might feel like they deserve part of the creator's profits as well.

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

As long as the creator knows what they're getting into when they make a paid subreddit it doesn't really bother me. And it's honestly probably a good plan monetarily for reddit. But just like when games started adding microtransactions it's likely to change the core of reddit even further from what I used to like about it. But I'm on lemmy now anyway...

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

My guess is he wants to monetize the onlyfans posters. "Subscribe to my subreddit for $5 a month!"

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

Yeah, creating a venue for sex work is the only plausible use case.

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