Given how Reddit has responded to the whole API, community-mods, etc. fiasco, I felt like they’re doing some of the more effective things in not only destroying their communities but also their IPO valuation.
Everytime I feel they can’t make it worse, they just double down.
Out of pure curiosity, what do you think could be the next steps Reddit could take to make their future even more worse in the most effective ways possible? 😄
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Get rid of old.reddit (im not count that - it’s low hanging fruit)
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Block web access on mobile.
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Require non-VoIP SMS for signup and login
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Lock all content behind a loginwall, Pinterest/(& Twitter?) style
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Lock replies and posts behind a paid tier
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Lock content more than x months old behind a paid tier
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Eliminate all NSFW content
0, 1, and 6 will all probably happen soon.
I can see 0,1 and 6 happening.
3 Wont happens since it would kill their google traffic, but considering how things have been going they might do it.
Pigboy loves his Papa Elon, he can’t wait to see him half naked to fight The Bot.
1 would also kill a ton of their google traffic
Getting rid of old reddit is a given at this point.
And since u/spez is following the Elon business model, I would imagine locking content behind a paywall is next.
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Kill off Old Reddit and force everyone to use the redesigned site. Lock as many useful features behind Reddit Premium as possible. Take a page from Tumblr and ban NSFW content to be more friendly to advertisers. Those are just a few things off the top of my head. Maybe do something with crypto and NFTs. People love that.
They already have NFTs. They call them “collectible avatars” apparently. I was on old reddit, so I never saw them
Ban NSFW posts entirely. Require subreddits to pay to be private. Take over/shut down subs that don’t make enough ad revenue for their subscriber count. Corporate sponsored/run subreddits plus taking over popular subs to hand over to corporate sponsors. New premium currency to spend on enhanced up/down votes (10x effect normal votes, no limit to use on posts/comments). Newer Reddit to replace old and new Reddit. Updated app required to browse on mobile, requires notification permissions to run. Ban subreddit customization. Subs must allow image posts and use chat. Block linking to 3rd party image and video hosts.
Pretty confident NSFW porn content ban will be coming quick. Seems like their next step to making reddit more advertiser friendly.
Why do I feel like Spez would be reading your comment and taking notes? 100% sounds like something he’d do to appease the investors …
Following twitters current move (intentional or not) of requiring the users to log in to see or do anything
Okay, but I honestly would have been okay if spez had announced that this would have gone into effect July 1 instead of API changes. I would have loved to live on reddit forever in a walled garden.
Next bad decision: no usernames, you must use your actual government name and verify not by email, but with a photo or photoscan of a government-issued ID. This will be done in the name of cracking down on bots and troll farms, but will have the unintended consequence of driving off anyone with half a brain cell about how your internet history can come back to haunt you straight off the platform.
Ooooo- that’s a good one! They should require a full scan of a verification document like a RealID drivers license or passport.
@swnt Spez will just keep doing what he’s doing because he doesn’t know how to be different. Who knows what new counterproductive idea he’ll force on the people there. Fidelity just reduced the valuation of the company - again. At some point between Fidelity and Tencen the investors may throw his ass out, which would be fitting. Eventually happens to people with Hubris like his.
And apparently the devaluation has lag-time and hasn’t even caught up the this whole fiasco yet.
Business does Net 90
Do nothing about the obvious bot reposts overwhelming the first page of /r/all
This has been the case for at least 6-8 years. I remember people used to call them out for a while, but then even that stopped.
Selling “Blue Check” Verified accounts for a subscription. Well, I mean after killing NSFW content. Obviously.
- Reddit Platinum/Premium/Orange gives you an orange check by your name, for the low cost of $10/month
- old.reddit actually still exists, but only if you pay for Reddit Platinum
- In order to vote you must have Reddit Platinum
- Actually, in order to become a moderator you must have Reddit Platinum - that’s right, you have to pay them to volunteer. And you still have to follow the Mod Code of Conduct.
Time to kill OldReddit. Let’s get everyone onto the gloriously redesigned Reddit.
Not only that but release a new new reddit so you can piss off all the users that got used to old new reddit
newnewreddit: 10 adds per post, every subreddit is blended together, and the comments from random other posts are added to every post. also the orangered vs periwinkle april fools weapons get added and cost money
Brilliant. Send Spez your résumé!
hahaha this is probably the best one here
New new reddit: Actual posts are limited to one per page. All other posts are bots or adverts. The real post moves away from the mouse pointer as you approach it. Gotta catch that post! Sometimes the bots/adverts posts will jump in front of the bullet (mouse click) to save the actual post (sometimes = most of the time).
Ignore the power of communities like r/WallStreetBets to fuck up their IPO
To stop scrappers, offer the same pricing as API to anyone using the web version of reddit. (New or old doesn’t matter.) Ordinary users have to pay, per thousand comments, to see reddit.
Actually, do the same thing with the official app (since folks could otherwise use it for free and take screenshots or something). But leave the ads in too.
Cut 50% of paid staff to save costs. Then the subreddits have free reign to post NSFW or whatnot without consequences.
Another great way to save staffing costs: give powermods access to the admin tools as well. Free admin labor!
Publicly announce that Reddit is now collaborating with Tencent to match usernames with people’s real identities so they can sell that data to background checking companies, law enforcement, Facebook, and the Chinese government, specifically.
Because… How else are they going to make money from NSFW communities if they’re not going to sell ads in those spaces‽ Blackmailers will pay good money for that data!
Then they won’t protect the data very well so it will get hacked (or just stolen by rogue employees) and sold on the dark web. That headline would be fun.
Remember folks: To ensure no one can blackmail you with data taken from Reddit make sure to poison it by having a script login as you and visit all sorts of NSFW communities 👍
So when someone comes to you in the future saying they have data showing you visited <whatever> subreddit you can say, “my account visited more than that! You got ripped off!” 😁
