20 votes

Reddit is launching "RPAN" live streaming as a time-limited experiment for this week, but it will become a permanent feature soon

19 comments

  1. [3]
    balooga
    Link
    I know I'm an old fuddy-duddy, out of touch with those whippersnapper kids today, but I have zero interest in either streaming myself or watching streams of others. Tildes is more my speed but...

    I know I'm an old fuddy-duddy, out of touch with those whippersnapper kids today, but I have zero interest in either streaming myself or watching streams of others.

    Tildes is more my speed but just because of volume of content I still use Reddit too. I'd categorize the site as "a link aggregator with discussions," not as "social media." There's plenty of social media already on the web. Too much. I don't view it as a good thing that Reddit is trying to elbow its way into that group.

    19 votes
    1. [2]
      nothis
      Link Parent
      It just comes off as desperate when reddit does it. Do they even have the faintest idea of what their brand is?

      It just comes off as desperate when reddit does it. Do they even have the faintest idea of what their brand is?

      4 votes
      1. [2]
        Comment deleted by author
        Link Parent
        1. balooga
          Link Parent
          I'm still bitter about what they did to Victoria. Reddit's complete disconnect with mods and users is not a new problem.

          I'm still bitter about what they did to Victoria. Reddit's complete disconnect with mods and users is not a new problem.

          4 votes
  2. [6]
    Bullmaestro
    Link
    Wait, they're copying social media features and shoehorning them into Reddit when the user base is probably the least receptive and most sceptical community towards social media? Definitely the...

    Wait, they're copying social media features and shoehorning them into Reddit when the user base is probably the least receptive and most sceptical community towards social media? Definitely the whimpers of a dying platform right here.

    Why would Reddit try to enter a market that is heavily saturated with heavy amounts of competition? To explain what I mean by competition:

    • Twitch - Gaming, creative and IRL livestreaming website with a partner program and a tipjar for popular creators. Owned by Amazon.
    • Afreeca - Gaming, creative and IRL livestream platform with a tipjar for creators. Popular in Korea, not so much everywhere else.
    • Smashcast - Gaming livestream platform, formerly known as Hitbox.tv, but acquired by Azubu, and with the shutdown of Azubu, rebranded to Smashcast. Hardly has a user base anymore.
    • Dingit - An esports focused streaming platform. This one is generally hated by gaming communities over their adblocking policies and the fact that you once had to use a proprietary plugin to watch streams on there.
    • Mixer - Microsoft's equivalent to Twitch. Same features.
    • Facebook - Not only is this the world's most popular social network, but it has live video, has a partner program with creators, and has been trying to largely push Facebook Live streams through exclusivity contracts, for example ESL's Dota 2 streams.
    • Periscope - A well-established mobile livestreaming app owned by Twitter.
    • Instagram - Has IG Live and is fast becoming a big alternative to Facebook. Also owned by Facebook.
    • Instant messaging apps like Whatsapp, Kik, Viber, WeChat, LINE, Telegram, Discord, etc. Many of these have livestreaming and story sharing features though aren't really designed for mass audiences in mind. Unlike Reddit, most of these have end-to-end encryption too.
    • Dailymotion - A pretty decent YouTube alternative. Popular in France but not anywhere else.
    • YouTube Live - Yes, YouTube does livestreaming now, and it's a relatively popular platform to stream on. Also has a partner program which compensates creators.

    And a bigger question: aside from Reddit having a pretty huge user base, why the fuck would you want to either stream or watch a stream hosted on Reddit when there's much better alternatives?

    14 votes
    1. [4]
      MetArtScroll
      Link Parent
      It looks like as any other site inspiring to become a universal social medium, Reddit does not want its users to switch to any other site (cf. clicking on a Reddit link post in the old Reddit...

      why the fuck would you want to either stream or watch a stream hosted on Reddit when there's much better alternatives?

      It looks like as any other site inspiring to become a universal social medium, Reddit does not want its users to switch to any other site (cf. clicking on a Reddit link post in the old Reddit brings you to the source, but on the Redesigh it brings you to the comments).


      becoming a big alternative to Facebook. Also owned by Facebook.

      You have a good sense of humour.

      9 votes
      1. [3]
        Bullmaestro
        Link Parent
        If they don’t want their users to switch to another site, they really should stop alienating communities by changing the goalposts on what is right and wrong all the time, and stop with the...

        If they don’t want their users to switch to another site, they really should stop alienating communities by changing the goalposts on what is right and wrong all the time, and stop with the quarantining of communities. They should also take a stand against moderator abuses of power and actually enforce their own mod guidelines instead of acting like mods are entitled to do what the hell they want.

        A website can’t claim to be the bastion of free speech then censor on the scale that Reddit has.

        I don’t think Reddit is too big to fall at this stage, and I feel like they’re one big scandal or mishap away from driving their user base away towards an alternative site like Snapzu, Steemit or Saidit. Either of these could benefit from having more users, especially Saidit to drown out the crazies.

        2 votes
        1. Wes
          (edited )
          Link Parent
          Modiquette is enforced about as consistently as reddiquette - meaning not at all. From the beginning, letting mods do as they pleased with their communities has been reddit's MO. And that's okay,...

          They should also take a stand against moderator abuses of power and actually enforce their own mod guidelines instead of acting like mods are entitled to do what the hell they want.

          Modiquette is enforced about as consistently as reddiquette - meaning not at all. From the beginning, letting mods do as they pleased with their communities has been reddit's MO.

          And that's okay, because user democracy works by choosing the communities they want to be a part of. Generally speaking, if you create a community then you can set the rules as you see fit.

          3 votes
        2. MetArtScroll
          Link Parent
          By “switching to another site” I meant following a link out of Reddit. I basically agree with your concerns about Reddit. However, it looks like Reddit decided to become a general social medium...

          By “switching to another site” I meant following a link out of Reddit. I basically agree with your concerns about Reddit. However, it looks like Reddit decided to become a general social medium with a focus on easily consumed content like pictures and memes. Indeed, the users oriented to such content are most profitable for advertisers.

          I would not be surprised if Reddit gradually removes and bans all content that even might cause controversy, such as NSFW and, most probably after there is a different US president, all politics. This would not make Reddit “die” or even “fall,” but as the sidebar of r/WatchRedditDie reads (emphasis mine),

          Reddit is a rotting whale carcass washing up on the shores of irrelevancy.

          2 votes
    2. hamstergeddon
      Link Parent
      I find the branding interesting and clever (a take on CSPAN), but aside from that this isn't really interesting to me. Although I've never really been into livestreaming, so that could be why.

      I find the branding interesting and clever (a take on CSPAN), but aside from that this isn't really interesting to me. Although I've never really been into livestreaming, so that could be why.

      2 votes
  3. Algernon_Asimov
    Link
    It's not obvious to me. I haven't spent the past 8 years on Reddit pining for the obviously missing ability to stream live video. I haven't spent the past 18 months waiting for the redesign to...

    For Reddit, which has been on a path toward modernizing its platform since cofounder Steve Huffman rejoined the company four years ago, livestreaming felt like an obvious next step.

    It's not obvious to me. I haven't spent the past 8 years on Reddit pining for the obviously missing ability to stream live video. I haven't spent the past 18 months waiting for the redesign to deliver the obviously necessary feature to stream live video. It never occurred to me that I might want to video something and broadcast it in real time to strangers on the internet.

    9 votes
  4. shiruken
    Link
    I haven't been able to access it on the website yet but I found where they're archiving all of the RPAN broadcasts: r/pan_media Using the PushShift API, we can see all of the submissions that make...

    I haven't been able to access it on the website yet but I found where they're archiving all of the RPAN broadcasts: r/pan_media

    Using the PushShift API, we can see all of the submissions that make it past AutoModerator, which is lagging quite badly right now. Since Reddit is imposing a 100 concurrent stream limit with a maximum runtime of 30 minutes, I can't link to any specific stream here without it expiring. However if you open one of the .m3u8 links in VLC you should be able to see the live feed.

    8 votes
  5. [6]
    MetArtScroll
    Link
    From the official announcement (the link was mentioned by Deimos in comments here; emphasis mine): If this is for editors around the world, then why is it limited to the working hours in an...

    From the official announcement (the link was mentioned by Deimos in comments here; emphasis mine):

    Starting August 19 until 5PM PT, and from 9AM-5PM PT through Friday, August 23, redditors around the world will be able to create live broadcasts.

    If this is for editors around the world, then why is it limited to the working hours in an extremely excentrical, 16th most populous time zone? And was it too difficult to provide UTC (also, is PT PST or PDT—do not expect everyone to know whether daylight saving is observed in your place)?

    3 votes
    1. [5]
      Deimos
      Link Parent
      They need to have employees (I expect quite a few of them) monitoring this very, very closely so that it doesn't go horribly wrong in all the ways that it could.

      They need to have employees (I expect quite a few of them) monitoring this very, very closely so that it doesn't go horribly wrong in all the ways that it could.

      4 votes
      1. [4]
        MetArtScroll
        Link Parent
        Yes, but is Reddit that small to be unable to have a few employees outside the Pacific Time Zone?

        Yes, but is Reddit that small to be unable to have a few employees outside the Pacific Time Zone?

        1. [3]
          Deimos
          Link Parent
          They're over 500 employees now (from the bottom of this article from last week): Other than the SF office they're all quite small though, and only the Ireland one is really in a meaningfully...

          They're over 500 employees now (from the bottom of this article from last week):

          Reddit employs more than 500 people in its offices in San Francisco, New York, Los Angeles, Chicago and in Dublin, Ireland.

          Other than the SF office they're all quite small though, and only the Ireland one is really in a meaningfully different time zone.

          Overall, I think this is intended to be much more of a publicity stunt than something that's really intended for the whole userbase. They're probably terrified of something bad happening while they're drawing so much attention to it by putting it at the top of the site and apps.

          2 votes
          1. [2]
            MetArtScroll
            Link Parent
            When I follow the link, I see But I believe you (I know, GDPR, I know). Still, the fact that the announcement only mentions the Pacific Time (not even bothering about daylight saving—in all...

            When I follow the link, I see

            Unfortunately, our website is currently unavailable in most European countries. We are engaged on the issue and committed to looking at options that support our full range of digital offerings to the EU market. We continue to identify technical compliance solutions that will provide all readers with our award-winning journalism.

            But I believe you (I know, GDPR, I know). Still, the fact that the announcement only mentions the Pacific Time (not even bothering about daylight saving—in all previous cases I registered, they at least specified PDT or PST) proves my point that

            I often have an impression that not only is Reddit an American website with other countries being a tolerated extension, but that Reddit has never grown up from being a San Francisco Bay Area local project with the rest of the world at best generously tolerated.

            2 votes
            1. [2]
              Comment deleted by author
              Link Parent
              1. MetArtScroll
                (edited )
                Link Parent
                One (a person anywhere on Earth: think of Asia, Africa, etc.) cannot be expected to know where and when daylight saving is applied. Edit: also, Alaska Daylight = UTC-8 = Pacific Standard

                One (a person anywhere on Earth: think of Asia, Africa, etc.) cannot be expected to know where and when daylight saving is applied.

                Edit: also, Alaska Daylight = UTC-8 = Pacific Standard