31 votes

Reddit hires its first chief financial officer as it prepares for an IPO

59 comments

  1. [9]
    Deimos
    (edited )
    Link
    I don't understand why so many people (here and elsewhere) are acting like this is a major development that drastically changes the future of Reddit. They've been saying they're going to IPO for...

    I don't understand why so many people (here and elsewhere) are acting like this is a major development that drastically changes the future of Reddit. They've been saying they're going to IPO for years, and have already taken longer than the estimate they gave there. They started taking hundreds of millions of dollars in venture capital about three and a half years ago, and have taken almost a billion dollars now.

    With investments like that, there's no other path forward except an IPO, acquisition, or other "exit event" (personally, I think they're likely to get in on the current SPAC trend). This is just one more point along the same track they've been on for a long time.

    30 votes
    1. [3]
      Amarok
      Link Parent
      People have had their coats on for a while now, to borrow a line from Shirky. They are just looking for a reason to leave, and the IPO/tracking tarpit is a convenient excuse to do what they've...

      People have had their coats on for a while now, to borrow a line from Shirky. They are just looking for a reason to leave, and the IPO/tracking tarpit is a convenient excuse to do what they've already decided they would do as they like the place less and less.

      13 votes
      1. [2]
        Good_Apollo
        Link Parent
        I started thinking about Reddit alternatives like 2 years ago, then a year ago I started looking. Here I am. Reddit’s been changing for years now but @Deimos really opened my eyes to the fact that...

        I started thinking about Reddit alternatives like 2 years ago, then a year ago I started looking. Here I am.

        Reddit’s been changing for years now but @Deimos really opened my eyes to the fact that it’s really changed, like fundamentally and I didn’t even fully grasp it as a primary desktop user with an Adblock and RES. Reddit is unrecognizable today...the writing has really been on the wall for awhile but some people may have been slower to recognize it like me and even still I felt something was up.

        12 votes
        1. vakieh
          Link Parent
          My Reddit exit trigger is when they start closing old doors. Right now my personal Reddit experience (community notwithstanding) is precisely the same as it was nearly a decade ago. I use...

          My Reddit exit trigger is when they start closing old doors. Right now my personal Reddit experience (community notwithstanding) is precisely the same as it was nearly a decade ago. I use old.reddit. I have custom CSS disabled. I use an adblocker to remove every new feature they have pushed on people - chat, the new 'presence indicator', inline preview loading, infinite scroll. I have link hijacking disabled. I use legacy modmail. I use baconreader rather than the official app.

          So long as that continues I will likely continue to use Reddit. The day it stops working is the day Reddit is dead to me.

          10 votes
    2. [4]
      stu2b50
      Link Parent
      I'm kinda confused why going public seems to be taken so negatively here. It's fairly normal for companies of this size to go public - it forces companies into more rigorous regularity...

      I'm kinda confused why going public seems to be taken so negatively here. It's fairly normal for companies of this size to go public - it forces companies into more rigorous regularity requirements, including regular SEC filings as well as public numbers, and allows insiders to liquidate and allows outsiders that aren't institutional investors to join, and hypothetically produces a more accurate long term valuation. In return they have easier access to financing.

      It's not like ownership has to change when a company goes public. While traditionally it was common for the IPO to the point where the founders sold enough equity to lose majority stake, you don't have to do that. Not only can you just go public without the public offering, like Asana or Roblox, in which case there is zero inherent transfer of ownership, or you could simply not offer that large a chunk of equity, or you could use a nontraditional scheme for voting rights.

      Facebook, for instance, is public, but it's still Zuck's kingdom - his word is the law, because he still has majority voting rights despite being a minority shareholder.

      It's perfectly fair to dislike the path that Reddit has gone, but I don't see this as anything discontinuous from what they'd do if they weren't public.

      9 votes
      1. [3]
        babypuncher
        Link Parent
        People don't like the growth-oriented direction Reddit has taken in recent years, and an IPO is likely to make that problem worse as hungry shareholders demand constant short term growth.

        People don't like the growth-oriented direction Reddit has taken in recent years, and an IPO is likely to make that problem worse as hungry shareholders demand constant short term growth.

        15 votes
        1. [2]
          stu2b50
          Link Parent
          But what about going public means more any more growth-seeking than right now? Again, going public does not mean that there has to be any movement of ownership. Especially for tech companies, who...

          But what about going public means more any more growth-seeking than right now? Again, going public does not mean that there has to be any movement of ownership. Especially for tech companies, who are more audacious in their corporate structure, it's very common for tech companies to go public with the new shareholders having basically 0 voice.

          Zuck's shares get to have 10x the voting power a normal share does. Palantir has the most ridiculous example; the three founders have variable voting rights - they literally will have the majority vote no matter how many shares they actually own.

          Asana and Palantir and later Roblox also didn't even sell any stock going public, they went through a direct listing. Employee float went into the public markets but that was their prerogative to sell and of course majority ownership didn't change.

          idk I don't see how more SEC scrutiny + public numbers and the ability for the public to invest is inherently a bad thing.

          Reddit's been on a growth mindset for ages now. This doesn't seem to change anything. They have never, ever, since they sold the company to Conde Nast and spun off had any inclination that they were happy not being a hyper growth social media company.

          5 votes
          1. vektor
            Link Parent
            Couldn't it even be the opposite? Venture capital do highly risky investments, so they want a lot of money back, ideally quickly. Compare that to stock investors, some of whom invest with a...

            But what about going public means more any more growth-seeking than right now?

            Couldn't it even be the opposite? Venture capital do highly risky investments, so they want a lot of money back, ideally quickly. Compare that to stock investors, some of whom invest with a timeframe of years, sometimes decades. Venture capital -imho- are already the greedy fucks we're worried about, the rest of the finance world is no worse, and some of them are better.

            3 votes
    3. MonkeyPants
      Link Parent
      I for one will read the S-1 with great relish. I hope Reddit has kept some of that billion dollars on tap. With rates heading the way they are I think some of the upcoming IPOs are going to have a...

      I for one will read the S-1 with great relish.

      I hope Reddit has kept some of that billion dollars on tap.

      With rates heading the way they are I think some of the upcoming IPOs are going to have a rough time of it.

      4 votes
  2. [14]
    streblo
    Link
    I don't like the direction Reddit is moving either, but I'm not going to delete my account as of yet. For now its an incredibly useful tool in the wide variety of niche subreddits that exist. If...

    I don't like the direction Reddit is moving either, but I'm not going to delete my account as of yet.

    For now its an incredibly useful tool in the wide variety of niche subreddits that exist. If that relationship ever becomes untenable and the communities move elsewhere I will follow them but I think we're pretty far away from that point for now for most communities.

    19 votes
    1. skybrian
      Link Parent
      Yes, deleting accounts seems drastic. How about just logging out and not using it for a while? If you don’t use it then it seems more like LinkedIn, just another stale social graph about what...

      Yes, deleting accounts seems drastic. How about just logging out and not using it for a while?

      If you don’t use it then it seems more like LinkedIn, just another stale social graph about what people used to do. I suppose it could be bad if you’re not using good opsec?

      But in the case of Reddit, creating a new account is pretty easy and history often doesn’t matter too much, so it’s little harm done.

      8 votes
    2. [4]
      teaearlgraycold
      Link Parent
      Even though I put in some effort to avoid the worst of Reddit, I still pick up far too much toxic behavior when reading comments there. As I’ve started to talk with a therapist over the last few...

      Even though I put in some effort to avoid the worst of Reddit, I still pick up far too much toxic behavior when reading comments there. As I’ve started to talk with a therapist over the last few months I’ve realized how miserable many redditors are. They’re a bad influence on my mental health.

      If you use Reddit solely for a few niche subreddits you’re still fine. But I can’t keep myself away from the general feeds while I’m still on there, so I’m leaving completely.

      7 votes
      1. [3]
        streblo
        Link Parent
        Yea I generally avoid /r/all and /r/popular unless there's some large cultural event happening. The SNR of those and the largest subs is just way too low and like you said full of toxicity.

        Yea I generally avoid /r/all and /r/popular unless there's some large cultural event happening. The SNR of those and the largest subs is just way too low and like you said full of toxicity.

        4 votes
        1. [2]
          teaearlgraycold
          Link Parent
          Sadly it seems like every day there’s a large cultural event

          Sadly it seems like every day there’s a large cultural event

          1 vote
          1. elcuello
            Link Parent
            Therein lies some of your problems. No, there's not it just seems like it because your there. You'd be surprised how little attention (and rightly so) a lot of big "things" on reddit gets in real...

            Therein lies some of your problems. No, there's not it just seems like it because your there. You'd be surprised how little attention (and rightly so) a lot of big "things" on reddit gets in real life once you just don't read about them.

            3 votes
    3. [8]
      Amarok
      (edited )
      Link Parent
      You can use RES to follow subreddits and create multis of your favorite communities without an account - the account itself only matters if you want to make comments or submissions. When blocking...

      You can use RES to follow subreddits and create multis of your favorite communities without an account - the account itself only matters if you want to make comments or submissions. When blocking out all image hosting sites and video hosting sites and major news outlets, /r/all is almost interesting again, though you'll be lucky to see 3 out of 25 posts on each page.

      4 votes
      1. [7]
        streblo
        Link Parent
        I don't understand the point of deleting an account and continuing to use the site? I mind as well keep my account with saved submissions and the ability to comment if I'm going to be driving...

        I don't understand the point of deleting an account and continuing to use the site?

        I mind as well keep my account with saved submissions and the ability to comment if I'm going to be driving their user engagement metrics/advertising anyways.

        4 votes
        1. [6]
          Amarok
          Link Parent
          Ditching the account avoids most of their tracking, and there are still some (less every day) good places buried in that mess. Most of them at 25k or fewer subscriptions in my experience.

          Ditching the account avoids most of their tracking, and there are still some (less every day) good places buried in that mess. Most of them at 25k or fewer subscriptions in my experience.

          8 votes
          1. [5]
            streblo
            Link Parent
            That's true. In my case I think I value the account abilities more so than my avoiding my anonymous account's interests being linked together.

            That's true. In my case I think I value the account abilities more so than my avoiding my anonymous account's interests being linked together.

            2 votes
            1. [4]
              Amarok
              Link Parent
              I don't miss the temptation of the reply box, the spam in my inbox, the endless chat requests, or upvoting/downvoting buttons. It's like looking at it through sealed glass, best way to browse the...

              I don't miss the temptation of the reply box, the spam in my inbox, the endless chat requests, or upvoting/downvoting buttons. It's like looking at it through sealed glass, best way to browse the place for me.

              The only thing that would get me on an account there again is handing out Tildes invites if we get buried in requests from /r/tildes.

              3 votes
              1. [3]
                streblo
                Link Parent
                Yah fair enough. As someone who only gets messaged within a two week window when I comment/post something (which is pretty rare) my scenario is quite a bit different than an active moderator or...

                Yah fair enough. As someone who only gets messaged within a two week window when I comment/post something (which is pretty rare) my scenario is quite a bit different than an active moderator or power user.

                2 votes
                1. [2]
                  Amarok
                  Link Parent
                  If your account is in the top spot in the list, I think you get a fair share of the people who want to 'message the moderators' - which of course puts it in my inbox instead of the mod queue where...

                  If your account is in the top spot in the list, I think you get a fair share of the people who want to 'message the moderators' - which of course puts it in my inbox instead of the mod queue where all the mods can see it and respond to it together in a timely manner. I wasn't fond of being 'on call' like that thanks to reddit's inane user interface.

                  3 votes
                  1. Wes
                    Link Parent
                    I have a "How to contact the moderators" entry in the FAQ. I reply with a link to that whenever I get those.

                    I have a "How to contact the moderators" entry in the FAQ. I reply with a link to that whenever I get those.

                    2 votes
  3. jcdl
    Link
    I’m totally fine with Reddit dying. It’ll save me hours a week.

    I’m totally fine with Reddit dying. It’ll save me hours a week.

    11 votes
  4. [27]
    acdw
    Link
    Bah, I'm really thinking I should delete my Reddit account, what with the "user is online" thing they're doing, and now this news -- I feel it's only going to get stupider.

    Bah, I'm really thinking I should delete my Reddit account, what with the "user is online" thing they're doing, and now this news -- I feel it's only going to get stupider.

    8 votes
    1. [9]
      hamstergeddon
      Link Parent
      Well, I did it. Deleted all 5 of my accounts, included my "prized" original account going back 12 years. I've long felt like reddit's argumentative, disrespectful, pedantic, and snarky bullshit...

      Well, I did it. Deleted all 5 of my accounts, included my "prized" original account going back 12 years. I've long felt like reddit's argumentative, disrespectful, pedantic, and snarky bullshit has rubbed off on me and seeped into my real life and other communities and I need to put an end to it anyway. The IPO and online status is just a convenient excuse to do it.

      10 votes
      1. [6]
        Amarok
        (edited )
        Link Parent
        I nuked all of mine, handed off all the subs I moderated some time ago (including the top slot in l2t). Feels good not to give a damn about that wretched hive anymore. Practically every mod post...

        I nuked all of mine, handed off all the subs I moderated some time ago (including the top slot in l2t). Feels good not to give a damn about that wretched hive anymore. Practically every mod post and roundup and bestof in listentothis got vaporized with it, more than ten years of history - I was the only mod that ever regularly interacted with the community there. Multis moved to the l2t account, bestofs archived in the wiki, but I'm not leaving my account behind. That's my content, not theirs, and I don't want them having it anymore.

        May I recommend j0be's powerdelete suite if you want to obliterate all of your comments and submissions like I did. I don't recommend the feature that lets you edit all your older comments to leave a message in them - reddit can detect that and will block it. The deletion/archiving still works without issue though. It can save your history (and every comment) into an excel sheet for you so you won't lose it after deletion.

        If you want to be thorough like I was, delete everything today using that tool but leave the account, and run it again each day for a couple of days. Reddit's shit servers will still be coughing up posts it forgot it had after you nuke all the available comments. It takes a day or so for the backend to catch up and start serving up the old content for the script to find and delete.

        9 votes
        1. [5]
          arghdos
          Link Parent
          I consider doing the same, but it’s just easier to... not. I’m extremely lazy with online things these days because of our semi-traumatic experience modding music subs. Between that, programming...

          I consider doing the same, but it’s just easier to... not. I’m extremely lazy with online things these days because of our semi-traumatic experience modding music subs. Between that, programming all day and a vague sense of wanting “my” content to be available in case it makes some hypothetical user happy.... haven’t pulled the trigger yet.

          I guess I’m too burnt out to even do anything but minimal online upkeep at this point?

          4 votes
          1. [4]
            Amarok
            Link Parent
            What amuses me most is that on the day when kap has had enough, your account is going to land at the top spot of several music subs. You're next in line, we started so many of them together after all.

            What amuses me most is that on the day when kap has had enough, your account is going to land at the top spot of several music subs. You're next in line, we started so many of them together after all.

            4 votes
            1. [3]
              arghdos
              Link Parent
              I’ve lived long enough to become what I used to hate (absent moderator) lol. I should just resign the mod privileges for all the subs, but then how would I indulge your occasional experiments :p

              I’ve lived long enough to become what I used to hate (absent moderator) lol. I should just resign the mod privileges for all the subs, but then how would I indulge your occasional experiments :p

              5 votes
              1. Flashynuff
                Link Parent
                you'd think that for a website so dependent on volunteer moderation, they would work on addressing the absent top mod -> overworked other mods -> mod burn out -> absent top mod cycle. it's not...

                you'd think that for a website so dependent on volunteer moderation, they would work on addressing the absent top mod -> overworked other mods -> mod burn out -> absent top mod cycle. it's not like it's new or anything

                3 votes
              2. Amarok
                Link Parent
                Heh. You are now the proud owner of /r/truelistentothis. It's already happening.

                Heh. You are now the proud owner of /r/truelistentothis. It's already happening.

                1 vote
      2. occ
        Link Parent
        I’m only still there to help moderate a subreddit I’m particularly passionate about, and because are a few subreddits that are worth subscribing to that you can’t find anywhere else, like...

        I’m only still there to help moderate a subreddit I’m particularly passionate about, and because are a few subreddits that are worth subscribing to that you can’t find anywhere else, like r/gunners (a lot of Arsenal fan forums can be incredibly toxic, r/gunners is probably the least toxic one I’ve found). If both of those things are no longer true at some point, I’ll probably also delete.

        I’ve definitely heavily withdrawn from reddit in the past few years, however. Gone are the days of modding ~30 large subreddits for hours a day doing my bit to help improve the site. I became disillusioned by the changes to reddit and quit the vast majority of the subreddits I was a moderator on.

        3 votes
      3. acdw
        Link Parent
        Same! Welcome to the rest of our lives!

        Same! Welcome to the rest of our lives!

        1 vote
    2. [3]
      zonk
      Link Parent
      I'm still more pissed about the hidden privacy changes they've pushed just a few days before the online indicator thing. It was coincidentally also hidden in r/changelog, hahah.

      I'm still more pissed about the hidden privacy changes they've pushed just a few days before the online indicator thing. It was coincidentally also hidden in r/changelog, hahah.

      8 votes
      1. acdw
        Link Parent
        Yah, that's what first got me all -_- on Reddit (this time around, haha). Other than the addicty-type feeling I get when I scroll around on there mindlessly, of course.

        Yah, that's what first got me all -_- on Reddit (this time around, haha). Other than the addicty-type feeling I get when I scroll around on there mindlessly, of course.

    3. [14]
      bloup
      Link Parent
      Yeah, honestly, it's because of straight addict behavior that I haven't actually deleted my reddit account yet. As soon as I learned about online presence indicators, and how they will leak if you...

      Yeah, honestly, it's because of straight addict behavior that I haven't actually deleted my reddit account yet. As soon as I learned about online presence indicators, and how they will leak if you turned them off or not, I decided that if they ever roll them out completely that's it for me.

      Thanks for helping me quit reddit, reddit.

      Here's a fun thought, what if you were able to coordinate a gigantic mass account-deletion moments before the IPO goes live that destroys all their precious metrics?

      7 votes
      1. [9]
        teaearlgraycold
        Link Parent
        I just deleted my account. I'll figure out what to do with the time. I used to spend a good couple hours per day in a certain Twitch channel where I'd been subscribed for years. One day the...

        Yeah, honestly, it's because of straight addict behavior that I haven't actually deleted my reddit account yet.

        I just deleted my account. I'll figure out what to do with the time.

        I used to spend a good couple hours per day in a certain Twitch channel where I'd been subscribed for years. One day the streamer said something about how physical abuse of children isn't always wrong. I ask them to clarify, they refused. So I left immediately and never came back. Honestly, I should have reported the channel as well. I was able to fill the time with something else. I'll be able to find something else to do without reddit.

        6 votes
        1. [7]
          acdw
          Link Parent
          This is a great attitude, and I hope I can also do it. Let's start a ~noreddit community here :P

          I'll be able to find something else to do without reddit.

          This is a great attitude, and I hope I can also do it. Let's start a ~noreddit community here :P

          8 votes
          1. [2]
            Amarok
            Link Parent
            Heh, I thought this place was the no-reddit community. :p

            Heh, I thought this place was the no-reddit community. :p

            15 votes
            1. acdw
              Link Parent
              Hehe :) I was thinking something even worse, like r/nofap or something :P

              Hehe :) I was thinking something even worse, like r/nofap or something :P

              1 vote
          2. [4]
            hamstergeddon
            Link Parent
            Honestly that's a good idea. Quitting something we've done daily for years (12 years in my case...ugh) isn't easy. A bunch of us supporting each other and finding alternative hobbies or ways to...

            Honestly that's a good idea. Quitting something we've done daily for years (12 years in my case...ugh) isn't easy. A bunch of us supporting each other and finding alternative hobbies or ways to kill time during the day would be really helpful.

            3 votes
            1. [3]
              acdw
              Link Parent
              Exactly! Like today, even though I don't have an account, i went to r/all and just browsed. That's what I've been doing mostly, lately, anyway -- so I didn't even really need an account. I'm gonna...

              Exactly! Like today, even though I don't have an account, i went to r/all and just browsed. That's what I've been doing mostly, lately, anyway -- so I didn't even really need an account.

              I'm gonna go block it with my adblocker.

              3 votes
              1. [2]
                hamstergeddon
                Link Parent
                The problem with outright blocking reddit for me is that there are a lot of useful search results out there that are on reddit. A lot of niche stuff. And I always find myself having to temporarily...

                The problem with outright blocking reddit for me is that there are a lot of useful search results out there that are on reddit. A lot of niche stuff. And I always find myself having to temporarily unblock reddit to access it. And then I get tired of doing that and I unlock it completely, and then the cycle repeats haha.

                But for me I think completely deleting my accounts, removing reddit from my browser history, etc. is going to work best. But we'll see. If anyone sees a hamstergeddon2 account on reddit, call me out ;)

                3 votes
                1. acdw
                  Link Parent
                  I understand 1000%! It happens to me too. I'm hoping that if I put that block thing on there with uBlock, then I can still access it by temporarily allowing it, but like, it'll be that little...

                  A lot of niche stuff. And I always find myself having to temporarily unblock reddit to access it. And then I get tired of doing that and I unlock it completely, and then the cycle repeats haha.

                  I understand 1000%! It happens to me too. I'm hoping that if I put that block thing on there with uBlock, then I can still access it by temporarily allowing it, but like, it'll be that little button, you know? So it'll keep me from just falling into it.

                  Though I also just deleted all Reddit from my history too, so it won't just pop up, hopefully.

                  If anyone sees a hamstergeddon2 account on reddit, call me out ;)

                  You got it! Though of course, you'll have to call my calling you out, out. Because I'll have been on Reddit too ;)

                  2 votes
        2. Apos
          (edited )
          Link Parent
          I did the same with a streamer. I was active in his channel for months and then he started insulting his community. Forced people to use IRC to chat and then said if people weren't willing to chat...

          I did the same with a streamer. I was active in his channel for months and then he started insulting his community. Forced people to use IRC to chat and then said if people weren't willing to chat there he'd rather them have them in the community. Not as bad as child abuse though.

          2 votes
      2. acdw
        Link Parent
        Hard same, friend. It's rough, lol. If anyone could do it, it'd be redditors.

        Yeah, honestly, it's because of straight addict behavior that I haven't actually deleted my reddit account yet.

        Hard same, friend. It's rough, lol.

        Here's a fun thought, what if you were able to coordinate a gigantic mass account-deletion moments before the IPO goes live that destroys all their precious metrics?

        If anyone could do it, it'd be redditors.

        4 votes
      3. [3]
        stu2b50
        Link Parent
        You would need to do that before, actually. During an IPO, the company determines the chunk of equity it wishes to sell to raise money. Then, it hires investment banks to both evaluate how much...

        Here's a fun thought, what if you were able to coordinate a gigantic mass account-deletion moments before the IPO goes live that destroys all their precious metrics?

        You would need to do that before, actually. During an IPO, the company determines the chunk of equity it wishes to sell to raise money. Then, it hires investment banks to both evaluate how much the company should be worth, and also to get institutional investors to agree to buy it at that price. After that happens, then the company begins to be listed on a public stock market. None of the capital raising equity is actually sold to the public.

        So if you want to do some spiteful account deletions, you'd have to time it around when the investment banks are doing their valuations. Otherwise, Reddit doesn't actually care that much how the price fluctuates on the public market - the company got its dollars already.

        4 votes
        1. [2]
          MimicSquid
          Link Parent
          What it would do is mute the IPO pop, assuming there is one. It wouldn't change the money that Reddit gets, but it might sour the public market's opinion.

          What it would do is mute the IPO pop, assuming there is one. It wouldn't change the money that Reddit gets, but it might sour the public market's opinion.

          1. stu2b50
            Link Parent
            To be honest, Reddit is going to be the memeist of meme stocks - for at least a few years the valuation is going to be very volatile and have exactly 0% to do with fundamentals. But the public...

            To be honest, Reddit is going to be the memeist of meme stocks - for at least a few years the valuation is going to be very volatile and have exactly 0% to do with fundamentals.

            But the public value of the stock doesn't really matter to Reddit - well, it does if they want to raise capital via equity again but since they're IPOing that would be a few years down the line at least.

            Any major investors who want to exit will exit in the IPO. You'd mainly be screwing over, if this was feasible and would cause a movement in the market, rank and file Reddit employees, who will still be in lockup for somewhere between 6-12 months with their equity.

            1 vote
  5. crdpa
    Link
    I won't ditch reddit because of subs from my country like /r/investimentos (/r/finances for Brazil), some niche subs like /r/linux and /r/voidlinux, although i visit those less and less, and there...

    I won't ditch reddit because of subs from my country like /r/investimentos (/r/finances for Brazil), some niche subs like /r/linux and /r/voidlinux, although i visit those less and less, and there are some that helped me immensely, like /r/microdosing and /r/alcoholism_medication.

    I can't find these kind of communities here. I know it's a matter of amount of users. I prefer the discussions here, but when looking for a very specific thing, i think reddit is still king.

    7 votes
  6. [6]
    WendigoTulpa
    (edited )
    Link
    I'm not a tech person, but from what I understand, the reddit design itself is open source. https://github.com/reddit-archive/reddit I feel like reddit was in its prime maybe 8-10 years ago. With...

    I'm not a tech person, but from what I understand, the reddit design itself is open source.

    https://github.com/reddit-archive/reddit

    I feel like reddit was in its prime maybe 8-10 years ago.

    With this, why doesn't someone just take the reddit site code, change the name/mascot/other proprietary things, and make an exact clone of it with the site rules/philosophy circa 2009-2011 (more libertairan era)? It would give niche communities a place to exist outside of reddit, and give us that good feeling we got when we first discovered it. Maybe its impossible since what I really miss is my innocence and youth.

    I guess whoever might do this would be compelled to apply their own ideas/rules to the mix, thus screwing it up. Social media has fucked people's minds so much since 2010 that it might fail because of that as well. But maybe it could get 5 or so years of good times before it turns to crap.

    6 votes
    1. Deimos
      Link Parent
      That's what they did at https://saidit.net, but (at least last time I looked) it's mostly full of the usual conspiracy theories, racism, etc. that tends to dominate "reddit alternatives" when the...

      That's what they did at https://saidit.net, but (at least last time I looked) it's mostly full of the usual conspiracy theories, racism, etc. that tends to dominate "reddit alternatives" when the admins don't want to moderate or make any effort to guide the site culture.

      I also think anyone trying to use the old Reddit code will run into a real mess if they ever reach a size where they need to figure out how to scale it up beyond a single server, but I think it's unlikely that any of them will ever get to that point.

      11 votes
    2. somewaffles
      Link Parent
      As someone who has been on reddit since ~2007, I think right around the time of the great Digg migration (2011/2012??) was when there was a major shift in vibe on Reddit. It took a few years to...

      ...and make an exact clone of it with the site rules/philosophy circa 2009-2011 (more libertairan era)?

      As someone who has been on reddit since ~2007, I think right around the time of the great Digg migration (2011/2012??) was when there was a major shift in vibe on Reddit. It took a few years to really change but, like you pointed out, the rules/philosophy definitely shifted around that time.

      Maybe its impossible since what I really miss is my innocence and youth.

      I think this is a big part of it for me but it's also the fact that Reddit was originally a hodgepodge of all the best parts of online forums, streamlined... which was a breathe of fresh air. Nowadays everyone has upvotes/downvotes, customizable subdomains, etc. From my limited knowledge, nothing Reddit did was groundbreaking but it did them all (mostly) well and in one place. That being said, copying the code and changing branding wouldn't be enough for me. In all honestly that's kind of what tildes is doing, just with healthier moderation and a few more restrictions. I like all these things a lot but its well established ground. I would think to get that same ~2011 Reddit feeling, a site will have to be doing something different that I can't get at every other social news site these days. Not claiming to know what that would be, but that's just my hunch!

      Another thing I've noticed is that most Reddit alternatives these days seem to be politically motivated. Its super apparent in their user bases, on both sides of the US political spectrum. It's a shame because there are a lot of sites that could have been something special but put way too much emphasis on "free speech"/no moderation which unfortunately draws a type of user.

      7 votes
    3. [3]
      Apos
      Link Parent
      I prefer Tildes' design to Reddit. Even back then it was better with RES. Tildes doesn't need mods to make it bearable. Would be cool to see it used by other sites too and see it become a good...

      I prefer Tildes' design to Reddit. Even back then it was better with RES. Tildes doesn't need mods to make it bearable.

      Would be cool to see it used by other sites too and see it become a good choice for self hosting.

      5 votes
      1. [2]
        Amarok
        Link Parent
        I've seen one reference for people using Tildes code to host their own website. Ties back to this discussion on reddit. I don't think it got past the discussion phase, though.

        I've seen one reference for people using Tildes code to host their own website. Ties back to this discussion on reddit. I don't think it got past the discussion phase, though.

        4 votes
        1. Apos
          Link Parent
          I'd have to try it for my own projects to see what type of refactor would be needed to make the experience as straight forward as possible (For a new project how fast can a Tildes instance be...

          I'd have to try it for my own projects to see what type of refactor would be needed to make the experience as straight forward as possible (For a new project how fast can a Tildes instance be setup.). But I don't have enough time for now.

          Edit: Just realized that repo you linked is literally about that. (I thought it was just discussions about it.)

          2 votes
  7. stu2b50
    Link
    There and back again. Technically, Reddit has been public before - as it used to be owned by Advance Publications, owner of Conde Nast (who then own many of the largest media publications in the...

    There and back again. Technically, Reddit has been public before - as it used to be owned by Advance Publications, owner of Conde Nast (who then own many of the largest media publications in the world). AFAIK they still retain majority stake after Reddit was spun off as a private company.

    Not terribly surprising; the public markets, at least for IPOs and DPOs, seems pretty hot. May as well do it now if they're okay with the extra scrutiny on their numbers.

    2 votes