34 votes

Reddit will shut down Reddit Gifts and Secret Santa at the end of 2021

11 comments

  1. [9]
    aphoenix
    Link
    The top comment from the link was pretty relevant: Just reddit things.

    The top comment from the link was pretty relevant:

    So you took over someone elses project years ago, made some money off of it and then killed it. Yikes.

    Just reddit things.

    24 votes
    1. [4]
      Deimos
      (edited )
      Link Parent
      As cynical as I am towards Reddit, even I think that's a pretty unfair framing of it. They didn't "take it over", Dan sold it to them and Reddit invested millions of dollars into letting him, his...

      As cynical as I am towards Reddit, even I think that's a pretty unfair framing of it. They didn't "take it over", Dan sold it to them and Reddit invested millions of dollars into letting him, his wife, and a team run RedditGifts as their jobs, along with working on other related projects like RedditMade. Reddit hadn't taken their large venture-capital rounds yet at that point, and used a major portion of their resources to make bets on RG and related projects for years, and they all failed. Around the time I started working at Reddit, RedditGifts had about as many employees dedicated to it as reddit.com itself did, in their own office in a different city.

      It also eventually led to both Dan and his wife having executive-level jobs at Reddit, which definitely benefited them in various ways, including enabling them to raise their own venture capital for Imzy (which they launched along with multiple other former RedditGifts employees and also spent millions of dollars before failing).

      It's easy for Reddit to get framed as the big evil company shutting down the nice guy's project, but I don't think that's a very full look at the story.


      Edit: Re-reading this, I think I came off as anti-Reddit Gifts, so I want to add that I'm definitely sad to see it being shut down. I've always thought the gift exchanges were incredible, unique events, and they were mostly made possible by a tiny group of extremely devoted people working extremely hard.

      It was one of the few remaining pieces of "old Reddit" and its culture that the company's kept supporting for this long, so even though it's not surprising to see them dropping it, it's still disappointing. They've taken almost a billion dollars in venture capital, they could have spent a tiny bit keeping this part of the community's history alive.

      37 votes
      1. aphoenix
        Link Parent
        100% of what you say is true and fair. However, Reddit has burned a lot of good will, and they have done a lot to earn people framing things unfairly and being angry at them. It feels like at...

        100% of what you say is true and fair. However, Reddit has burned a lot of good will, and they have done a lot to earn people framing things unfairly and being angry at them. It feels like at every turn, they are doing things that their users don't want, and not doing things that help anyone other than themselves.

        I don't think you came off as anti reddit gifts, just anti unfairness. And I definitely agree that the comment I quoted, and my dropping it here, are unfair.

        But I'm fed up, and I'm out of slack to cut them.

        9 votes
      2. Parliament
        Link Parent
        I had no clue it was such a major operation within reddit. It's a great community event and I participated in multiple exchanges and charity drives years ago, but knowing the company dedicated...

        I had no clue it was such a major operation within reddit. It's a great community event and I participated in multiple exchanges and charity drives years ago, but knowing the company dedicated that level of resources to it is just shedding more light for me on the rudderless ship that is reddit. So many ideas, so many different directions, and the vast majority of those ideas were put to pasture. Some should have never gotten the time of day in the first place (like reddit notes and reddit made).

        5 votes
      3. drannex
        Link Parent
        Imzy now that's a website I haven't heard in a few years. They really had a great platform, wish they had invested more in bringing communities over. They had a great name, logo, and platform. I...

        Imzy now that's a website I haven't heard in a few years. They really had a great platform, wish they had invested more in bringing communities over. They had a great name, logo, and platform. I was really hoping they could have pulled through the rough.

        4 votes
    2. nukeman
      Link Parent
      I like this one a few comments down:

      I like this one a few comments down:

      BREAKING: Reddit restarts the war on Christmas; users saddened

      7 votes
    3. Cycloneblaze
      Link Parent
      How did they make money from it? I didn't even know it was originally not an official thing, to be honest.

      How did they make money from it? I didn't even know it was originally not an official thing, to be honest.

      6 votes
    4. [2]
      Comment deleted by author
      Link Parent
      1. shiruken
        Link Parent
        Indeed it was. And he's offering to take over running it again and letting Reddit still profit off it.

        Indeed it was. And he's offering to take over running it again and letting Reddit still profit off it.

        4 votes
    5. Addyct
      Link Parent
      It almost feels expected at this point, doesnt it?

      It almost feels expected at this point, doesnt it?

      2 votes
  2. [2]
    Grendel
    Link
    What a shame, I've always thought reddit gifts was pretty cool, and I've even participated in secret Santa the last several years. Maybe we could do something similar (if not less formal) here on...

    What a shame, I've always thought reddit gifts was pretty cool, and I've even participated in secret Santa the last several years.
    Maybe we could do something similar (if not less formal) here on tildes some day!

    15 votes
    1. elcuello
      Link Parent
      That's not a bad idea...I participated once in 2012 and it was a great experience.

      That's not a bad idea...I participated once in 2012 and it was a great experience.

      2 votes