Reddit CEO Steve Huffman is fighting a losing battle against the site's moderators
qz.com
The company wants to charge for API access. Its volunteer moderators have other ideas
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The company wants to charge for API access. Its volunteer moderators have other ideas
I don’t think the ship is doomed yet but they’re definitely in ‘what is that ominous noise coming from the bilge’ territory. To carry on the analogy they’ll plug the leaks as best they can and try and make it to the safe harbour of the IPO (where she can sink at her mooring for all Spez cares) which they could still well do, but it’s also likely the captain and his officers being half-baked sons of lubberly farts will smash into several reefs on the way and sink their already damaged vessel.
I mean, Digg is still around. It didn't go under, it just lost a huge chunk of users, which is Reddit's most likely fate.
I think that is what counts as sinking for a large social media site nowadays. They’re technically still alive but they’re empty husks of their former selves and will never return to their heydays.
Judging by the recent less big brand advertising, I think he was trying to shore up the IPO but failed. At the very least Reddit is still alive but it's going to be valued less.
Didn't Reddit already drop at least 40% in valuation from when they started the IPO process a year or so ago?
Yes, but almost all ad-based business models in tech fell, too. There's less advertising money on the internet today than in 2022 or 2021, so investors are more skeptical in business models that primarily rely on internet ad revenue.
Throw in the fact that Reddit's advertising platform is actually difficult to use and not particularly effective, and you have the problem where Reddit simply can't charge the same rates that Facebook and Google can. That's what's going to kill the site, when advertisers decide it's just not worth advertising on that platform.
How platforms die aka enshittification : First, they are good to their users; then they abuse their users to make things better for their business customers; finally, they abuse those business customers to claw back all the value for themselves. Then, they die.
sauce : https://www.wired.com/story/tiktok-platforms-cory-doctorow/