Some subreddits could be paywalled, hints Reddit CEO
Reddit CEO Steve Huffman has hinted that in future some subreddits could be paywalled, as the company seeks to devise new sources of income.
He suggested that the company might experiment with paywalled subreddits as it looks to monetize new features. “I think the existing, altruistic, free version of Reddit will continue to exist and grow and thrive just the way it has,” Huffman said. “But now we will unlock the door for new use cases, new types of subreddits that can be built that may have exclusive content or private areas, things of that nature.”
This is another move likely to anger Redditors. While the platform is a commercial enterprise, its value derives almost entirely from freely offered user content. That means Redditors feel at least some sense of ownership in a community endeavour, so the company needs to tread carefully when it comes to monetization at user expense.
If they are trying to monetize popular NSFW subs they cannot monetize with ads, a paywall would probably just kill the engagement.
If they are trying to compete with OnlyFans and rev share with the sub creator I could maybe see that working.
I honestly just see it making them onlyfans v3 and can't wait to see the backlash from their Christian ad provider and the others.
Yeah, I dislike Reddit as much as anyone else here, but I'd imagine they're looking at Patreon for inspiration instead of pay-walling existing content/communities. I'm still skeptical it would be effective.