this post was submitted on 07 Aug 2024
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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.

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[–] kemsat@lemmy.world 35 points 3 months ago (6 children)

I bet it’s for the porn. I bet you he’s going to paywall the porn.

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[–] adamsw216@lemmy.world 34 points 3 months ago (5 children)

This post on Reddit reminded me that I made a Lemmy account long ago.

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[–] salmo@lemmy.world 34 points 3 months ago

That's why I'm here testing Lemmy.

Sad if it ruins reddit since I like that place.

[–] hOrni@lemmy.world 32 points 3 months ago (2 children)

Welcome. I came here, when they disabled RIF. Was it a year already?

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[–] HawlSera@lemm.ee 31 points 3 months ago (1 children)

....He does realize this isn't going to work on a platform that bans you for breathing the wrong way right?

[–] Chadus_Maximus@lemm.ee 21 points 3 months ago (2 children)

Yeah. 4 accounts getting randomly banned was enough for me. This will just prey on the clueless who don't know your account can get shadow banned for any reason (or no reason).

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[–] MoogleMaestro@lemmy.zip 29 points 3 months ago (6 children)

I don't even get how this would work. If you paywalled, say, /r/gaming, could you just make a new community called /r/freegaming? And do the moderators get paid for the communities they created?

It all feels really half-baked and a desperate plea for money from investors when the money well is drying up.

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[–] AeonFelis@lemmy.world 29 points 3 months ago (2 children)

Medium's paywall gets lots of hatred, but at least they use it to pay the authors of the paywalled posts, so it kind of makes sense - you pay to consume content and get payed to create content. But Reddit is a forum, not a blogging platform - the separation between content creators and content consumers is much more blurred. If a subreddit gets paywalled, then the Redditors who create the content there - both the posts and the comments - will need to pay. Which will instantly ruin these subreddits when most of the posters will just take their posts elsewhere.

Did Reddit decide to imitate the business model of academic journals?

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[–] DirkMcCallahan@lemmy.world 28 points 3 months ago

Posts like this remind me just how grateful I am for the Fediverse.

[–] rateb@lemmy.world 27 points 3 months ago

Lets see what this app is about

[–] maxinstuff@lemmy.world 26 points 3 months ago (1 children)

It’s pretty crazy to watch enshittification play out in real time.

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[–] PastryPaul@sh.itjust.works 25 points 3 months ago (12 children)

While I look forward to the continuing demise of Reddit, I'm not looking forward to the influx of even more Redditors.

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[–] inbeesee@lemmy.world 23 points 3 months ago

Hey! I just read this on Reddit before I made this account! 🥲

[–] Red_October@lemmy.world 23 points 3 months ago

Do it. Fucking do it, man, I WANT it to happen. Mash that self-destruct like there's no tomorrow, Spez, see how low you can go!

[–] Dearth@lemmy.world 22 points 3 months ago (1 children)

I got offered a chance to buy into reddit's IPO. Im glad i didn't

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[–] friend_of_satan@lemmy.world 21 points 3 months ago

"How DARE you take your subreddit private? Then Google can't index it and people can't access it! I'M THE ONLY ONE WHO CAN DO THAT!" - spez

[–] hll2000@lemmy.world 20 points 3 months ago

Lol glad to move to lemmy

[–] eeltech@lemmy.world 19 points 3 months ago* (last edited 3 months ago)

hahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha

wait, let me catch my breath, turning purple over here

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hahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha hahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha hahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha hahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha hahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha hahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha hahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha hahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha

[–] admin@lemmy.my-box.dev 19 points 3 months ago (1 children)

They already are. They put all nsfw content behind a privacy paywall (pay with email and browsing habits). Luckily it can still be subverted through old.reddit.com - but the question is for how long.

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[–] Anarki_@lemmy.blahaj.zone 19 points 3 months ago (7 children)

Woo! Paywalled porn subreddits! Commodify everything!! :D

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[–] PowerdollKirby@lemmy.world 19 points 3 months ago

that's why i'm here

[–] Sea_Foam_Green@lemmy.world 18 points 3 months ago

And that’s one of the reasons that brought me here.

Maybe it was the permanent banning for creating another account trying to talk to a mod that had banned me in a way I thought was harsh, and muted me before I could even speak.

Regardless, Reddit is starting to remind me of when Digg took a massive shit like 15 years ago. And saying that makes me feel old.

As long as I’m not dealing with AI chatbots spamming these communities, I think I’ll like it here.

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