The Problem with Reddit
 

We all know Reddit's a cool source of traffic.

No doubt about that.

But there is one serious problem with Reddit as a whole/as a business.... it is TOO DEPENDENT on its user base to remain relevant.

The current drama it's facing (see Is Ellen Pao snafu beginning of Reddit?s end? - MarketWatch ) threatens to turn Reddit into another Digg...

You remember Digg, right?

How do you walk the tightrope between extreme cult popularity, monetization, and minimizing abusive behavior?

Whoever answers that will nail the space Reddit, 4chan, and others are in.

Another reason why Digg died: the rise of Facebook and Twitter.

Ellen Pao resigned today.. I'm sure that will make the user base happy. A former co founder of Reddit is the new CEO.

As far as user bases.. That's the problem all social networks face, even Facebook has lost its appeal to the younger generations. All social networks have limited lifespans as their user base is always going to be mobile and will eventually run off to the next cool thing.

Isn't that the problem with any social media site? Any site that relies on its users to create the content is fully dependent on them and if they go away they are in trouble.

:2 cents:

True that. I've been Redditing for a few years now and it seems to still be on an upwards trend, especially when new subs pick up some crazy growth.

Personally, I'm a big fan of /r/trees and /r/explainlikeimfive a lot for my particular "interests"

For instance, check out reddit.com: over 18? (NSFW)

It's been up for 2 days and has 761 subscribers and is one of the fastest growing according to All Subreddits | redditlist.com - Tracking the top 5000 subreddits right now.

OMG!!! I think I have never heard more obvious remark!! all the businesses are dependent of its users!!! or please tell me one that isn't.

I guess you don't really get User Generated Content-dependent sites. For UGC sites, the PRODUCT is the USER BASE.

When the user base leaves (see Digg and recently, Reddit) the site dies. Compare that with other site models where the site actually CREATES the content and the users CONSUME the content.

Yes all businesses are dependent on their users BUT if the users themselves ARE 'the product' (so to speak) then that's when things can get unstable. If the users go away the business goes away. If customers go away the store/site/product still remains (tho no one is buying it).

Social networks also may face a future where - SHOCK! - people may get tired of using them 24/7 for everything like telling us what they had for dinner. I know it doesn't seem that way now but using Twitter, Facebook, Tumblr, Reddit, on and fucking on, is getting overwhelming. How many sites can you check a day? How many hours can you stare at a screen? Throw in Angry Birds and we're doomed. LOL

I am praying for a backlash. I feel it will happen.

I've seen an influx of Reddit idiots on 4chan, it's obvious due to their potato brain.

Lots of redditors are moving their asses to Voat: have your say

Instead of subreddits, they are called subverses and they already have a preferred image hosting service, Reddit has Imgur and Voat has https://veuwer.com

Good to hear Pao resigned. She is a serious CUNT who I hope will not recover form this. Long history of douchebag moves.

Thanks for VOAT link. Reddit has always been a scamocracy.

preach on

I loathe social media and I wish you were right, but honestly ya gotta take into account that we're not the generation to which they're marketing.

I'm involved in an after school workshop for late teens down here and while they are a thoroughly wicked group of individuals holy fuck they are glued to their phones aka social media every moment they can spare. it's baffling to me; the mentality that if something is not captured in text and photos and public comments and retweets and on and on it's useless. personally I don't understand that, I never take pics because I'm too busy enjoying the real thing . I try not to judge peeps but honestly I think they're missing out on something, a lot actually.

but yeah, reddit may fade but social media is here to stay. peeps 30+ don't rule the internets

for real though, I worry about the long term ramifications of the 'social' generation's blind trade in of privacy for what really boils down to an internet footprint for ego's sake.

I know wicked work and meaningful interactions occur due to social media so I'm not trying to disparage the concept out of hand btw. All I'm saying is that in interacting with these kids it's like they have two sides to their social lives; the real world and then their online spaces. and each are equally real and meaningful to them.

that worries me, that peeps feel comfortable (and actually seek to) open up every aspect of their lives to public/corporate/government scrutiny. actually what baffles me the most is that privacy barely seems to be a relevant subject on the internet when it comes to social media.

not to get all conspiracy theory-ish (as in, I don't think myspace/fb/twitter/reddit et al. are a plot by the government or some ish), but I can see how -down the road- peeps who never experienced the idea of a life not fully documented on traceable records might be more amenable to invasions of state/surveillance than those of us who can recall a time when privacy was not just available, but valued.

but yeah, reddit will get replaced eventually. something new will take it's place though, I crave the backlash as well but honestly I don't see it anywhere in sight.

Beautiful words! 10 years have passed, but they have become even more relevant:mad:

r/explainlikeimfive is going to be replaced by just asking chatgpt same question...

I used ChatGPT to explain many things I've been curious about like I'm 5 and it does a great job.

I even asked it to explain to me like I'm 2, and explained to me like I'm a fetus. And even asked it to explain to me like I'm still a sperm in a scrotum and, honestly, I could learn anything like this. ChatGPT rocks. :pimp:thumbsup

Why ask a varied group of people a question when you can ask a majic 8 ball manufactured by silicon valley incels?

Reddit is one of the best traffic source ever if you know how to use it

How does one use it to get traffic?

Interesting....

One of the best funnels of traffic is to setup a subreddit for some particular niche and run it yourself. Some people have sooooo many subreddits they control.

I would totally pay someone legit to do it for me, in a subtle, authentic non spammy way as every time I reach even 30 'karma' I end up deleting the account as too many rules (spent more time reading sub rules than actually posting) and I don't care to pretend to interact with strangers who are just handles on a screen just for the sake of doing so

anyone with contacts with a track record feel free to hit me up, I have an idea I tossed around for a while on how to accomplish this but never pursued it


thanks! not cuz you complimented my post but an aside, I love your work. very Zishy-esq (who I noticed you link to from your first site). in the second link in your sig, not into the man stuff but that nekkid dude in the tree shoot was wicked with the chiaro scuro

More than happy to add you to my subs. You can post at your leisure.

I do run a few subs, one is moderately big. Still not sure how to drive lots of traffic to my sites from it. I post a bit to it daily and have links in sidebar, but still don't get many clicks.

Do you post content with watermarks to domains with affiliate code?

I shall hit you up today

much love and gratitude

You can also post a link in the comment section and pin it. If its your own sub, its your own rules, so use that link everywhere. Its easy to generate few k of traffic each day(when posting daily) with medium sized subs(200-500k followers).

No, I post content with links that say, "source" in the comment section, which lead to my domains.

My sub is 500k, I do post links in the comment sections but don't get that many hits.

Thats weird...did you grow is organically? A good post on such a sub should easily generate 500-1000 clicks in the comment section.

What is the best way to grow a subreddit?

I've had one with a great name for 6 years now. It has 15K members but I think the vast majority are bots. There are only ever 5 or 6 people online at any moment, and I'm the only guy who ever posts on it and hardly anybody ever comments. Yet it's even been linked to on Wired magazine.

Yet somebody else's newer subreddit on a similar subject is growing fast and has different members posting and dozens of commentators each day. :(

TBH though, it's a lot of work and you can get banned at any moment. I owned r/sexrobots and it received the ban hammer because I forgot to moderate it for a couple of days when I was travelling. They refused to give it back to me.

the problem with reddit is that psyop bots were agreeing with each other in the comments of every submission with rudimentary if/then/regex "ai" before chatgpt api

gain permission in advance from mods - dm them and ask for permission - they need to be treated like gods because they're fags irl

after your solid organic content has 5 upvotes or so, about an hour in, send 5 to 10 more upvotes in "slow" mode with https://boostupvotes.com and enjoy money

Yeah I did. I started it years ago, neglected it and restarted it again. Maybe it has many subscribers but most are inactive?

Thank you for visiting and rating!:wetkiss

you are so funny

Yeah, if you stop posting regularly, subscribers stay(for the most part), but are no longer active. Many old accounts are no longer used also. So keeping things fresh and running is very important on reddit.

Thanks, I'll have to rebuild then.