Reddit plans to lock some content behind a paywall this year, CEO says | Reddit executives also discussed how they might introduce more ads into the social media platform
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I'm not on Reddit much these days but every time I am and I see threads with people discussing these Reddit policy changes Lemmy gets mentioned. Usually with people complaining they already tried or couldn't figure it out or that it isn't good enough...
I think as the enshittification marches on they'll be some more exodus from Reddit but generally I think everyone is just getting used to all online social media being a total corporate disaster.
I just joined yesterday because of this article. Honestly I feel like I’m using Apollo to access Reddit again. My Reddit account was 12 years old and I deleted it.
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Seems like a pretty huge opportunity for Reddit. If the article mentioned it, I missed it.
It does not mention it and I cannot see any official statement, but that seems like a logical reason. Reddit management however is not famous for being logical so we will see.
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Reddit is planning to introduce a paywall this year, CEO Steve Huffman said during a videotaped Ask Me Anything (AMA) session on Thursday.
Huffman previously showed interest in potentially introducing a new type of subreddit with "exclusive content or private areas" that Reddit users would pay to access.
When asked this week about plans for some Redditors to create "content that only paid members can see," Huffman said:
It’s a work in progress right now, so that one’s coming... We're working on it as we speak.
When asked about "new, key features that you plan to roll out for Reddit in 2025," Huffman responded, in part: “Paid subreddits, yes.”
Reddit's paywall would ostensibly only apply to certain new subreddit types, not any subreddits currently available.
Reddit executives also discussed how they might introduce more ads into the social media platform. The push for ads follows changes to Reddit’s API policy that, in part, led to the closing of most third-party apps used for accessing Reddit. Reddit makes most of its revenue from ads and can only show ads on its native apps and website.
Reddit started testing ads in comments last year, with COO Jen Wong saying during an AMA that such ads are in “about 3 percent of inventory.” The executive hinted at that percentage growing. Wong also shared hopes that contextual advertising, or ads being shown based on the content surrounding them, will be a “bigger part of” Reddit’s business by 2026.
It does seem like a lot of ads for "3% of inventory". I can't ever see a reason to pay for a subreddit.
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Late this fall, after all of the nonsense on Reddit, Facebook, and Instagram I asked myself a very simple question.
"Is the reason I joined these sites still valid? What do I actually enjoy about social media these days?"
The answer was basically "rose colored glasses."
I joined **Reddit **after the 'deaths' of Slashdot and Digg. It became my source to get new and interesting content I probably wouldn't have found otherwise. Now it's bots arguing with bots and 75+% of the content is just recycled shit by people trying to make money. Much of the rest is from people trying to manipulate you.
Delete.
I joined Facebook to keep in touch with my friends and family - especially those I don't see often. Over time, the amount of good content from people I knew dropped to maybe 25% of my feed. Most of it now is AI-generated bullshit or more of the same recycled content you see on Reddit.
Delete.
I joined Instagram to share some of my landscape photos and view some of the great photos some close friends were sharing. Over time that became less and less. Queue the recycled and AI-bullshit content.
Delete.
So, I challenge everybody to ask themselves do they actually enjoy social media? Do these sites actually add value to your life and in any way remain true to their promise when you joined them so many moons ago. Are you actually making any connections with people? The 'social' in 'social' media? Or just watching people talk at each other, not to each other.
After answering those questions, the answer about whether to stick around is pretty clear.
Delete
Delete
Delete
Mikami Teru, is that you?
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Reddit is planning to introduce a paywall this year, CEO Steve Huffman said during a videotaped Ask Me Anything (AMA) session on Thursday.
Huffman previously showed interest in potentially introducing a new type of subreddit with "exclusive content or private areas" that Reddit users would pay to access.
When asked this week about plans for some Redditors to create "content that only paid members can see," Huffman said:
It’s a work in progress right now, so that one’s coming... We're working on it as we speak.
When asked about "new, key features that you plan to roll out for Reddit in 2025," Huffman responded, in part: “Paid subreddits, yes.”
Reddit's paywall would ostensibly only apply to certain new subreddit types, not any subreddits currently available.
Reddit executives also discussed how they might introduce more ads into the social media platform. The push for ads follows changes to Reddit’s API policy that, in part, led to the closing of most third-party apps used for accessing Reddit. Reddit makes most of its revenue from ads and can only show ads on its native apps and website.
Reddit started testing ads in comments last year, with COO Jen Wong saying during an AMA that such ads are in “about 3 percent of inventory.” The executive hinted at that percentage growing. Wong also shared hopes that contextual advertising, or ads being shown based on the content surrounding them, will be a “bigger part of” Reddit’s business by 2026.
Wave incoming
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I just joined yesterday because of this article. Honestly I feel like I’m using Apollo to access Reddit again. My Reddit account was 12 years old and I deleted it.
Welcome friend.
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Reddit is planning to introduce a paywall this year, CEO Steve Huffman said during a videotaped Ask Me Anything (AMA) session on Thursday.
Huffman previously showed interest in potentially introducing a new type of subreddit with "exclusive content or private areas" that Reddit users would pay to access.
When asked this week about plans for some Redditors to create "content that only paid members can see," Huffman said:
It’s a work in progress right now, so that one’s coming... We're working on it as we speak.
When asked about "new, key features that you plan to roll out for Reddit in 2025," Huffman responded, in part: “Paid subreddits, yes.”
Reddit's paywall would ostensibly only apply to certain new subreddit types, not any subreddits currently available.
Reddit executives also discussed how they might introduce more ads into the social media platform. The push for ads follows changes to Reddit’s API policy that, in part, led to the closing of most third-party apps used for accessing Reddit. Reddit makes most of its revenue from ads and can only show ads on its native apps and website.
Reddit started testing ads in comments last year, with COO Jen Wong saying during an AMA that such ads are in “about 3 percent of inventory.” The executive hinted at that percentage growing. Wong also shared hopes that contextual advertising, or ads being shown based on the content surrounding them, will be a “bigger part of” Reddit’s business by 2026.
r/spezholedesign
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Tbh, I didn't care about the 3rd party apps.
I just didn't like the silencing of opposition.
If they are willing to do mass censorship for benign things like a 3rd party apps protest, what's to say they wont booklick governments/corportions and censor info of horrible things that a government/corporation is doing.
It's the censorship that I was more afraid of. Besides, I always wanted a decentalized platform, but none of it had any users until June 12, 2023.
That's the truth. It was tone deafness, a lack of responsiveness, and a clear lack of principles that made me leave during that.
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I just joined yesterday because of this article. Honestly I feel like I’m using Apollo to access Reddit again. My Reddit account was 12 years old and I deleted it.
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Lemmyburghers
Lemmards
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I just joined yesterday because of this article. Honestly I feel like I’m using Apollo to access Reddit again. My Reddit account was 12 years old and I deleted it.
This is a cool guide for starting https://fedecan.ca/en/guide/get-started
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So, what's the stage after "enshitification"? "Enspezed?"
What we're seeing with Reddit is just the first stage of enshittification: making things worse for the end users who have been captured by network effect and what used to be a good service, in order to benefit advertisers. The second stage is making things shitty for the advertisers who have been captured by all the captive users. Paid subs are probably a harbinger of that kind of thing, but I don't think advertisers are locked in enough to be really stuck yet.
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I wouldn't be too sure just yet, seeing how annoying youtube and it's ads have gotten yet it isn't replaced still.
We might have an increase, but plenty will never leave.
Youtube is probably the most difficult platform on the internet to replace. Video content delivery is extremely resource heavy and technically complicated, especially once you start to scale. Many, many competitors have attempted it over the years, and while some found their niche, none of them have achieved anywhere close to the scale of Youtube.
It took decades of Youtube to become profitable, only doing so after achieving mind-boggling economy of scale. The majority of humans on earth have used Youtube. About half of all (global) internet users use it monthly. I don't know if any other platform can claim stats like that.
Youtube is one of those platforms that only exists because it got a head start in the unique conditions of the early internet. I don't know if it's even possible to create a true competitor, though I could see multiple platforms taking over different niches.
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I'm not on Reddit much these days but every time I am and I see threads with people discussing these Reddit policy changes Lemmy gets mentioned. Usually with people complaining they already tried or couldn't figure it out or that it isn't good enough...
I think as the enshittification marches on they'll be some more exodus from Reddit but generally I think everyone is just getting used to all online social media being a total corporate disaster.
Honestly, I was just giving up going here, lemmy is very complicated, also I miss my beautiful snoo
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This is a cool guide for starting https://fedecan.ca/en/guide/get-started
Oh god, you’ve out me down a rabbit hole. Thank you!
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Welcome friend.
Thank you!
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I was proud of them for those subreddit blackouts, but when communities started to come back online after the mods were threatened with replacement - I knew I had to get out of there for good.
I managed to stave off the threats until a couple of months ago since someone put a reddit request in. Oh well, fuck spez and reddit.
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Reddit is planning to introduce a paywall this year, CEO Steve Huffman said during a videotaped Ask Me Anything (AMA) session on Thursday.
Huffman previously showed interest in potentially introducing a new type of subreddit with "exclusive content or private areas" that Reddit users would pay to access.
When asked this week about plans for some Redditors to create "content that only paid members can see," Huffman said:
It’s a work in progress right now, so that one’s coming... We're working on it as we speak.
When asked about "new, key features that you plan to roll out for Reddit in 2025," Huffman responded, in part: “Paid subreddits, yes.”
Reddit's paywall would ostensibly only apply to certain new subreddit types, not any subreddits currently available.
Reddit executives also discussed how they might introduce more ads into the social media platform. The push for ads follows changes to Reddit’s API policy that, in part, led to the closing of most third-party apps used for accessing Reddit. Reddit makes most of its revenue from ads and can only show ads on its native apps and website.
Reddit started testing ads in comments last year, with COO Jen Wong saying during an AMA that such ads are in “about 3 percent of inventory.” The executive hinted at that percentage growing. Wong also shared hopes that contextual advertising, or ads being shown based on the content surrounding them, will be a “bigger part of” Reddit’s business by 2026.
More ads? There's already a bunch of them mixed with posts and comments. What more, force people to watch an ad before loading pages?
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I'm not on Reddit much these days but every time I am and I see threads with people discussing these Reddit policy changes Lemmy gets mentioned. Usually with people complaining they already tried or couldn't figure it out or that it isn't good enough...
I think as the enshittification marches on they'll be some more exodus from Reddit but generally I think everyone is just getting used to all online social media being a total corporate disaster.
It's not that everyone's getting used to the current hellscape of the internet. Kids born today have never experienced a world without it. I watched my niece playing on my dad's phone, and she was just blasting through every single ad, interacting with every ad until it took her to the install page, and then she moved on to the next ad. People were upset about the tiktok ban cause they didnt care about their data. Shit like that is wild to me, coming from the early internet era.
Unless countries step up with better tech laws, I only see it getting worse from here.
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This is the actual reason for me too. I'm making a point to never visit that website again.
There's exceptions like when searching for troubleshooting help and a relevant result happens to be on Reddit, but otherwise I avoid it as much as possible.
I figure as long as you visit with adblock enabled and don't post anything, you're not contributing to them in any meaningful way.
