By: Nick Gambino
Reddit has been toying with a lot of changes since going public earlier this year. Now, according to their CEO, they may start charging users to gain access to some of their subreddits.
“I think the existing, altruistic, free version of Reddit will continue to exist and grow and thrive just the way it has,” Reddit CEO, Steve Huffman, said on the company’s second call to investors. “But now we will unlock the door for new cases, new types of subreddits that can be built that may have exclusive content or private areas, things of that nature.”
This suggests that they are seriously looking to create a pay subscription model that will fly into the teeth of the very spirit of Reddit. Listen, I’m all for making money and turning a profit, but this endless need to make more money just because you can, sucks the soul out of the vessel that makes these things good.
Reddit has always been a forum-based platform that not only allows people to connect and discuss but also learn about subjects in which they’re interested. It’s social media meets Quora meets Wikipedia. Fine if you want to start charging for access to some of the subreddits, but if this proves successful, they might decide to put all the good stuff behind a paywall. This will kill Reddit.
In addition to the potential subreddit paywall revelation, the Reddit CEO discussed other changes that we might see down the line. Not surprisingly, AI plays a large part in some of those changes.
“Later this year we will begin testing new search result pages powered by AI to summarize and recommend content, helping users dive deeper into products, shows, games and discover new communities on Reddit,” Huffman stated.
One place AI has been thriving is in search engines. You see it everywhere from Google to Meta. Numerous other companies have also made known their plans to build an AI feature into their search functions.
Reddit has the unenviable task of pleasing investors with their new IPO. I just hope they don’t destroy what they’ve built so successfully as a private company.
