Reddit CEO Suggests Some Subreddits Could Be Paywalled

[MacRumors]

Social network Reddit could monetize by tucking some subreddits behind paywalls, Reddit CEO Steve Huffman suggested during the company's Tuesday earnings call (via Engadget).

Huffman said that Reddit plans to "unlock the door" for subreddits that could have "exclusive content or private areas."

I think the existing, altruistic, free version of Reddit will continue to exist and grow and thrive just the way it has. 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.

Huffman did not outright confirm that Reddit is going to charge for access to subreddits in the future, but that seems to be what he was hinting at.

Reddit also plans to test AI-powered search results later in 2024, with AI used to summarize and recommend content. Huffman said that the search tools would help "users dive deeper into products, shows, games and discover new communities on Reddit." Huffman believes that search could be a major source of advertising revenue going forward.

Reddit has already established deals with Google and OpenAI to allow the companies to train their AI models using Reddit content, and OpenAI's ChatGPT is now able to surface Reddit conversations in ChatGPT. Reddit attempted to reach a deal with Microsoft, but failed to do so, and later blocked Bing from accessing Reddit content.

Last year, Reddit started charging developers for accessing its API, which led to the shutdown of several popular Reddit clients, including Apollo. Apollo developer Christian Selig said that he would need to pay $20 million per year in fees to keep the app up and running, which was not feasible, and Reddit was not willing to work with him or provide a reasonable timeline to make changes.

Reddit began charging for API access ahead of when it became a public company in March 2024, and it continues to seek new ways to monetize content from its user base.

Article Link: Reddit CEO Suggests Some Subreddits Could Be Paywalled

 

[mnsportsgeek]

Clickbait attempting to spark outrage. No different than getting access to a private discord with a paid Patreon subscription.

 

[boss.king]

Reddit CEO confirms he has no new ideas.

 

[brofkand]

If anything, Reddit should pay their users for all the free content they're getting to sell to AI companies. The biggest scam on the Internet right now.

 

[btrach144]

It’ll just make 3rd party sites like Macrumors forums stronger.

 

[CrysisDeu]

That’s also probably why they had to kill Apollo lol.

At this point, why don’t the users build a open source reddit again

 

[Nugget]

At this point, why don’t the users build a open source reddit again

They did: https://github.com/LemmyNet/lemmy

 

[breenmask]

Redditors: "Haha elon running Twitter to the ground with paid blue checkmarks and subscriptions"
Also Redditors: "omg I can make money from my subreddit!"

 

[sw1tcher]

Huffman said that Reddit plans to "unlock the door" for subreddits that could have "exclusive content or private areas."

I think the existing, altruistic, free version of Reddit will continue to exist and grow and thrive just the way it has. 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.

Huffman did not outright confirm that Reddit is going to charge for access to subreddits in the future, but that seems to be what he was hinting at.

Isn't putting exclusive content or private areas behind a paywall locking the door, not unlocking the door?

Ununlock the door? 🤣

 

[GMShadow]

Redditors: "Haha elon running Twitter to the ground with paid blue checkmarks and subscriptions"
Also Redditors: "omg I can make money from my subreddit!"

A fair amount of moderators for large subs have been taking money or gifts under the table for years.

 

[BeeeRick]

Yeah, good luck with all that.

 

[DrRadon]

Whenever I look at reddit it seems like there is a tiny fraction of users that create useful guides or helpful reply’s while the rest of the active users is the biggest losers on the entire planet. No need to pay for access to that.

 

[Think|Different]

LMAO, as even someone that visits Reddit daily – not happening.

 

[coffeemilktea]

Ah, Steve Huffman... a social media CEO whose greatest accomplishment is making other social media CEOs like Mark Zuckerberg seem charming and likeable by comparison. I don't know how he does it, but he does it so flawlessly. 🤡

 

[russell_314]

It’ll just make 3rd party sites like Macrumors forums stronger.

You do realize parts of Macrumors forums are behind a paywall right?

 

[shadowboi]

People will just move to smaller subreddits. Anyway these big subs are very toxic, full of bots and have strange content algorithm. If small subs, meme subs and CJ subs also get paywalled then I guess it will die out in similar manner to X dying out right now. Reddit got popular because of its “miniforums” nature, but the concept is very simple and it won’t take time for contenders to work it out

 

[lenningj]

paywall the knitting sub? noooo!
or just paywall the support subs

 

[CarAnalogy]

People complain about Musk but forget that Huffman is garbage. Musk is just bumbling around with his new toy, Huffman is doing this on purpose. Notice that word altruism. He’s cashing out on the work of so many people. And in the most ass way possible.

It’s not just about this. This is just another step in a systematic process to enshirtify a valuable source of public information.

I’m not saying they have no right to make some money from providing this service. I’m saying they are doing it in awful ways that they should realize are going to kill the golden goose.

But what do I know, I figured Twitter would be gone by now but people just keep posting to “X” anyway.

Maybe the part of the enshirtification process that was missed was the last step where it works out just fine and nobody cares and everything just steadily gets worse.

 

[MrSegundus]

We should have laws in place in this country where we can opt out of giving our information to AI. And if this plan gets implemented, I’ll have no problem deleting my 12 year old Reddit account.

 

[DocMultimedia]

Maybe Reddit should spend money modernizing their 2003 website. I basically stopped visiting Reddit years ago. Just can't deal with the antique GUI.

 

[easy4lif]

When Huffman killed Apollo, I killed my Reddit account. Never gonna contribute to that site ever again.


Also Huffman, THE OFFICIAL REDDIT APP BLOWS!

 

[scrapesleon]

reddit is not the same like in 2017 anyway

 

[Eriamjh1138@DAN]

Let Reddit die like Fark.

 

[carniesandrubes]

When Huffman killed Apollo, I killed my Reddit account. Never gonna contribute to that site ever again.


Also Huffman, THE OFFICIAL REDDIT APP BLOWS!

Many of us have still been using Apollo sideloaded for well over a year now.

Hell, I'm still using a third party Twitter app.

 

[krspkbl]

lol. Reddit has gone to **** so this would be the final nail in the coffin. I deleted my account recently but still visit. If I can’t access some subs because I need to pay then I’m done.