What Does the Future of Reddit Look Like?
Despite having over 50 million daily active users, Reddit is still not profitable. In preparation for an IPO, CEO Steve Huffman put the platform’s API behind a massive paywall and denounced the attitude of third-party developers and Reddit’s own moderators. So, what does the future of “the front page of the internet” look like?
Organic Ecosystem
Reddit’s setup has long remained relatively simple. Users (Redditors) have organically divided themselves into sub-forums (subreddits), cultivating a large ecosystem of third-party tools and alternative apps. The use of moderators has also been set up without an overarching plan. Anyone who ever came up with the idea of founding a certain subreddit in the early days of the platform more than 15 years ago can still be the main moderator.
Thanks to the free API and the ingenuity of the user base, a considerable infrastructure has been built around Reddit, from mod tools to automatic posting and mining user data for commercial purposes. News sites owe a lot of clicks to the largely Democratic-driven Reddit feed. All of this is ultimately unsustainable thanks to Reddit’s apparently disappointing financial results.
Mass Protest Against API Policy
From Elon Musk’s tumultuous reign at Twitter, it can be concluded that a social media company must certainly sow chaos for months before people really walk away, which we are currently seeing signs of. There are therefore parties that want to respond to Reddit’s undesirable behavior by launching an alternative. That is easier said than done, because a user base does not just migrate.
What Huffman is clearly looking for is control. Not only the API has been overhauled, but also the infallibility of moderators. Remarkable enough is that a “senior mod” can just throw any junior partner from the moderator team or take away privileges. Also, the one giant subreddit can allow for just about any content imaginable, while keeping a nearby equivalent in line in Stalinist fashion.
That’s how it went with the API protests, because a mod team could decide to go black without input from their own users. This led to frustration among many Redditors who simply wanted access to the platform and had no interest in the company’s actions behind it. The same goes for other decisions. For example, the well-known Ask-me-Anything subreddit no longer has room to invite celebrities, which still generates a significant part of the newsworthy developments on the platform.
Huffman has already made it known that he is willing to allow mods to be removed democratically. It is also conceivable that Reddit itself will choose who will coordinate the largest subreddits. For example, it is not the user base, but the management of Reddit that starts with a clean slate.
Identity Crisis
Just as the internet has become increasingly structured, one of the largest networks to connect the internet seems to be moving in that direction as well. Reddit is at a crossroads, with the company’s leadership wanting to take control of the platform, while its users are pushing back against the changes. It remains to be seen how this will all play out, but it’s clear that Reddit is in the midst of an identity crisis.
The future of Reddit is uncertain, but one thing is for sure: the platform’s success will depend on its ability to balance the needs of its users and its leadership. If Reddit can find a way to do that, it could be poised for a bright future.