Reddit is ending Reddit Gold and users are furious ( mashable.com )

luckystarr , 11 months ago

I don’t understand. Don’t they like money? I like money!

garrettw87 , 11 months ago

And yet somehow they say that’s their reasoning - that they’re trying to become profitable.

Shhalahr , 11 months ago

So someone did some math and figured out that the award system was unprofitable somehow?

Don’t know how that works out.

Or maybe they are willing to take the hit because they are embarrassed when posts and comments criticizing Reddit get a ton of awards? (Plenty of people already have a large cache of Reddit coins, so handing out an award is not necessarily paying anything to Reddit at the time of award.)

garrettw87 , 11 months ago

That's a good point, lol.
No, according to The Verge's article, they say that users don't like the current system:

“First, many don’t appreciate the clutter from awards (50+ awards right now, but who’s counting?) and all the steps that go into actually awarding content. Second, redditors want awarded content to be more valuable to the recipient.”

And there are hints as to what may be slated to replace it:

While Reddit hasn’t specified what the new system might look like, Android Authority may have dug up some clues. Based on code in the Reddit’s Android app, Reddit appears to be working on a “contributor program” that would let users cash out gold or karma (basically, points you get for posts, comments, or giving awards) they receive into real money. Reddit didn’t respond to a request for comment sent Wednesday about Android Authority’s article.

OTOH, this post in r/ModCoord posits a different explanation:

By getting rid of awards, Reddit is unloading a business liability. Because all those existing coins could buy ad-free Reddit.