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The thing with Reddit is that it seems biased against new users and accusations of linkspam are far too prevalent. Sites like Reddit are going to have to learn,
by shortformblog 16y ago
The thing with Reddit is that it seems biased against new users and accusations of linkspam are far too prevalent. Sites like Reddit are going to have to learn, eventually, that the nature of sharing content on the Web has changed and self-promotion isn't a bad thing. If it were, Facebook Fan Pages and Twitter accounts wouldn't exist.
In terms of submitting stuff and actually getting traffic from it, I'd recommend 2leep ( http://2leep.com/ http://2leep.com/ – disclosure: I helped with the site's layout, but I did it for free because I liked the idea and thought it deserved more attention), which at the very least is a consistent stream of traffic and gets your page in front of a lot of eyeballs.
I think that one shouldn't put all their eggs in traffic. Traffic is nice. If you have a good idea and good content, people will notice. I have a steady freelance writing gig from my work on http://shortformblog.com/ http://shortformblog.com/, along with fairly regular mentions on The Atlantic's Web site and lots of awesomely random notices.
It's not major startup fund capital or anything, but I'll take it because it's exposure. And that exposure pays more than ads do when you're starting small.
My point? Do cool stuff and you don't need upvotes.
- _delirium 16y agoI actually sort of like Reddit's model on those two points. Essentially, that you should: 1) lurk initially, not submitting links until you understand the community and its culture; and 2) primarily submit links you think people will find interesting, not your own links that you're trying to promote (or at least, actively identify when it's your own link, e.g. "hey reddit, I made an X"). Not every site has to be like that, but it seems fine for some sites to be that way. The fact that Facebook fan pages exist is different from saying that everything on the web has to go in similar directions.
- shortformblog 16y agoI guess, to me, there's a difference between what you're saying and vigilantes calling you out because they think you're a link spammer. To a degree, it discourages growth in the community because it scares people off. And it does feel, to a degree, double-standardish. For example, the dude from The Oatmeal submits tons of his own links but seemingly nobody bats an eye. http://www.reddit.com/user/GiantBatFart http://www.reddit.com/user/GiantBatFart Just sayin'. But either way, that doesn't get away from my original point, which is that you shouldn't freak out over getting upvotes.
- blhack 16y ago>The thing with Reddit is that it seems biased against new users and accusations of linkspam are far too prevalent. It isn't just new users. My user there was 2 years old and had plenty of karma, yet almost all of my submissions got tagged as spam.