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Makes sense to me. Don't really see why users expect Conde Nast to send money down the chain. CN/Wired Digital is in business to make money, and it's clear that

by rianjs 16y ago

Makes sense to me. Don't really see why users expect Conde Nast to send money down the chain. CN/Wired Digital is in business to make money, and it's clear that reddit's model isn't working. If the site provides utility to its users, it makes sense that some might be willing to pay extra. What's going to happen is that the donations will create a little bolus of cash -- not nearly enough -- and then run out of steam. Then the reddit guys are going to have to go back to the drawing board to figure out a long-term solution. This will probably be a subscription model that offers benefits that non-paying users don't get. This works better when you have content that people are willing to buy, but communities by users for users don't generally monetize that well, I don't think. What they might consider doing is figuring out what their "niche" is. Technology? Off-topic stuff? Something else? Then monetize the resource-drainers that don't fit with this mission. They could probably talk to Ars Technica about that, seeing as how they're also a CN property, and have nearly a decade's worth of experience in monetizing a dedicated community of users. If they don't figure it out, reddit will go out of business. Conde Nast isn't in the business of subsidizing money-losing propositions, nor is any other company. And there's no reason they should be.

duck 16y ago
Why did Conde Nast buy reddit in the first place?
- 9oliYQjP 16y ago
  For the same reason they bought Ars Technica. It was an Internet play to say "look we're still relevant." Except, they used the wealth they accumulated in their print empire to try to prove relevance in the online age. Truth be told, they didn't choose badly with Ars Technica and Reddit. Those calls are far better than Murdoch's Myspace play. But c'mon, they haven't done anything with Ars Technica or Reddit because the print guys don't understand the Internet and never will. They need to be doing the exact inverse of what they're doing. They tried to bring Reddit to Wired. Instead, they should have been asking how to bring GQ, Wired, et al to Reddit and Ars Technica.
  - woodall 16y ago
    I think I understand what you are saying, however, I'm still not sure. Are you suggesting they use their print publications to promote their online resources?
  - GFischer 16y ago
    Hacker Monthly could be an inspiration to Condé Nast - use your viewership to choose stories for a print mag?
pavs 16y ago
There are so many things wrong with your comment I don't know where to start. >CN/Wired Digital is in business to make money, and it's clear that reddit's model isn't working. Except that there was no investment to make Reddit more profitable. Arstechnica, Wired and Reddit are all owned by CN, not only does Ars and Wired have more employees (its understandable since they are in publishing business) but they also have _dedicated_ people, specifically hired to bring in advertising and do market research. Reddit traffic blows both Wired and Ars traffic out of the door, in every sense of the word. How much traffic per month specifically does Reddit get? Here is a snapshot from one of Reddit employees: http://i.imgur.com/mirir.jpg http://i.imgur.com/mirir.jpg But this is a problem not specific to Reddit. Ars also have money problems, they recently had to tighten their revenue generation by blocking ad blockers, presumably because they don't have enough revenue to keep current employees or even expand. To read more specific comments to my claim go through 2000+ comments with heavy involvement from Ars employees: http://arstechnica.com/business/news/2010/03/why-ad-blocking-is-devastating-to-the-sites-you-love.ars http://arstechnica.com/business/news/2010/03/why-ad-blocking.... They always had Subscription, but only recently they started to heavily promote their subscription model, presumably because they can't get enough money. > What's going to happen is that the donations will create a little bolus of cash -- not nearly enough -- and then run out of steam. Then the reddit guys are going to have to go back to the drawing board to figure out a long-term solution. This will probably be a subscription model that offers benefits that non-paying users don't get. If you actually took the time to read the reddit blog post and the subsequent discussion on that subject you would have known that the whole purpose of that blog post was to generate conversation within the reddit community to see what they would more convenient with, which include discussions about having recurring paying model for customized option (including custom reddit email and other features). The whole idea was to generate conversation and see how many people are willing to pay if they try to go for a subscription model. > This works better when you have content that people are willing to buy, but communities by users for users don't generally monetize that well, I don't think. See also: Facebook, digg, fark, > They could probably talk to Ars Technica about that, seeing as how they're also a CN property, and have nearly a decade's worth of experience in monetizing a dedicated community of users. Ars is trying to save their own ass, as we speak. > If they don't figure it out, reddit will go out of business. Conde Nast isn't in the business of subsidizing money-losing propositions, nor is any other company. And there's no reason they should be. I think CN is run the same way as any big corporations are run. You can't monetize something you don't understand. CN is famous for print publication, and I think they are trying to apply the same logic on online publication. There is something horribly wrong when Reddit has 4 employees and not self-sustaining; when digg has 60-80 employees and they are very much self sustaining and hiring more people at this very moment. Digg is not 20-times bigger than reddit. Edit: http://www.reddit.com/r/AskReddit/comments/co8n8/why_should_i_donate_to_reddit_gold/c0tzyy9?context=3 http://www.reddit.com/r/AskReddit/comments/co8n8/why_should_...

by rianjs 16y ago

duck 16y ago

Why did Conde Nast buy reddit in the first place?

9oliYQjP 16y ago
For the same reason they bought Ars Technica. It was an Internet play to say "look we're still relevant." Except, they used the wealth they accumulated in their print empire to try to prove relevance in the online age. Truth be told, they didn't choose badly with Ars Technica and Reddit. Those calls are far better than Murdoch's Myspace play. But c'mon, they haven't done anything with Ars Technica or Reddit because the print guys don't understand the Internet and never will. They need to be doing the exact inverse of what they're doing. They tried to bring Reddit to Wired. Instead, they should have been asking how to bring GQ, Wired, et al to Reddit and Ars Technica.
- woodall 16y ago
  I think I understand what you are saying, however, I'm still not sure. Are you suggesting they use their print publications to promote their online resources?
- GFischer 16y ago
  Hacker Monthly could be an inspiration to Condé Nast - use your viewership to choose stories for a print mag?

pavs 16y ago

There are so many things wrong with your comment I don't know where to start. >CN/Wired Digital is in business to make money, and it's clear that reddit's model isn't working. Except that there was no investment to make Reddit more profitable. Arstechnica, Wired and Reddit are all owned by CN, not only does Ars and Wired have more employees (its understandable since they are in publishing business) but they also have _dedicated_ people, specifically hired to bring in advertising and do market research. Reddit traffic blows both Wired and Ars traffic out of the door, in every sense of the word. How much traffic per month specifically does Reddit get? Here is a snapshot from one of Reddit employees: http://i.imgur.com/mirir.jpg http://i.imgur.com/mirir.jpg But this is a problem not specific to Reddit. Ars also have money problems, they recently had to tighten their revenue generation by blocking ad blockers, presumably because they don't have enough revenue to keep current employees or even expand. To read more specific comments to my claim go through 2000+ comments with heavy involvement from Ars employees: http://arstechnica.com/business/news/2010/03/why-ad-blocking-is-devastating-to-the-sites-you-love.ars http://arstechnica.com/business/news/2010/03/why-ad-blocking.... They always had Subscription, but only recently they started to heavily promote their subscription model, presumably because they can't get enough money. > What's going to happen is that the donations will create a little bolus of cash -- not nearly enough -- and then run out of steam. Then the reddit guys are going to have to go back to the drawing board to figure out a long-term solution. This will probably be a subscription model that offers benefits that non-paying users don't get. If you actually took the time to read the reddit blog post and the subsequent discussion on that subject you would have known that the whole purpose of that blog post was to generate conversation within the reddit community to see what they would more convenient with, which include discussions about having recurring paying model for customized option (including custom reddit email and other features). The whole idea was to generate conversation and see how many people are willing to pay if they try to go for a subscription model. > This works better when you have content that people are willing to buy, but communities by users for users don't generally monetize that well, I don't think. See also: Facebook, digg, fark, > They could probably talk to Ars Technica about that, seeing as how they're also a CN property, and have nearly a decade's worth of experience in monetizing a dedicated community of users. Ars is trying to save their own ass, as we speak. > If they don't figure it out, reddit will go out of business. Conde Nast isn't in the business of subsidizing money-losing propositions, nor is any other company. And there's no reason they should be. I think CN is run the same way as any big corporations are run. You can't monetize something you don't understand. CN is famous for print publication, and I think they are trying to apply the same logic on online publication. There is something horribly wrong when Reddit has 4 employees and not self-sustaining; when digg has 60-80 employees and they are very much self sustaining and hiring more people at this very moment. Digg is not 20-times bigger than reddit. Edit: http://www.reddit.com/r/AskReddit/comments/co8n8/why_should_i_donate_to_reddit_gold/c0tzyy9?context=3 http://www.reddit.com/r/AskReddit/comments/co8n8/why_should_...