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Does anyone have a take on where Reddit might be, say, 5 years from now? A view on the path to profitability? The obvious outcome for an unprofitable Reddit is

Does anyone have a take on where Reddit might be, say, 5 years from now? A view on the path to profitability? The obvious outcome for an unprofitable Reddit is an acquisition by a big media company but I’m curious if anyone has a contrary view on how it can become profitable and what sort of shifts it’ll need to make.

bena 6y ago
Their majority shareholder is a big media company.
waprin 6y ago
They are a top ten site on the internet. I don't see why Twitter is 45 B market cap but Reddit should be so hopeless, especially when their subreddit model lends itself much more clearly to ads than the "stream of conscious" of Twitter. They don't even need to worry about tracking/privacy as much, since just the subreddit name and nothing else is a huge hint as to what ads should be relevant.
- lotsofpulp 6y ago
  The problem is when the subreddit content itself becomes ads, although they may have sufficient time to milk it while people figure it out and/or don’t have a better alternative
  - sombremesa 6y ago
    Another problem is that subreddits are under the ownership of the creators/moderators, who may have their own ideas of monetization as well as where the revenue should go...
DLay 6y ago
Reddit seems to be following all the other social media platforms in increasing the time spent within their app. Reddit Public Access Network (live streaming) could be further monetized by incentivizing tipping and venturing into gaming. They also purchased the short video app Dubsmash to compete with TikTok. Ads can be shown in between videos. "...encourage under-represented creators to find a home on Reddit," seems to be hinting at making the platform appealing to influencers? If so, e-commerce and affiliate linking integration could be profitable. Not sure if the current reddit community would like that one, though. I'm sure they could also squeeze in a Clubhouse copy too. Could be popular with communities like the /r/wallstreetbets crowd.

bena 6y ago

Their majority shareholder is a big media company.

waprin 6y ago

They are a top ten site on the internet. I don't see why Twitter is 45 B market cap but Reddit should be so hopeless, especially when their subreddit model lends itself much more clearly to ads than the "stream of conscious" of Twitter. They don't even need to worry about tracking/privacy as much, since just the subreddit name and nothing else is a huge hint as to what ads should be relevant.

lotsofpulp 6y ago
The problem is when the subreddit content itself becomes ads, although they may have sufficient time to milk it while people figure it out and/or don’t have a better alternative
- sombremesa 6y ago
  Another problem is that subreddits are under the ownership of the creators/moderators, who may have their own ideas of monetization as well as where the revenue should go...

DLay 6y ago

Reddit seems to be following all the other social media platforms in increasing the time spent within their app. Reddit Public Access Network (live streaming) could be further monetized by incentivizing tipping and venturing into gaming. They also purchased the short video app Dubsmash to compete with TikTok. Ads can be shown in between videos. "...encourage under-represented creators to find a home on Reddit," seems to be hinting at making the platform appealing to influencers? If so, e-commerce and affiliate linking integration could be profitable. Not sure if the current reddit community would like that one, though. I'm sure they could also squeeze in a Clubhouse copy too. Could be popular with communities like the /r/wallstreetbets crowd.