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Sounds like a great way to prod those specialized communities to bail to the next diggredditetc. People are going to those specialized communities to get real

Sounds like a great way to prod those specialized communities to bail to the next diggredditetc. People are going to those specialized communities to get real information from real users, not lies and misinformation (ads and marketing).

warning26 5y ago
Eh, I'd say most of the hardcore Reddit users have both old.reddit as well as an Ad Blocker, so I'm guessing that slightly better ad configuration tools wouldn't adversely impact the longtime users too much. As for other users, they are already seeing incredibly random and irrelevant ads. Seeing actual photography themed ads on a photography themed forum doesn't seem that bad IMO (provided that they are clearly marked as ads, of course.)
- spookthesunset 5y ago
  Naw. The new Reddit design is much nicer than the old. There, I said it. It is much easier to use. It took them a while to iron out the bugs but it is way better. Now their new mobile app video player… ho boy…..
  - pitterpatter 5y ago
    > Naw. The new Reddit design is much nicer than the old. There, I said it. It is much easier to use. It took them a while to iron out the bugs but it is way better. I'm curious what you like better in the new design? I personally find the floating bar at the top annoying. Not to mention the fact you have to click another button to actually see all the comments. Not to mention my biggest annoyance, clicking on the empty space on the sides when viewing a post will navigate to the subreddit?? Why?
    - cuu508 5y ago
      > Not to mention my biggest annoyance, clicking on the empty space on the sides when viewing a post will navigate to the subreddit?? Why? A/B testing shows it generates more engagement /s
  - potamic 5y ago
    Some things I think are objectively bad design - 1. Images open by default on my feed and videos and gifs autoplay as I scroll. It's a massive distraction. I'm trying to find content I might be interested in, but here I'm forced to scan pretty much every post out there. 2. On similar lines, showing a (cropped) summary for text posts. Again a distraction when you're trying to find content. The cropping makes it worse since you have to change the page after reading halfway through. 3. Having to click on view discussion to open the comments each time. This is a forum. The only reason I go there is to discuss. 4. Lack of borders for comments. It looks like one continuous feed and reduces grouping between individual comments. 5. Large avatars, icons on the reply bar compete for attention on every single comment. The reply bar on old reddit is so nicely blended away into the background. You don't see it unless you want to reply. 6. Hover popups on the large icons trigger unintentionally all the time. Very rarely do I need to see somebody's karma. What's the point of this feature even? This is basis design considerations for a discussion forum. I completely understand where they are coming from though. They are not interested in this being a discussion forum. They want to optimize for post views. The more views a post gets, the more they will be able to monetize. Engaging in discussion is time consuming and that time could be better spent in viewing more posts.
  - alexgmcm 5y ago
    I really dislike the new design, it feels super-bloated like it's trying to be a social app (and indeed they force the awful Reddit app on you too). I use Reddit Enhancement Suite and the old design and I find it far superior. It feels more compact and efficient, like HN.
paulcole 5y ago
>People are going to those specialized communities to get real information from real users, not lies and misinformation (ads and marketing). Those specialized communities will cease to exist without something funding them. Either users get ready to get out their wallets or get used to ads and marketing (which are not wholly lies and misinformation). And more importantly remember it's Reddit's choice how users pay, not the end users.
- colinmhayes 5y ago
  I'm not sure that's true. No one is paying the moderators currently. It's not like hosting costs of a forum are that high. Not that difficult to migrate all your users to a competing service if the community is un happy with the monetization scheme.
  - ahtihn 5y ago
    Migrating might not be that hard. Retaining existing users and attracting new users is much harder. For niche topics I tend to add "reddit" to google search queries, because there's a high likelihood of finding actual information. If those subreddits move to other services, they may not even show up in the sea of blogspam results.
- wintermutestwin 5y ago
  How much money does it really cost to provide a discussion forum for a specialized community? Not so much as to warrant advertising pollution. Advertising is diametrically opposed to information sharing.
  - paulcole 5y ago
    Not necessarily how much it costs but more how much the provider wants to make. And w/ VCs involved in Reddit they're not looking for pennies.
- IncRnd 5y ago
  > Those specialized communities will cease to exist without something funding them. And this very article embarassingly shows that after 16 years it is still investors who are funding those specialized communities.

warning26 5y ago

Eh, I'd say most of the hardcore Reddit users have both old.reddit as well as an Ad Blocker, so I'm guessing that slightly better ad configuration tools wouldn't adversely impact the longtime users too much. As for other users, they are already seeing incredibly random and irrelevant ads. Seeing actual photography themed ads on a photography themed forum doesn't seem that bad IMO (provided that they are clearly marked as ads, of course.)

spookthesunset 5y ago
Naw. The new Reddit design is much nicer than the old. There, I said it. It is much easier to use. It took them a while to iron out the bugs but it is way better. Now their new mobile app video player… ho boy…..
- pitterpatter 5y ago
  > Naw. The new Reddit design is much nicer than the old. There, I said it. It is much easier to use. It took them a while to iron out the bugs but it is way better. I'm curious what you like better in the new design? I personally find the floating bar at the top annoying. Not to mention the fact you have to click another button to actually see all the comments. Not to mention my biggest annoyance, clicking on the empty space on the sides when viewing a post will navigate to the subreddit?? Why?
  - cuu508 5y ago
    > Not to mention my biggest annoyance, clicking on the empty space on the sides when viewing a post will navigate to the subreddit?? Why? A/B testing shows it generates more engagement /s
- potamic 5y ago
  Some things I think are objectively bad design - 1. Images open by default on my feed and videos and gifs autoplay as I scroll. It's a massive distraction. I'm trying to find content I might be interested in, but here I'm forced to scan pretty much every post out there. 2. On similar lines, showing a (cropped) summary for text posts. Again a distraction when you're trying to find content. The cropping makes it worse since you have to change the page after reading halfway through. 3. Having to click on view discussion to open the comments each time. This is a forum. The only reason I go there is to discuss. 4. Lack of borders for comments. It looks like one continuous feed and reduces grouping between individual comments. 5. Large avatars, icons on the reply bar compete for attention on every single comment. The reply bar on old reddit is so nicely blended away into the background. You don't see it unless you want to reply. 6. Hover popups on the large icons trigger unintentionally all the time. Very rarely do I need to see somebody's karma. What's the point of this feature even? This is basis design considerations for a discussion forum. I completely understand where they are coming from though. They are not interested in this being a discussion forum. They want to optimize for post views. The more views a post gets, the more they will be able to monetize. Engaging in discussion is time consuming and that time could be better spent in viewing more posts.
- alexgmcm 5y ago
  I really dislike the new design, it feels super-bloated like it's trying to be a social app (and indeed they force the awful Reddit app on you too). I use Reddit Enhancement Suite and the old design and I find it far superior. It feels more compact and efficient, like HN.

paulcole 5y ago

>People are going to those specialized communities to get real information from real users, not lies and misinformation (ads and marketing). Those specialized communities will cease to exist without something funding them. Either users get ready to get out their wallets or get used to ads and marketing (which are not wholly lies and misinformation). And more importantly remember it's Reddit's choice how users pay, not the end users.

colinmhayes 5y ago
I'm not sure that's true. No one is paying the moderators currently. It's not like hosting costs of a forum are that high. Not that difficult to migrate all your users to a competing service if the community is un happy with the monetization scheme.
- ahtihn 5y ago
  Migrating might not be that hard. Retaining existing users and attracting new users is much harder. For niche topics I tend to add "reddit" to google search queries, because there's a high likelihood of finding actual information. If those subreddits move to other services, they may not even show up in the sea of blogspam results.
wintermutestwin 5y ago
How much money does it really cost to provide a discussion forum for a specialized community? Not so much as to warrant advertising pollution. Advertising is diametrically opposed to information sharing.
- paulcole 5y ago
  Not necessarily how much it costs but more how much the provider wants to make. And w/ VCs involved in Reddit they're not looking for pennies.
IncRnd 5y ago
> Those specialized communities will cease to exist without something funding them. And this very article embarassingly shows that after 16 years it is still investors who are funding those specialized communities.