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Reddit is hijacking content by requiring it to be hosted on it's own CDN... It's one of the main reasons why they put up walls. Many reddit users are actively i

Reddit is hijacking content by requiring it to be hosted on it's own CDN... It's one of the main reasons why they put up walls. Many reddit users are actively involved in content and credit theft as well, but no one knows about how deep it runs. In a world where creators are going unviewed from IG to TikTok, there is literally an underground repost network that literally steals and reposts content to claim credit and monetize the lifted content on reddit and other sources through various means. This is also why Reddit rarely lets posters link to original content sources like YouTube, IG, and TikTok on major subs any more. Millions of creators on sites like YouTube and others never get credited or viewed even though their stolen content goes viral on bootleg accounts. It's a huge problem. Even replies and posts from other sites are hijacked for the same purposes now. It laid the ground work for content theft going on everywhere now... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7a4geZL2xmM https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7a4geZL2xmM https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iaEJWlAbXLk https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iaEJWlAbXLk https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rcE8ZVG_tmo https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rcE8ZVG_tmo

lupire 4y ago
Reddit only bans links when the Reddit post is mockery/harassment of the original content/creator, as an anti-doxxing measure. Otherwise linking to source is common and encouraged.
- winternett 4y ago
  There is no way to verify content that is hosted on reddit's CDN, anyone could make any claim about OC at any time. The only way IDs happen is in comments, and that comes long after the damage is already done. Reddit used to allow external links, but now only a few subs do it (None of the default subs allow external links) because it's common practice on the site. Regardless of linking to the OC, it's still hijacking views from the original creators and undermining content creators. Reddit does not pay original content creators for their views... If Reddit had to pay OC creators for views fairly, they'd likely not be as popular nor profitable as they are now.
  - cma 4y ago
    I think because youtube can earn creators significant money, it becomes the a primary source of spam on reddit and profitable youtubers can flood everything out with voting rings. And that is the stuff behind subs blocking youtube and the strict self-promotion rules.
happymellon 4y ago
You mean 9gag surely. I thought they were the ones that stole everyone else's content, or are we just having the same conversation that we were having 15 years ago. Content theft on the internet is as old as the internet.
- winternett 4y ago
  It's not the same discussion. a lot more sites pay content creators now. There are many people that work hard on their content. Many sites are engaged in fostering hijacked content, and they quietly do nothing about it because it makes them a lot of untraceable money, a LOT more money than 9gag ever made off of stolen memes... Perhaps it should be called Content Laundering? Reddit has even gone as far as to prohibit posting of OC by creators themselves by banning their posts and accounts when they post their own work, calling it "self promotion", while other accounts violate the rule with obvious immunity. They also ban subreddits after they are cultivated and curated too, many times for no good reason. I understand that spam needs to be controlled, but how moderation occurs on Reddit, it's totally not conducted in a normal nor reasonable manner at all.
  - oefrha 4y ago
    Yeah, at least twice now a content creator friend of mine went viral (think tens of millions of views) without getting much of the traffic herself; the thieving accounts/networks captured almost all of the benefits. Having those taken down have proven to be almost impossible. It’s disgusting. Edit: In addition, just recently she managed to ward off a blatant thief and finally drive traffic from another hit to herself. But the income lost to the thief in the first few days? Forget about it.
    - winternett 4y ago
      Agreed, also the fact that rehosted content often never points back to the source creator, which potentially robs OC creators of real followers and potential business leads that could likely support them through these harsh times, literally to line pockets of people that had nothing to do with the content creation process at all.
imgabe 4y ago
I’m confused. Reddit user steals content from Tiktok. They upload it to Reddit’s CDN. How does the Reddit user get paid for this?
- PickledJesus 4y ago
  Highly upvoted accounts are more valuable and can be sold
- winternett 4y ago
  (Theoretically only, just opinion, not fact of course by any means) Mods could potentially get paid by building popularity of their sub through reposting popular content that gets upvoted. They then could charge other users and sponsors for prime placement and promotion within their subs all arranged possibly offline. Reddit normally collects money off the activity through the ad revenue generated by page views and ad loading, and through sales of ads purchased by platform users... It may not seem like a lot of money until you really understand how much traffic the site gets, and how much mods and corporate on reddit can control and even script what kinds of content makes it to the top/front of pages. Also there's always old payment methods where crypto/NFT/digital payment services or even a bag of cash can be used under the table, though nobody can or would want to prove that of course, and of course it's not presented as fact because I have no stake whatsoever in reddit nor desire to see it made less skewed like it used to be in the past.... I've already given up on it myself, long ago when they banned me for no reason and took my sub. Look carefully at each video you watch on any platform from now on for what products, slogans, and logos are placed in them, and the links/comments that are posted in the comments. There is advertising going on in the majority of reddit posts for something, even if most people don't know it. A lot of the time, even the music used in content is often being subtly imprinted across multiple sites so that it becomes an ear worm as a low-key psychological marketing tactic. Many major companies are putting out completely engineered "low budget" home videos as ads, they're no longer marking paid ad posts as sponsored, and companies are regularly hiring the most popular and trusted creators to inject subtle advertising cues into otherwise organic looking viral videos. I'm pretty sure that most of what we see on social platforms with paid advertising options now is either staged/funded/enlisted/sponsored production, bot driven content, or low key psychological marketing. This does not include HN based on what I've observed, because they don't sell ad-based post boosting (as far as I know). OC creators struggle often in futility to break past algorithm ratios just to be seen by small audiences if they don't have massive sums of money to pay for advertising for each post they make on each platform. Getting to the front page without the right funding may be damn near impossible by now, fair enough though, there are a lot of other users competing against you that have copied your style, branding, and/or content, so "F" it, maybe we're all doomed/
pas 4y ago
> Reddit is hijacking content by requiring it to be hosted on it's own CDN.. does it require it or provide it as an option? as far as I know you can submit image URLs just fine. gyfcat and imgur videos are regularly on r/all. hosting multimedia content provides a better experience. does it have downsides? yes. just with google's AMP. a bit offtopic, but tiktok creators' fund is already shortshelling creators. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jAZapFzpP64 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jAZapFzpP64 and this endless reposting of viral content ... well, it's ongoing since we have viral content. is it great? of course not, but it's not like the reddit CDN somehow changed anything with regards to this problem. youtube has contentID ... "creators" are free to organize and advocate for reddit/IG/tiktok to introduce it (or lobby US/EU/China to mandate it or whatever)
erickhill 4y ago
>This is also why Reddit rarely lets posters link to original content sources like YouTube, IG, and TikTok on major subs any more. A lot of content creators spam Reddit to get clicks and eyeballs (obviously). Some subreddits have nearly become 100% YouTube threads. As a result some subs/admins have started to craft tighter requirements for the links posted to bring some sort of balance back to the content.
- zem 4y ago
  this almost killed /r/indianfood. we had to clamp down very sharply on posts that were just links to youtube videos, even if those videos were technically on topic for the sub, not out of any desire for petty power tripping, but because the page had literally become a wasteland of youtube spam crowding out other content. since then things have gotten a lot better, and we even get a drive by comment every now and then thanking us for sticking to the rule.

lupire 4y ago

Reddit only bans links when the Reddit post is mockery/harassment of the original content/creator, as an anti-doxxing measure. Otherwise linking to source is common and encouraged.

winternett 4y ago
There is no way to verify content that is hosted on reddit's CDN, anyone could make any claim about OC at any time. The only way IDs happen is in comments, and that comes long after the damage is already done. Reddit used to allow external links, but now only a few subs do it (None of the default subs allow external links) because it's common practice on the site. Regardless of linking to the OC, it's still hijacking views from the original creators and undermining content creators. Reddit does not pay original content creators for their views... If Reddit had to pay OC creators for views fairly, they'd likely not be as popular nor profitable as they are now.
- cma 4y ago
  I think because youtube can earn creators significant money, it becomes the a primary source of spam on reddit and profitable youtubers can flood everything out with voting rings. And that is the stuff behind subs blocking youtube and the strict self-promotion rules.

happymellon 4y ago

You mean 9gag surely. I thought they were the ones that stole everyone else's content, or are we just having the same conversation that we were having 15 years ago. Content theft on the internet is as old as the internet.

winternett 4y ago
It's not the same discussion. a lot more sites pay content creators now. There are many people that work hard on their content. Many sites are engaged in fostering hijacked content, and they quietly do nothing about it because it makes them a lot of untraceable money, a LOT more money than 9gag ever made off of stolen memes... Perhaps it should be called Content Laundering? Reddit has even gone as far as to prohibit posting of OC by creators themselves by banning their posts and accounts when they post their own work, calling it "self promotion", while other accounts violate the rule with obvious immunity. They also ban subreddits after they are cultivated and curated too, many times for no good reason. I understand that spam needs to be controlled, but how moderation occurs on Reddit, it's totally not conducted in a normal nor reasonable manner at all.
- oefrha 4y ago
  Yeah, at least twice now a content creator friend of mine went viral (think tens of millions of views) without getting much of the traffic herself; the thieving accounts/networks captured almost all of the benefits. Having those taken down have proven to be almost impossible. It’s disgusting. Edit: In addition, just recently she managed to ward off a blatant thief and finally drive traffic from another hit to herself. But the income lost to the thief in the first few days? Forget about it.
  - winternett 4y ago
    Agreed, also the fact that rehosted content often never points back to the source creator, which potentially robs OC creators of real followers and potential business leads that could likely support them through these harsh times, literally to line pockets of people that had nothing to do with the content creation process at all.

imgabe 4y ago

I’m confused. Reddit user steals content from Tiktok. They upload it to Reddit’s CDN. How does the Reddit user get paid for this?

PickledJesus 4y ago
Highly upvoted accounts are more valuable and can be sold
winternett 4y ago
(Theoretically only, just opinion, not fact of course by any means) Mods could potentially get paid by building popularity of their sub through reposting popular content that gets upvoted. They then could charge other users and sponsors for prime placement and promotion within their subs all arranged possibly offline. Reddit normally collects money off the activity through the ad revenue generated by page views and ad loading, and through sales of ads purchased by platform users... It may not seem like a lot of money until you really understand how much traffic the site gets, and how much mods and corporate on reddit can control and even script what kinds of content makes it to the top/front of pages. Also there's always old payment methods where crypto/NFT/digital payment services or even a bag of cash can be used under the table, though nobody can or would want to prove that of course, and of course it's not presented as fact because I have no stake whatsoever in reddit nor desire to see it made less skewed like it used to be in the past.... I've already given up on it myself, long ago when they banned me for no reason and took my sub. Look carefully at each video you watch on any platform from now on for what products, slogans, and logos are placed in them, and the links/comments that are posted in the comments. There is advertising going on in the majority of reddit posts for something, even if most people don't know it. A lot of the time, even the music used in content is often being subtly imprinted across multiple sites so that it becomes an ear worm as a low-key psychological marketing tactic. Many major companies are putting out completely engineered "low budget" home videos as ads, they're no longer marking paid ad posts as sponsored, and companies are regularly hiring the most popular and trusted creators to inject subtle advertising cues into otherwise organic looking viral videos. I'm pretty sure that most of what we see on social platforms with paid advertising options now is either staged/funded/enlisted/sponsored production, bot driven content, or low key psychological marketing. This does not include HN based on what I've observed, because they don't sell ad-based post boosting (as far as I know). OC creators struggle often in futility to break past algorithm ratios just to be seen by small audiences if they don't have massive sums of money to pay for advertising for each post they make on each platform. Getting to the front page without the right funding may be damn near impossible by now, fair enough though, there are a lot of other users competing against you that have copied your style, branding, and/or content, so "F" it, maybe we're all doomed/

pas 4y ago

> Reddit is hijacking content by requiring it to be hosted on it's own CDN.. does it require it or provide it as an option? as far as I know you can submit image URLs just fine. gyfcat and imgur videos are regularly on r/all. hosting multimedia content provides a better experience. does it have downsides? yes. just with google's AMP. a bit offtopic, but tiktok creators' fund is already shortshelling creators. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jAZapFzpP64 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jAZapFzpP64 and this endless reposting of viral content ... well, it's ongoing since we have viral content. is it great? of course not, but it's not like the reddit CDN somehow changed anything with regards to this problem. youtube has contentID ... "creators" are free to organize and advocate for reddit/IG/tiktok to introduce it (or lobby US/EU/China to mandate it or whatever)

erickhill 4y ago

>This is also why Reddit rarely lets posters link to original content sources like YouTube, IG, and TikTok on major subs any more. A lot of content creators spam Reddit to get clicks and eyeballs (obviously). Some subreddits have nearly become 100% YouTube threads. As a result some subs/admins have started to craft tighter requirements for the links posted to bring some sort of balance back to the content.

zem 4y ago
this almost killed /r/indianfood. we had to clamp down very sharply on posts that were just links to youtube videos, even if those videos were technically on topic for the sub, not out of any desire for petty power tripping, but because the page had literally become a wasteland of youtube spam crowding out other content. since then things have gotten a lot better, and we even get a drive by comment every now and then thanking us for sticking to the rule.