5 ms·

> they converted it to a subreddit with 1.5k subscribers. That definitely belongs in a textbook on absurd corporate decisions. I thought you must have been ex

> they converted it to a subreddit with 1.5k subscribers. That definitely belongs in a textbook on absurd corporate decisions. I thought you must have been exaggerating somewhere, but nope, that is exactly how it went. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dubsmash https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dubsmash https://old.reddit.com/r/dubsmash/ https://old.reddit.com/r/dubsmash/

FormerBandmate 3y ago
At one point Dubsmash had 200 million users (https://stackshare.io/dubsmash/dubsmash-scaling-to-200-million-users-with-3-engineers https://stackshare.io/dubsmash/dubsmash-scaling-to-200-milli...) and in the acquisition press release they tout how 25% of black teens were on the app (https://www.redditinc.com/blog/reddit-welcomes-video-platform-dubsmash-to-team/ https://www.redditinc.com/blog/reddit-welcomes-video-platfor...). They had fallen from their heyday by the time Reddit bought them but even still taking those numbers at face value it's probably the worst acquisition of all time
- Nemo_bis 3y ago
  It [also](https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Dubsmash&oldid=1159741654#History https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Dubsmash&oldid=11...) had suffered a data breach and went from competing with TikTok and musical.ly to being two orders of magnitude smaller than the combined TikTok. Probably Reddit thought they were just buying a mailing list and a development team. So the cost should be compared to Reddit marketing's acquisition costs and Reddit HR hiring costs.
voytec 3y ago
> That definitely belongs in a textbook on absurd corporate decisions. Maybe money had to be moved under whatever pretense.
p-e-w 3y ago
It's only absurd if you misunderstand the true intention. They didn't acquire Dubsmash to profit from its technology and users. They acquired Dubsmash to shut it down. Today's social media corporations are so fat with (venture) capital that they can, and do, spend that kind of money just to keep any potential competitors locked out. TikTok, the last social network that became truly big, was launched in 2016, seven years ago. Seven years without any new player entering the space. That's an eternity. I can promise you this wouldn't be happening without (very costly) interventions from above.
- MattGaiser 3y ago
  I get buying it for that purpose, but why then kill it? Especially when it is a personal video platform, when Reddit is mostly an anonymous text platform?
  - klabb3 3y ago
    That only makes sense when there’s competition. Why maintain two apps when it’s cheaper to maintain one? Now, in this case it seems like an awful strategic choice, given what happened with TikTok. But I think the reason is nevertheless the same. Modern tech capitalism doesn’t want to compete in the “let the best product win”-space. It’s just not enough money and making stuff is hit or miss. They want to own access and rent-seek. At least that’s my interpretation.
    - bboygravity 3y ago
      That's not (modern) capitalism. That's simply -not- capitalism.
      - losteric 3y ago
        Are you saying that rent seeking and anti-competitiveness are "not capitalist"? How do you figure?
      - hkt 3y ago
        Alas, you're incorrect. It is the whole point of capitalism.
        DiscourseFan 3y ago
        Maybe real life capitalism. Fantasy capitalism, on the other hand...
        soco 3y ago
        But this is the same discussion as with communism, where the fans will rush you for saying that real-life communism sucks so badly, and tell you they will do it By The Book (or something). It's always surprising how many people take their truths from books instead of what's in front of their noses...
AmplySmartly 3y ago
Oh so that’s how Reddit acquired the video suite. It sucked so much it drove me to third party apps and now they’re killing them too. Amazing.
bufferoverflow 3y ago
It makes sense if it's a case of corruption. Like if some manager approves the acquisition in return for kickbacks.
whywhywhywhy 3y ago
It's hilarious to me that Reddit is only relevant at all today because Digg 2.0's redesign was so hated that everyone from it flocked to Reddit. Then they buy a moderately successful app, completely destroy it and yet their execs are sitting there rapidly killing the ways people like to use their site and trying to force them into an objectively awful app and yet are seemingly completely oblivious to their history and why they're here in the first place. Reddit, you are replaceable. The moment you turn off old.reddit, I'm gone. I'd definitely admit I am addicted to reddit in it's current form but new reddit and the app are just too insufferable I'll happily give it all up and find somewhere else.

FormerBandmate 3y ago

At one point Dubsmash had 200 million users (https://stackshare.io/dubsmash/dubsmash-scaling-to-200-million-users-with-3-engineers https://stackshare.io/dubsmash/dubsmash-scaling-to-200-milli...) and in the acquisition press release they tout how 25% of black teens were on the app (https://www.redditinc.com/blog/reddit-welcomes-video-platform-dubsmash-to-team/ https://www.redditinc.com/blog/reddit-welcomes-video-platfor...). They had fallen from their heyday by the time Reddit bought them but even still taking those numbers at face value it's probably the worst acquisition of all time

Nemo_bis 3y ago
It [also](https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Dubsmash&oldid=1159741654#History https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Dubsmash&oldid=11...) had suffered a data breach and went from competing with TikTok and musical.ly to being two orders of magnitude smaller than the combined TikTok. Probably Reddit thought they were just buying a mailing list and a development team. So the cost should be compared to Reddit marketing's acquisition costs and Reddit HR hiring costs.

voytec 3y ago

> That definitely belongs in a textbook on absurd corporate decisions. Maybe money had to be moved under whatever pretense.

p-e-w 3y ago

It's only absurd if you misunderstand the true intention. They didn't acquire Dubsmash to profit from its technology and users. They acquired Dubsmash to shut it down. Today's social media corporations are so fat with (venture) capital that they can, and do, spend that kind of money just to keep any potential competitors locked out. TikTok, the last social network that became truly big, was launched in 2016, seven years ago. Seven years without any new player entering the space. That's an eternity. I can promise you this wouldn't be happening without (very costly) interventions from above.

MattGaiser 3y ago
I get buying it for that purpose, but why then kill it? Especially when it is a personal video platform, when Reddit is mostly an anonymous text platform?
- klabb3 3y ago
  That only makes sense when there’s competition. Why maintain two apps when it’s cheaper to maintain one? Now, in this case it seems like an awful strategic choice, given what happened with TikTok. But I think the reason is nevertheless the same. Modern tech capitalism doesn’t want to compete in the “let the best product win”-space. It’s just not enough money and making stuff is hit or miss. They want to own access and rent-seek. At least that’s my interpretation.
  - bboygravity 3y ago
    That's not (modern) capitalism. That's simply -not- capitalism.
    - losteric 3y ago
      Are you saying that rent seeking and anti-competitiveness are "not capitalist"? How do you figure?
    - hkt 3y ago
      Alas, you're incorrect. It is the whole point of capitalism.
      - DiscourseFan 3y ago
        Maybe real life capitalism. Fantasy capitalism, on the other hand...
        soco 3y ago
        But this is the same discussion as with communism, where the fans will rush you for saying that real-life communism sucks so badly, and tell you they will do it By The Book (or something). It's always surprising how many people take their truths from books instead of what's in front of their noses...

AmplySmartly 3y ago

Oh so that’s how Reddit acquired the video suite. It sucked so much it drove me to third party apps and now they’re killing them too. Amazing.

bufferoverflow 3y ago

It makes sense if it's a case of corruption. Like if some manager approves the acquisition in return for kickbacks.

whywhywhywhy 3y ago

It's hilarious to me that Reddit is only relevant at all today because Digg 2.0's redesign was so hated that everyone from it flocked to Reddit. Then they buy a moderately successful app, completely destroy it and yet their execs are sitting there rapidly killing the ways people like to use their site and trying to force them into an objectively awful app and yet are seemingly completely oblivious to their history and why they're here in the first place. Reddit, you are replaceable. The moment you turn off old.reddit, I'm gone. I'd definitely admit I am addicted to reddit in it's current form but new reddit and the app are just too insufferable I'll happily give it all up and find somewhere else.