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Ask HN: Why doesn't Reddit give it's mod's a revenue cut
- mostlysimilar 3y agoBecause they took 1.3 billion dollars from investors who want their money back, moderators currently do the job for free, and Reddit is looking to _cut_ spend, not increase it.
- sf4lifer 3y agoReddit's biggest risk is community revolt. Financially incentivizing moderators to keep the community aligned with the company's interest seems like something investors would reward (even if the profit margin goes down a little).
- mostlysimilar 3y agoIn general I agree with you, but the actions of Reddit's leadership over the past few months (and especially the past few weeks) lead me to believe they've completely lost the plot and don't understand the dynamics of their own community. They can say all they want that they value the contributions of the moderators, but their actions speak the truth.
- sf4lifer 3y agoExactly. Seems like the Mods should form a union and demand a rev share. I have to imagine leadership would capitulate
- hker999 3y agoSupply exceeds demand for free moderators. They have no incentive to change this.
- sf4lifer 3y agoWell, the current situation seems like enough incentive to at least discuss this as a possible solution...
- yuppie_scum 3y agoWhat does paying them solve? They’d just become even bigger entitled control freaks.
- Lk7Of3vfJS2n 3y agoWhy not pay the users instead of the mods? If there's a market for paying users directly for content, and also as a way to not need mods, someday this market will bubble up.
- jim-jim-jim 3y agoBecause Langley already pays them plenty.
- rvz 3y agoBecause Reddit took VC money and need to give their investors a return from it, in the form of an IPO. Giving money to mods won't help their IPO roadshow or make them profitable.
- sf4lifer 3y agoI think investors will welcome the model. Youtube/tiktok pay content creators. Paying mods doesn't seem that far fetched...
- version_five 3y agoIt's a minimum wage / gigwork job at best. You pay for it, you'll get that quality of work. If you pay people in power, as they do, people will put their heart and soul into it. Not everything is a monetary transaction, and there are better incentives.
- sf4lifer 3y agoWhat's the average tenure of a mod?
- SheepHerdr 3y agoThere's no need to pay the mods when they're already doing it for free, with many more willing to take their place. Some of the mods do it for power, but I would hope most do it for their love of good discussion and their community. If it really comes down to it, I wouldn't be surprised at all if the Reddit admins just kick out all the protesting mods, finding replacements will likely be pretty easy. Edit: Mass removal is already happening. https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=36412619 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=36412619 The mods of several large subreddits were all kicked out, leaving the subreddits unmoderated. Multiple of these removed mods are also locked out of their accounts. https://www.reddit.com/r/ModCoord/comments/14eq8ip/the_entire_rmildlyinteresting_mod_team_has_just/ https://www.reddit.com/r/ModCoord/comments/14eq8ip/the_entir...
- hitsurume 3y agoThey have no reason to pay them. Hell I think Reddit could find a cheaper way of using ChatGPT and making their own inhouse mods then pay existing mods who go on strike.
- aborsy 3y agoIt’s worth noting that people don’t pay for a lot of online services, such as access to information in platforms such as reddit. Advertisement is also loathed by public. It’s a tough business, and there isn’t all that much to trickle down.
- sf4lifer 3y agoYoutube's revenue was $30B last year
- yarrowy 3y agoMods are overrated, easily replaceable and do not contribute to Reddit's success.