3 ms·

The front page of Reddit that is seen by the 90% of lurkers is content from the top 20 subreddits by activity. They come to see the content that 20 individual c

The front page of Reddit that is seen by the 90% of lurkers is content from the top 20 subreddits by activity. They come to see the content that 20 individual communities curate. All content on Reddit -- all of it, comes from these individualized communities. Also the 90% number -- that's true of almost any site, it's the "1% Rule"[1] (or a rule by a number of other names). Instead of focusing on the 90% lurkers, realize that it's the 1% of creators and 9% of contributors that create/submit and curate the content that brings the 90% to the front page. So how do you attract the best 10%, the best curators, the best original creators? In my opinion: individual communities dedicated to any topic they choose. Decentralized power that makes the 90%'s front page nothing more than the best-of-the-biggest subreddits. Sure, many subreddits will not be worthy of the 90%'s front page -- but then again, many communities don't want on the front page (and the massive influx of 'eternal september' users that it brings!) Some subreddits, like /r/askscience, have over half a million users and maintain a rigid, empirical comment section that actively prevents layman speculation. Think about that, 600,000 users and they run a community with very little to no layman speculation. Other subreddits, like /r/f7u13 (or /r/circlejerk) run very anarchistic comment sections where ridiculousness is supported and mods abusing power is par the course. The beauty of Reddit is the freedom the subreddits have and the wonderful communities that create and curate the content that makes the 90%'s front page as good as it is. I do not understand how you can emulate the result of a strong, engaged community by preventing communities from forming at all. [1] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1%25_rule_(Internet_culture) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1%25_rule_(Internet_culture)

ceol 14y ago
> So how do you attract the best 10%, the best curators, the best original creators? You don't; at least, reddit doesn't. Reddit aggregates "original" content from other places (scare quotes due to that content often times being a repost itself.) Did you happen to see the week f7u12 decided to have no moderation aside from blatantly illegal content? Meaning, they didn't remove reposts/off-topic material? The very first day, an image that wasn't even a rage comic hit the front page with 300+ upvotes. The meta subreddits were quick to point to that as proof that most redditors don't vote based on category. Reddit users don't care about subreddits, and they don't care about granular curation. As long as they like it, it could be in any subreddit— as is what happened when /r/funny became a dumping ground for off-topic content when the admins removed /r/reddit.com. > 600,000 users and they run a community with very little to no layman speculation. There are loads of off-topic, speculative, and joke comments in /r/askscience. Loads! The mods, however, rule with an iron fist, and only in the first hour of a thread's existence will you see them littered throughout the comments. Take a look at this thread[0], pulled from the current front page of /r/askscience. Do you see the top comment? It's an official mod statement about a certain joke. In most threads that get 100+ comments, you'll see this same type of comment near the top. [0]: http://www.reddit.com/r/askscience/comments/xhyhr/is_there_any_part_of_the_human_body_that_can/ http://www.reddit.com/r/askscience/comments/xhyhr/is_there_a... > Other subreddits, like /r/f7u13 (or /r/circlejerk) run very anarchistic comment sections where ridiculousness is supported and mods abusing power is par the course. I'd hardly call anything the f7u12 or /r/circlejerk mods have done as an abuse of power. 99.99% of the time, the users are pitchforking over what amounts to either a misunderstanding or something that Just Doesn't Matter. Oh my word, BEP changed the CSS for 10 minutes to prank the subreddit? How dare he! Downvote every comment he's ever made to prove how important this is! That's beside the point, though. Excuse my digression. > I do not understand how you can emulate the result of a strong, engaged community by preventing communities from forming at all. I'm saying the community doesn't exist in the first place. It's a bunch of kids online who like to think they're part of a secret club of close friends. It's easy to point to the most prominent feature of reddit, the micro-communities, as the reason it has become successful, but the real bread and butter is probably the crap that clogs /r/all.

ceol 14y ago

> So how do you attract the best 10%, the best curators, the best original creators? You don't; at least, reddit doesn't. Reddit aggregates "original" content from other places (scare quotes due to that content often times being a repost itself.) Did you happen to see the week f7u12 decided to have no moderation aside from blatantly illegal content? Meaning, they didn't remove reposts/off-topic material? The very first day, an image that wasn't even a rage comic hit the front page with 300+ upvotes. The meta subreddits were quick to point to that as proof that most redditors don't vote based on category. Reddit users don't care about subreddits, and they don't care about granular curation. As long as they like it, it could be in any subreddit— as is what happened when /r/funny became a dumping ground for off-topic content when the admins removed /r/reddit.com. > 600,000 users and they run a community with very little to no layman speculation. There are loads of off-topic, speculative, and joke comments in /r/askscience. Loads! The mods, however, rule with an iron fist, and only in the first hour of a thread's existence will you see them littered throughout the comments. Take a look at this thread[0], pulled from the current front page of /r/askscience. Do you see the top comment? It's an official mod statement about a certain joke. In most threads that get 100+ comments, you'll see this same type of comment near the top. [0]: http://www.reddit.com/r/askscience/comments/xhyhr/is_there_any_part_of_the_human_body_that_can/ http://www.reddit.com/r/askscience/comments/xhyhr/is_there_a... > Other subreddits, like /r/f7u13 (or /r/circlejerk) run very anarchistic comment sections where ridiculousness is supported and mods abusing power is par the course. I'd hardly call anything the f7u12 or /r/circlejerk mods have done as an abuse of power. 99.99% of the time, the users are pitchforking over what amounts to either a misunderstanding or something that Just Doesn't Matter. Oh my word, BEP changed the CSS for 10 minutes to prank the subreddit? How dare he! Downvote every comment he's ever made to prove how important this is! That's beside the point, though. Excuse my digression. > I do not understand how you can emulate the result of a strong, engaged community by preventing communities from forming at all. I'm saying the community doesn't exist in the first place. It's a bunch of kids online who like to think they're part of a secret club of close friends. It's easy to point to the most prominent feature of reddit, the micro-communities, as the reason it has become successful, but the real bread and butter is probably the crap that clogs /r/all.