6 ms·

I would venture a guess too that the AMA platform may start having sponsored content or there was some element in the shake up regarding that and people not wan

by matt_s 11y ago

I would venture a guess too that the AMA platform may start having sponsored content or there was some element in the shake up regarding that and people not wanting to take money for AMA's. When you see celebs and other note worthy folks on there, they casually mention they have a new movie|book|thing coming out and they're there to AMA. But as a PR tool, AMA can only go so far. How many rounds of anonymous internet questions can someone field before the audience exhausts anything interesting?

dimino 11y ago
It's a free PR tool. Why shouldn't Reddit monetize it? Currently it costs the PR folks nothing to put them on Reddit, and gets them a decent chunk of exposure to a very-hard-to-advertise-to demographic. That being said, I have no idea how you convince someone to pay for an AMA, or how to monetize it in general.
- matt_s 11y ago
  I don't disagree at all, but the AMA format is really a one and done for a single person. For example, there are some hilarious responses from Jose Canseco (US baseball player from 90's) - if he comes out with a new book or something - how will the community come up with questions to ask that will generate interest? Also the fact that the demographic is hard to advertise to leads me to think they may have the PR firms promoting movies, books, etc. pay for the AMA rather than try to rely on ads and people clicking. This may have been the contentious thing about people leaving.
  - dimino 11y ago
    Right? That's where I landed, but then realized that there's no enforceable way to do that. Have the moderators/an admin ban all the posts on AMA by people who... what, can pay? Make AMA pay-only to submit there? Nothing feels right for Reddit -- AMAs are such an offshoot of the platform anyway...
    - protomyth 11y ago
      I do wonder if Victoria could do a website that is essentially all AmAs? Basically it would be another interview show with a bit of a twist.
      - dimino 11y ago
        Probably has a non-compete, among other things.
        dcole2929 11y ago
        Most likely not. It's actually fairly difficult to enforce a non compete clause in California, to the point that most don't even bother trying. And besides anything useful in this case, would be way too broad to stand up in court anyway. It couldn't be anything preventing her from working at another internet, or media company and even, a clause about refraining from using the AMA format might not stand up either.
        hga 11y ago
        On the other hand, she was working out of their NYC office, SF is not a good location for PR work, they in fact relocated her from LA to NYC. These things can often turn into a race to the most favorable courthouse; then again what's a little more bad publicity for Reddit the corporation?
- tstrimple 11y ago
  The belief is that if people are paying to have an AMA, then Reddit is more likely to censor questions and / or do things to make the guest look better. Instead of it actually being an Ask Me Anything where some guests get torn up with difficult questions, it becomes PR fluff. Based on what I've read, Victoria was strongly against requiring people to pay to have an AMA.
  - dimino 11y ago
    I don't think Victoria got fired for saying she wouldn't do the AMAs anymore if they tried to monetize them. That's something you can say publicly without much issue, and it's not something you'd probably fire someone over. It's almost certainly something interpersonal/HR related that caused Victoria to actually be fired.

by matt_s 11y ago

dimino 11y ago

It's a free PR tool. Why shouldn't Reddit monetize it? Currently it costs the PR folks nothing to put them on Reddit, and gets them a decent chunk of exposure to a very-hard-to-advertise-to demographic. That being said, I have no idea how you convince someone to pay for an AMA, or how to monetize it in general.

matt_s 11y ago
I don't disagree at all, but the AMA format is really a one and done for a single person. For example, there are some hilarious responses from Jose Canseco (US baseball player from 90's) - if he comes out with a new book or something - how will the community come up with questions to ask that will generate interest? Also the fact that the demographic is hard to advertise to leads me to think they may have the PR firms promoting movies, books, etc. pay for the AMA rather than try to rely on ads and people clicking. This may have been the contentious thing about people leaving.
- dimino 11y ago
  Right? That's where I landed, but then realized that there's no enforceable way to do that. Have the moderators/an admin ban all the posts on AMA by people who... what, can pay? Make AMA pay-only to submit there? Nothing feels right for Reddit -- AMAs are such an offshoot of the platform anyway...
  - protomyth 11y ago
    I do wonder if Victoria could do a website that is essentially all AmAs? Basically it would be another interview show with a bit of a twist.
    - dimino 11y ago
      Probably has a non-compete, among other things.
      - dcole2929 11y ago
        Most likely not. It's actually fairly difficult to enforce a non compete clause in California, to the point that most don't even bother trying. And besides anything useful in this case, would be way too broad to stand up in court anyway. It couldn't be anything preventing her from working at another internet, or media company and even, a clause about refraining from using the AMA format might not stand up either.
        hga 11y ago
        On the other hand, she was working out of their NYC office, SF is not a good location for PR work, they in fact relocated her from LA to NYC. These things can often turn into a race to the most favorable courthouse; then again what's a little more bad publicity for Reddit the corporation?
tstrimple 11y ago
The belief is that if people are paying to have an AMA, then Reddit is more likely to censor questions and / or do things to make the guest look better. Instead of it actually being an Ask Me Anything where some guests get torn up with difficult questions, it becomes PR fluff. Based on what I've read, Victoria was strongly against requiring people to pay to have an AMA.
- dimino 11y ago
  I don't think Victoria got fired for saying she wouldn't do the AMAs anymore if they tried to monetize them. That's something you can say publicly without much issue, and it's not something you'd probably fire someone over. It's almost certainly something interpersonal/HR related that caused Victoria to actually be fired.