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How would you accidentally stumble onto it? You might make a typo, which is a fair point, but that is probably exceedingly rare. Or you might be linked, but you

by baddox 11y ago

How would you accidentally stumble onto it? You might make a typo, which is a fair point, but that is probably exceedingly rare. Or you might be linked, but you can already be linked anywhere from anywhere else on the web, so that's hardly a meaningful argument.

dragonwriter 11y ago
> Or you might be linked, but you can already be linked anywhere from anywhere else on the web, so that's hardly a meaningful argument. Its a meaningful argument from the POV of Reddit management, and their effort to build a profitable business, given that what people can be linked to that is tied to Reddit -- unlike what people can be linked to that is not tied to Reddit -- impacts the perception of Reddit and both the audience it attracts and its attractiveness to advertisers.
- baddox 11y ago
  > Its a meaningful argument from the POV of Reddit management, and their effort to build a profitable business Oh absolutely. I'm not disputing that. Of course they are doing all of this in pursuit of profit (or at least in pursuit of pleasing their board). The trouble is that, in my view, there is a conflict between the goal of pleasing the reddit board and the goal of creating a vibrant community.
  - dragonwriter 11y ago
    > The trouble is that, in my view, there is a conflict between the goal of pleasing the reddit board and the goal of creating a vibrant community. If you can't run a business that brings in the money to keep the lights on, you can't maintain a vibrant community, either. I think a lot of the issue is that lots of people are attached to conditions that are only made possible by the willingness of investors to tolerate Reddit's lack of profitability in the expectation that that will be turned around in the future, but that that willingness is not sustainable.
    - baddox 11y ago
      I suspect that reddit's goals are much more aggressive than just keeping the lights on. I do think that reddit could quite easily pay for their servers with their current level of monetization.

by baddox 11y ago

dragonwriter 11y ago

> Or you might be linked, but you can already be linked anywhere from anywhere else on the web, so that's hardly a meaningful argument. Its a meaningful argument from the POV of Reddit management, and their effort to build a profitable business, given that what people can be linked to that is tied to Reddit -- unlike what people can be linked to that is not tied to Reddit -- impacts the perception of Reddit and both the audience it attracts and its attractiveness to advertisers.

baddox 11y ago
> Its a meaningful argument from the POV of Reddit management, and their effort to build a profitable business Oh absolutely. I'm not disputing that. Of course they are doing all of this in pursuit of profit (or at least in pursuit of pleasing their board). The trouble is that, in my view, there is a conflict between the goal of pleasing the reddit board and the goal of creating a vibrant community.
- dragonwriter 11y ago
  > The trouble is that, in my view, there is a conflict between the goal of pleasing the reddit board and the goal of creating a vibrant community. If you can't run a business that brings in the money to keep the lights on, you can't maintain a vibrant community, either. I think a lot of the issue is that lots of people are attached to conditions that are only made possible by the willingness of investors to tolerate Reddit's lack of profitability in the expectation that that will be turned around in the future, but that that willingness is not sustainable.
  - baddox 11y ago
    I suspect that reddit's goals are much more aggressive than just keeping the lights on. I do think that reddit could quite easily pay for their servers with their current level of monetization.