The first thing that Reddit should probably do is stop supporting video uploads. Don’t delete the videos uploaded so far, but just retire that feature. The cost/benefit for video streaming and developing their own video player has got to be completely unjustifiable.
Second, coordinate with moderators of major subs and let them become ad partners. Moderators can approve ads functioning like pinned posts that are targeted to their communities, and if they do then a cut of the ad revenue is split evenly among all the moderators in a community with payment info and with an ad payment permission that is managed the same as existing permissions. This tackles two problems at once: First, you can charge a premium for ads, because you can target them to very specific self-selected interests, and second, you actually compensate the people who are doing the bulk of the work of maintaining a community. Make sure the ads are unintrusive, and make sure moderators have the final say in whether an ad is appropriate for their community. Let it work like banner ads in niche internet forums used to, before social media took over. Nobody got mad about an unintrusive banner ad for something that was actually relevant to their community.
Third, hire some community managers. (Or, if Reddit has any already, then they are severely underutilizing them.) Why was the absolutely unhinged CEO conducting an AMA, instead of dedicated community managers? There need to be people whose actual job it is to communicate with the people who use the website, especially the people who moderate and post the content, who have the necessary expertise to not come across like a complete moron in the process.
Well, here’s my take:
The first thing that Reddit should probably do is stop supporting video uploads. Don’t delete the videos uploaded so far, but just retire that feature. The cost/benefit for video streaming and developing their own video player has got to be completely unjustifiable.
Second, coordinate with moderators of major subs and let them become ad partners. Moderators can approve ads functioning like pinned posts that are targeted to their communities, and if they do then a cut of the ad revenue is split evenly among all the moderators in a community with payment info and with an ad payment permission that is managed the same as existing permissions. This tackles two problems at once: First, you can charge a premium for ads, because you can target them to very specific self-selected interests, and second, you actually compensate the people who are doing the bulk of the work of maintaining a community. Make sure the ads are unintrusive, and make sure moderators have the final say in whether an ad is appropriate for their community. Let it work like banner ads in niche internet forums used to, before social media took over. Nobody got mad about an unintrusive banner ad for something that was actually relevant to their community.
Third, hire some community managers. (Or, if Reddit has any already, then they are severely underutilizing them.) Why was the absolutely unhinged CEO conducting an AMA, instead of dedicated community managers? There need to be people whose actual job it is to communicate with the people who use the website, especially the people who moderate and post the content, who have the necessary expertise to not come across like a complete moron in the process.