Ask HN: Would you pay to use Reddit?

https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=9984485

by workerdee • 11 years ago

9 24 11 years ago

news.ycombinator.com

If reddit had fees, how much would you realistically be willing to pay before going elsewhere?

I'm not a big fan of reddit. But I would realistically be willing to pay for ad-free communities. I used to be an Imgur Pro member before they stopped accepting payments. I would gladly become one again.

They charged $3 a month or $24 a year. Considering I pay Amazon $80 a year for a service I barely use, I should be willing to pay a community about that much.

afridi• 11 years ago

Wouldn't pay a dollar, since most of the communities I use Reddit for are now also active on Facebook + Slack.

yetanotheracc• 11 years ago

I would pay not to use Reddit (or HN, for that matter). I would say..

$500 a month for a solution that would make me do something semi-productive instead of spending time on those websites.

271828182842• 11 years ago

No. I'm not a big fan anymore. I'm in the eight-ish year club and I can't even talk myself into buying gold as a charitable thing.

Its value has decreased substantially to me with time. My answer to this would have been very different years ago, but now the site is too full of what I consider to be mediocre content that seems weighted really high. For example common expressions used over and over like "nature you scary" should be given a huge penalty hit. For goodness sake, looking at the site in an incognito window right now not only is a story on the frontpage twice, it is the same URL with one different query parameter.

anthony_franco• 11 years ago

Complaining about the front page of Reddit is like complaining about how newsstands are just filled with gossip magazines.

Of course the majority will be for the common denominator. But luckily there are some great subreddits, just like there's many great niche magazines.

Check out reddit.com/r/truereddit to begin with. It's probably closest to what reddit was back in the days.

gcb0• 11 years ago

that sub is even more politicaly-left biased than reddit FP 8 years ago.

271828182842• 11 years ago

Complaining about the front page of Reddit is like complaining about how newsstands are just filled with gossip magazines.

I don't pay for those either.

Pr0ducer• 11 years ago

Nope. I'd find something else after $0-1/Month

ErikRogneby• 11 years ago

Nope. I don't use it now.

Yadi• 11 years ago

Yeah I would actually pay for it!

I'm a freelancer consultant and I get decent clients reaching out to me from Reddit.

I read about CompSci and Machine Learning almost on daily basis and the subreddits that I visit help me on that stand point a lot.

But here is the deal! People Love freaking drama and some thrive on it. So whenever there is a 0.1% of drama it gets amplified.

Also one other thing! I respect the HN community, but I've seen harsher feedback & more harassment here than Reddit.

PS: I'm a 5 years club member on Reddit.

S4M• 11 years ago

May I ask, where do you generally go to get clients' interest on reddit?

kentt• 11 years ago

$5/mo. I don't go on it often, but it's interesting enough.

andrewmcwatters• 11 years ago

Garbage site, garbage community.

jpindar• 11 years ago

No. But I would be glad to pay for something identical to reddit without all the hatred and childishness.

How much? Expensive enough to discourage those who have nothing to say but memes.

daviross2• 11 years ago

Reddit? No. Another internet community? Sure. I already do. (Then again, I wouldn't be-paid to use Reddit either. I'm not opposed to paid communities, in fact I rather like the idea. But hanging it on Reddit (y/n) seems a bit restrictive)

workerdee• 11 years ago

Hi daviross, would you mind disclosing what internet communities you pay for?

daviross2• 11 years ago

Metafilter, mainly. ($5 signup fee, and then I chip in $5/month to help support it)

ABach8• 11 years ago

As a current college student that operates in a community where I see a number of my fellow classmates using reddit online during class I can say that they would not pay for directly for the service. These days there are too many supplements to Reddit that entertain me just as much if not more.

Although I do believe that Reddit is a very established and well liked website that would still see success if they charged a subscription fee, just not on the same scale of popularity that they currently do.

nonkool• 11 years ago

With a better UX, more control around quality, more relevance to me - yes.

spacemanmatt• 11 years ago

No. I think fees would send readers and contributors scurrying, too.

jordsmi• 11 years ago

If it kept all of the same people and info, yes.

If I was going to pay just for there become a free alternative elsewhere, no.

anon3_• 11 years ago

Reddit is a tool. It's software; a middleman. The value is provided by the group.

Take a view at the attitude of the current admins:

Well, now she's gone (you did it reddit!), and /u/spez has the moral authority as a co-founder to move ahead with the purge. We tried to let you govern yourselves and you failed, so now The Man is going to set some Rules. Admittedly, I can't say I'm terribly upset.

source: http://www.reddit.com/r/announcements/comments/3dautm/conten...

How would you feel if Microsoft Word started criticizing people based on the content they written? This is a thing?

Reddit was just a tool. The admins need to step out of the way. I don't care if there are "creepy" reddits.

The entitled and pompous attitude of admins is so elitist it's sick. You're a forum. You're not gods. You're not priests.

miguelrochefort• 11 years ago

I wouldn't pay for Reddit if others had to pay to contribute to it.

I would make it free for contributors, and paid for lurkers (i.e., monetize karma).

1arity• 11 years ago

This would be a great idea. CC verification could secure identity, and a "civil society" like system could spring up and effect real civil penalties for misbehaviour. Reddit's "moral code" is impotent without the means to effect meaningful enforcements. So, Reddit is going to continue to be a den of iniquity and sin until people pay to use it, and pay more to use it badly.

I'd recharge every now and then so I could keep commenting and voting. ( 1 cent per vote, 2 cents to comment, 5 cents to down vote ( and downvotee gets it ) ), and penalties ranging in 10s - 1000s of dollars based on severity of misbehaviour. Some kind of judicial review system would also work to establish consistency.

Ask HN: Would you pay to use Reddit?

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