https://www.reddit.com/r/announcements/comments/nw2hs6/sunsetting_secret_santa_and_reddit_gifts/
created by KeyserSosa on 09/06/2021 at 18:17 UTC
0 upvotes, 122 top-level comments (showing 25)
Today is a difficult one:. 2021 will be the last year of Reddit Gifts. We will continue to run exchanges through the end of the year -- including the last ever Arbitrary Day (signups are now open[1]) -- and will end with Secret Santa 2021.
1: https://www.redditgifts.com/exchanges/a-day-21/
We made the difficult decision to shut down Reddit Gifts and put more focus on enhancing the user experience[2] on Reddit - this includes investing[3] in the foundation[4] of our[5] platform[6] and moderator tools[7], making it more accessible[8] for people around the world and evolving how people engage[9] with one another.
2: https://www.reddit.com/r/blog/comments/mqcpcg/you_want_a_better_reddit_search_ok_were_on_it/
3: https://www.reddit.com/r/blog/comments/ldgmfc/diamond_hands_on_the_data/
4: https://www.reddit.com/r/RedditEng/comments/nudfv1/the_rollout_of_reputation_service/
5: https://www.reddit.com/r/blog/comments/lb2p7a/a_new_video_player_updated_email_designs_mobile/
7: https://www.reddit.com/r/blog/comments/nk7p7j/new_updates_to_help_moderators_your_monthly/
8: https://www.reddit.com/r/blog/comments/mzse3p/control_over_your_followers_spring_avatar_gear_a/
9: https://www.reddit.com/r/redditsecurity/comments/nmhmj0/q1_safety_security_report_may_27_2021/
The power of Reddit Gifts was never in the software, and has always belonged to the r/secretsanta community of gifters around the world, which has connected people and been an extension of our mission to bring community and belonging to everyone in the world. We’re hopeful that spirit will continue in the future.
In preparation for retiring Reddit Gifts after the final exchange at the end of 2021, we will be taking the following actions:
These changes have been put in place to ensure that these last exchanges are enjoyable for the legacy Reddit Gifts users. We want to celebrate the end of Reddit Gifts with the community that we’ve built so far.
10: https://www.redditgifts.com/Elves/
11: https://reddit.zendesk.com/hc/en-us/requests/new?ticket_form_id=360000825092
Countless acts of love, heroism, compassion, support, growth and hilarity happened through Reddit Gifts, and those memories will live on in the hearts of our community. We’re working on ways to capture these moments and look forward to seeing how the spirit and connection of exchanging gifts with strangers will live on. I’m sure you will all have a ton of questions, and we will be here to answer them.
Comment by [deleted] at 09/06/2021 at 18:23 UTC
3371 upvotes, 8 direct replies
I’m sure you will all have a ton of questions, and we will be here to answer them.
Here's an obvious one.... Why?
Comment by kickme444 at 09/06/2021 at 20:11 UTC*
10457 upvotes, 25 direct replies
Hello, I started redditgifts and am very proud of what we did and how reddit continued it. Everyone who helped over the years were amazing and we, and the community at large helped to make people happy, even if just a little bit. So, thank you everyone.
Lastly, I’m sure this will be ignored, but I would like to offer to completely take over redditgifts again. You can keep everything about it, I will even run your ads and you can keep all of the profits. I will pay for hosting, do all developments and support/community work.
Thank you everyone for the memories! Reddit admins, you know how to reach me if you ever want.
Comment by [deleted] at 09/06/2021 at 18:23 UTC*
4542 upvotes, 3 direct replies
[deleted]
Comment by scsm at 09/06/2021 at 18:19 UTC
2609 upvotes, 5 direct replies
RIP Bill Gates lottery.
Comment by Messyproduct at 09/06/2021 at 18:22 UTC
1967 upvotes, 4 direct replies
If this isn't a book end for what was old Reddit I don't know what is.
Comment by thewilldog at 09/06/2021 at 18:21 UTC
7739 upvotes, 3 direct replies
Translation - we weren't making enough money off this to be worth out time & effort
Comment by kkoch1 at 09/06/2021 at 18:21 UTC*
18261 upvotes, 14 direct replies
So you took over someone elses project years ago, made some money off of it and then killed it. Yikes.
Comment by meowrawrmoo at 09/06/2021 at 18:40 UTC
3330 upvotes, 5 direct replies
Go fuck yourselves
Comment by sistersucksx at 09/06/2021 at 18:26 UTC
1512 upvotes, 7 direct replies
You said you didn’t make this decision lightly but didn’t say why the decision was made?❓
Comment by Throwawayingaccount at 09/06/2021 at 19:23 UTC
1454 upvotes, 7 direct replies
Suggestion:
Stop "Enhancing" the user experience.
You're making it worse.
Everyone I know of uses old.reddit.com, if they've heard of it.
Basically, all this announcement says to me is "We've decided to stop one of the good things we do, so that we have more time to shit on your cereal every morning."
Comment by shadowCloudrift at 09/06/2021 at 18:31 UTC
550 upvotes, 3 direct replies
I legit enjoyed Secret Santa. I do well financially, and it felt good to make someone's holiday a little better especially if they were struggling. There was fun to be have in searching for that perfect gift. I never really cared if someone never sent me anything since that was what happened the first time. Nevertheless, the second time I did Secret Santa someone did send me something and for me I actually appreciate the effort and thought, especially when she wrote a handwritten note to go along with the gifts. It made my day.
Comment by Organic-Connection-4 at 09/06/2021 at 18:23 UTC*
4101 upvotes, 7 direct replies
What’s with you guys? I mean you have phoned in the April fools day thing multiple years in a row now. Now you kill off Reddit gifts. You’re not broke. It’s like an attitude of complacency and defeatism has permeated your company, Reddit’s not as fun as it once was.
Edit: r/newsecretsanta exists, made by the original creator of the whole thing. Consider checking them out
Comment by sistersucksx at 09/06/2021 at 18:20 UTC*
4777 upvotes, 6 direct replies
Why the fuck would you kill this
Edit: u/kickme444 (creator of Reddit gifts and previous mod of r/secretsanta) says to check out r/newsecretsanta!
Comment by ilikecakeandpie at 09/06/2021 at 18:20 UTC
4935 upvotes, 3 direct replies
BREAKING: Reddit restarts the war on Christmas; users saddened
Comment by loudest_banana at 09/06/2021 at 18:39 UTC
728 upvotes, 2 direct replies
You're killing one of the most fun parts of the reddit experience?
You are completely destroying the things that made this site so special.
Despite the new account I've been a redditor for a decade and taken part in numerous exchanges. Each one has been an absolute delight.
Why you can't pass it on as an unofficial project (as it originally was) to those who were the most instrumental in its success is beyond me.
This is honestly a travesty.
Comment by classicrockchick at 09/06/2021 at 18:37 UTC
162 upvotes, 3 direct replies
Does this mean some intrepid user can start their own gift exchange, like Reddit Secret Santa was initially?
Comment by MrRGnome at 09/06/2021 at 18:39 UTC
586 upvotes, 2 direct replies
You have done nothing but make the Reddit user and moderator experience worse over the last 6 years. Pretending you need to sacrifice community programs that are adored and working to continue to shovel some of the worst engineered features deployed to a social media site (Reddit chat for example) is dishonesty that only serves to justify an unjustifiably incompetent technical direction.
Comment by Informal-Working7008 at 09/06/2021 at 18:26 UTC
2492 upvotes, 7 direct replies
Well this website is dying fast. Literally killing off a user created project, THAT YOU STOLE and made money from. But now you’re telling the community to fuck off and they can’t do it anymore
Comment by leftonconnor at 09/06/2021 at 18:43 UTC
388 upvotes, 2 direct replies
I’m not sure I see any justification for this. As a mod, I cannot see where any significant improvements are being made for user experience at the moment that users have actually asked for. And now you are removing one of the most beloved features of the platform? Why?
I would say there is a larger than known subset of users who look forward to the gift exchanges as a way of community and connection that you are now depriving them of. I strongly hope you reconsider cutting this platform and consider not only the potential user loss but the goodwill capital gained from these exchanges.
Comment by Gothpunkfuta at 09/06/2021 at 18:25 UTC
768 upvotes, 1 direct replies
"We here at reddit, saw there was something nice, but decided we weren't making enough money on it." Could have been the thing you said there.
Comment by shhalahr at 09/06/2021 at 18:56 UTC*
358 upvotes, 2 direct replies
Aren't community events as much of the experience as the tech? If not more?
Countless acts of love, heroism, compassion, support, growth and hilarity happened through Reddit Gifts, and those memories will live on in the hearts of our community.
But apparently they weren't a valuable enough part of the user experience.
Comment by rocky7474 at 09/06/2021 at 18:35 UTC
349 upvotes, 2 direct replies
What does getting rid of Secret Santa and Reddit Gifts have to do with making Reddit better? Gifting joy to random strangers is a perfect encapsulation of what Reddit was supposed to be. You should get some better decision makers ASAP. What an unnecessary and weird choice.
Comment by CannedWolfMeat at 09/06/2021 at 19:07 UTC
106 upvotes, 1 direct replies
We made the difficult decision to shut down Reddit Gifts and put more focus on enhancing the user experience on Reddit - this includes investing in the foundation of our platform and moderator tools, making it more accessible for people around the world and evolving how people engage with one another.
Please elaborate on how shutting down the Secret Santa - arguably one of the most engaging, connective and personal experiences you could do on this site - falls in line with your idea of "evolving how people engage with one another"?
Comment by SnaggyKrab at 09/06/2021 at 18:37 UTC
185 upvotes, 1 direct replies
evolving how people engage with one another.
Like through an enormous Secret Santa exchange that brings excitement and joy to thousands of people every year? Yikes.
We’re hopeful that spirit will continue in the future.
The easiest way for that to happen is for you to just keep it going. Honestly, this seems like a horrible idea. What an absolute shame.
Comment by Raul-Pilla at 09/06/2021 at 18:20 UTC
1233 upvotes, 2 direct replies
Walking the path of Facebook towards the doom, good luck tho