Comment by CedarWolf on 06/07/2020 at 19:10 UTC

42 upvotes, 2 direct replies (showing 2)

I know, but this is just ripe for abuse. It's like... We're trying to *stop* reddit's systems from being abused.

Replies

Comment by probablyhrenrai at 06/07/2020 at 23:54 UTC

38 upvotes, 2 direct replies

We* are, but *they* aren't. They see Reddit as a business, and businesses sole metric for success is profit.

For Reddit, 2 things drive profit: (A) ad revenue, and (B) reward revenue. User satisfaction itself is a nonfactor (clarification below).

just like airlines, they'll squeeze as hard as they can until people start leaving; the admins only change things for the users when there's an outcry.

See also: the outcry about the Redesign and the resulting permanent opt-out option. Without that, a significant number of Redditors, including me, would stop using Reddit, and *that* matters... but satisfaction itself? Nah. They'll do just enough to keep you here, nothing more.

You're just a means to an end, not a priority.

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For **ad revenue**, they're proudly and actively censoring mainstream-offensive content. This means that rape subs below the radar are fine, but conservative subs that people don't like get banned.

It's also why /r/sino exists; despite being a racist, hateful, and fact-denying sub, Reddit tolerates it because Tencent is a major investor in Reddit; defying the CCP means Chinese companies pull out.

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For **reward revenue,** they're doing this. This will encourage abuse, but abuse itself doesn't matter unless people leave.

Like Google, Reddit doesn't care about being evil; they only care about being *intolerably* evil, about pushing people actually *off* their platform.

I hate this new change, but it's not enough to make me leave or participate less, so my dissatisfaction isn't a loss and the revenue gain makes this move a "net gain" for their profit margins, which again, is all that matters.

Comment by loqi0238 at 06/07/2020 at 19:10 UTC

1 upvotes, 1 direct replies

You've missed the entire point I was making.