https://www.reddit.com/r/reddit/comments/1css0ws/we_heard_you_awards_are_back/
created by redditproductteam on 15/05/2024 at 18:29 UTC
0 upvotes, 265 top-level comments (showing 25)
ICYMI, last year we released new features[1] that we thought would make the experience of rewarding high-quality posts and comments even better. To address feedback that awards were starting to clutter posts and feeds, we replaced legacy awards with a simplified experience where redditors could purchase “new” gold – displayed as a golden upvote – directly with cash, rather than having to purchase coins first.
1: https://www.reddit.com/r/reddit/comments/16ryhv9/celebrating_great_content_is_as_good_as_gold/
While the golden upvote was certainly simpler in theory, in practice, it missed the mark. It wasn’t as fun or expressive as legacy awards, and it was unclear how it benefited the recipient.
As part of the launch of the golden upvote, we also introduced the Contributor Program[2] in the U.S. The program allows eligible users to earn cash for their contributions, as measured by the gold and karma received. (It’s worth noting that although there were understandable concerns about the Contributor Program leading to karma farming or other spam and fraud issues, we haven’t seen an increase in this behavior since the rollout six months ago.) Unlike the golden upvote, interest in the program has grown… more on that in a second.
2: https://www.reddit.com/contributor-program
Finally, as part of this launch, we sunset coins. We gave those with a balance two months to spend their coins before we cleared balances and removed the monthly drip as a benefit of Reddit Premium.
We realized the golden upvote was the wrong direction, and the right one was the one you were advocating for all along: awards. We went back to the ol’ drawing board[3] and created a refreshed experience that captures the original spirit of awards, with a few improvements.
Tap on the awards button in a post or comment to give an award and purchase gold
View the top awards and gold earned by a post or comment in the awards leaderboard
We’ve added:
We want redditors who make the most valuable contributions on Reddit to receive real value; not just internet points.
With growing interest in the Contributor Program, we have expanded the program so that qualifying redditors in 35 countries can now earn cash for their contributions to the community. See if you’re eligible to sign up[4].
4: https://www.reddit.com/contributor-program
Gold has been a lot of things in Reddit history. The term has been used interchangeably in the context of awarding content, Reddit Premium, and more – among other things. With this new version of awards, gold can be purchased to give awards. You can buy it in bulk[5] and spend down your gold balance and/or top it up when giving an award.
5: https://imgur.com/gallery/i-love-goooooold-l3XG1Bj
Those who had a coin balance when we introduced the golden upvote and sunset coins had two months to spend their coins before we cleared balances and removed the monthly drip as a benefit of Reddit Premium. For the most prolific and helpful among you, who’d accumulated heaps of coins a la Scrooge McDuck, this was, shall we say, a not-so-great experience.
We know we did not adequately communicate why we removed coins or what was coming next. It wasn’t cool of us, we’re sorry, and we want to make it right. If we removed your coins balance, you’ll have access to a number of exclusive awards to give for free. We don’t want our past mistakes to get in the way of you enjoying the new experience.
Exclusive awards available to coin holders
This is all so new (but kinda old? but also new?) and you may have questions. You can find support in a few places:
We’ll be hanging around today if you have any questions, so feel free to drop them in the comments.
6: https://support.reddithelp.com/hc/en-us/articles/26465598697876
7: https://support.reddithelp.com/hc/en-us/articles/17331548463764
8: https://support.reddithelp.com/hc/en-us/articles/17331620007572
Comment by redditproductteam at 15/05/2024 at 18:32 UTC*
1 upvotes, 1 direct replies
FAQs:
A: No. Gold you earn when you receive an award on a post or comment counts toward a potential payout through the Contributor Program if you're eligible.
A:
A: Eligibility criteria here[1].
1: https://www.reddit.com/contributor-program
Note: Any golden upvotes you’ve earned will count toward eligibility. Reddit will convert the number of golden upvotes you’ve earned to the new gold amount.
A: The type and number of free awards you get is based on your coins balance as of July 13, 2023, the day we announced that we were sunsetting coins and awards. Folks with higher balances get more free rewards to give, and a greater variety of awards. Past coins balance holders will see these awards automatically in their account. There’s nothing they need to do to get them.
Free awards will expire on December 31, 2024 at 11:59pm PT, so be sure to use them before then.
A: Redditors could historically buy coins, earn coins, or get them for free and use them exclusively to give awards. Now, gold can only be bought to give awards and earned gold will be used as part of the calculation for earnings in the Contributor Program. Therefore, converting the coin balance to gold wouldn't have resulted in similar outcomes. However, regardless of how the coins were attained, they represented a deep commitment to Reddit which we want to acknowledge through these awards.
A: No. Moderators cannot disable the awards experience or specific awards for their community. Moderators do have the option to remove an award from a specific comment or post if it has been reported. If removed, redditors won’t be able to give that award to the post or comment moving forward.
Awards will not be available for communities that are Not Safe for Work (NSFW), mature, trauma support, and addiction support.
A: This release doesn’t change the benefits of Premium subscriptions. Learn more[2] about what comes with Reddit Premium.
2: https://www.reddit.com/premium
Comment by LanDest021 at 15/05/2024 at 19:24 UTC*
263 upvotes, 10 direct replies
Weird that you added awards back, but didn't add gold, the most iconic element in Reddit history ("thanks for the gold kind stranger")
Edit: Thanks for the... whatever that is, kind strangers *coughs up blood*
Comment by USERNAME123_321 at 15/05/2024 at 21:55 UTC
148 upvotes, 2 direct replies
A straight-up copy of the old award system would be better
Comment by LobsterEntropy at 15/05/2024 at 20:29 UTC
543 upvotes, 10 direct replies
Because it's a Reddit Product Decision, you can always expect one step forward, two steps back, and four steps off in a random direction that makes no sense.
Comment by fringly at 15/05/2024 at 18:44 UTC
306 upvotes, 6 direct replies
Honestly I've read through this three times and have no idea what this new system is - are you basically just bringing back the old system where we can buy a buch of different aqwards but instead of being able to do it with coins it is all just straight up cash?
And you're not giving us gold to replace the old coins we lost because... I have no idea, I read that part of the FAQ and maybe it's because I don't understand the new system but it just feels like you're trying to cheap out somehow - maybe not, maybe this is great but I don't get it and honestly I've given up trying to.
You get you messed up and it's wonderful to see you acknowledge that and try to fix it, but this seems like a mish mash of the old gold system and th one you tried to replace it with and itfeels like it's going to be more confusing than ever. Me now.[1]
1: https://i.giphy.com/iI0NFc7ivrUcCLJ5Ib.webp
Comment by shiruken at 15/05/2024 at 18:37 UTC*
160 upvotes, 6 direct replies
Let’s start with the obvious – we tried something new, it wasn’t great (you called it).
That being said, I'm glad to see Awards coming back. I hope we'll see Community Awards re-introduced in the near future.
gold can be purchased to give awards
[...]
gold earned for a post or comment
Are purchased Gold and earned Gold the same? Can users spend earned Gold to give Awards, just like they could with the old Coins system?
1: https://www.reddit.com/r/reddit/comments/1css0ws/comment/l46zxn1/
**Q: Can I use gold that I earn to give awards?**
A: No. Gold you earn when you receive an award on a post or comment counts toward a potential payout through the Contributor Program if you're eligible.
Changing this policy should be your highest priority. Having two separate Gold balances is incredibly confusing and locking away earned Gold in hopes of (eligible) users garnering the 1,000 Gold necessary for payout[2] is, frankly, unrealistic. Users being able to spend earned *Coins* to give Awards with the old system *actively encouraged* the purchasing of more Coins. Y'all are shooting yourselves in the feet here.
2: https://i.imgur.com/mjpqKb2.png
Comment by Living_End at 15/05/2024 at 19:11 UTC
52 upvotes, 3 direct replies
Why aren’t premium users getting gold again? Was this change just to take away that feature from premium users?
Comment by Watchful1 at 15/05/2024 at 18:38 UTC
130 upvotes, 2 direct replies
So you're sorry, but you still aren't giving everyone the coins they had back.
Also no still no free coins anymore? And it's not really clear, can subreddits make custom awards again or not?
I guess it's an improvement, and props for apologizing. But I think this is still a downgrade from the original system in a lot of ways, other than reducing clutter.
Comment by DtheS at 15/05/2024 at 19:01 UTC
83 upvotes, 3 direct replies
Will the new awards be compatible with old Reddit? Your demo[1] makes it looks like it is only part of the new UI.
1: https://i.redd.it/x3x0pk1dxl0d1.gif
Comment by Boyd147 at 15/05/2024 at 21:00 UTC
41 upvotes, 1 direct replies
After reading through the post and some of the answers to people's questions it's clear you haven't learned
Comment by kerovon at 15/05/2024 at 19:17 UTC
65 upvotes, 1 direct replies
Will old posts that were gilded regain the visual indicators that they were gilded? I know that when I go to old threads, I liked seeing what posts people wanted to distinguish. I am also proud of many of the comments I've made that were gilded, and being able to filter just the gilded comments was something I liked being able to do. Now, those are all hidden and not visible on my profile, despite the fact that someone spent money in order to permanently distinguish them.
Is it possible that you can at least restore the legacy gilded visuals for old gilded posts? I'm not asking for you to restore the ability to do older gilding, I just want to be able to look through old threads and see the gilded posts in them.
EDIT:
If we removed your coins balance, you’ll have access to a number of exclusive awards to give for free. We don’t want our past mistakes to get in the way of you enjoying the new experience.
I spent almost all of my coins (~50,000) in a mad rush right at the end. I don't remember what my balance was, but it was very low. Will I have access to the these legacy awards, because I wouldn't have spent everything if there wasn't the warning about sunsetting of Gold.
Comment by fighterace00 at 15/05/2024 at 19:20 UTC
85 upvotes, 4 direct replies
We took away your coins after 2 months and we're sorry, let's fix that. Here's some random awards you didn't ask for that expire in 7 months.
Comment by HumpingMantis at 15/05/2024 at 22:24 UTC
21 upvotes, 1 direct replies
Imagine having a great system, taking it away, and fucking it up when you bring it back by changing the old system that everyone didn't have an issue with. What in the ever living fuck is going on?
Are you finally going to realize you fucked up with third party apps and bring those back also?
Comment by Empyrealist at 16/05/2024 at 13:20 UTC
26 upvotes, 2 direct replies
I swear this place is run by monkeys beating on typewriters...
Comment by whyohwhy115 at 15/05/2024 at 21:42 UTC
17 upvotes, 1 direct replies
Hi and thanks for the update. I am a bit concerned that we can't disable certain awards as our sub has been a target before of award abuse. Hopefully you guys reconsider this.
On another note, will the community specific awards be back?
Comment by Kvothealar at 17/05/2024 at 02:30 UTC
21 upvotes, 5 direct replies
What about the 13 years of premium that I had that would have given me 700 coins a month?
That's 109k coins, valued at about $250 USD.
Where's my compensation for that?
Comment by nerdshark at 15/05/2024 at 20:31 UTC
41 upvotes, 0 direct replies
We messed up – sorry
This really rings hollow in the face of this[1] and this[2]. It's like y'all haven't learned anything at all.
1: https://www.reddit.com/r/reddit/comments/1css0ws/we_heard_you_awards_are_back/l472djv/
Comment by Vitztlampaehecatl at 16/05/2024 at 03:44 UTC
16 upvotes, 1 direct replies
What I want is a way to pay $x to put a little yellow circle next to a post, and give the poster access to /r/lounge for a period of time.
Comment by iKR8 at 15/05/2024 at 19:02 UTC
38 upvotes, 4 direct replies
Just bring back Reddit gold award with premium. Rest all are clutter garbage.
Also we had to spend all the coins because of ultimatum, thus we had to give it away randomly within a period of time. Guess there's no compensation for such users too.
Comment by [deleted] at 15/05/2024 at 20:20 UTC*
33 upvotes, 1 direct replies
[deleted]
Comment by Sun_Beams at 15/05/2024 at 20:04 UTC
34 upvotes, 0 direct replies
"We know we did not adequately communicate why we removed coins or what was coming next."
We got 1 day notice as mods about this new change and the admin launching it sort of ignored mods .. again. Not that anything could have been done in a days notice.
Using "We heard you…" as a title is a joke as the awards team have a deep history of ignoring feedback. The only forward move from all of this is opening up the contributor program, which from day one should have been more than just US only.
All these half baked 180flips the team keep doing where you kneecap your own launches is just bizarre.
Comment by The_Critical_Cynic at 15/05/2024 at 20:24 UTC
29 upvotes, 0 direct replies
*It’s worth noting that although there were understandable concerns about the Contributor Program leading to karma farming or other spam and fraud issues, we haven’t seen an increase in this behavior since the rollout six months ago.*
Of course you haven't. As you stated in previous portions of the post, the program wasn't gaining traction. If it didn't have the level of engagement you thought it would, then certainly you didn't have enough interaction to assess the true positives and negatives of the program.
Comment by [deleted] at 15/05/2024 at 22:50 UTC*
30 upvotes, 3 direct replies
[deleted]
Comment by llamageddon01 at 17/05/2024 at 06:07 UTC
11 upvotes, 1 direct replies
My issue is this: **People aren’t getting the value they think they are with the Contributor Program.**
The old system was simple: I used my real-life money to buy coins through a trusted medium with which I had a choice of various levels of award I could give to whatever I felt deserved it. I knew exactly how the recipient would benefit, from just having a shiny on their flair through to receiving coins of their own to spend and periods of Premium Reddit with most of the advantages that brought. Simple, easy to understand and easy to explain to new Redditors.
With the Contributor Program there is no way to know if awarding someone means actual money is going to them, let alone that it’s only a very small percentage of that money which in itself is also dependent on other people giving them awards.
Now, with this new Awards system, nobody really knows what they are giving out, because linking the nu-awards range to the Contributor Program (wish there was an acceptable acronym for this btw) will make it seem as though the awarder knows what benefits the recipient will give, but they won’t. Presenting them as appearing to be the old awards - but isn’t - only compounds this issue.
When I (from the U.K.) discovered my new eligibility to the Contributor Program some weeks ago, I went to sign up. Having already being the recipient of some of the new awards, this was the obvious next step. However, when I saw the level of personal financial information I would have to provide to two new outside institutions for no other reason than potentially receiving a few pennies in my bank account every so often, there’s no way I’m going to sign up.
This means right now that if someone gives me, as a non-player, an award thinking I am going to benefit financially from it - no matter how small - they are very much mistaken but don’t know it. Someone will spend their real-life money on several different award types thinking I will benefit from both “fake internet points” and real cash, but in reality I won’t? And that someone won’t know that at the point of sale? Yikes.
There needs to be clarity for the giver which currently there isn’t. They should know upfront whether their gift will actually benefit the recipient or not. (Also, as a recipient, I should be able to personally thank the person who spent their hard-earned cash on me, which currently I can’t, but that’s another matter entirely.)
The awarder clearly isn’t getting the same value for their money by giving me and other non-players an award than they would be getting by giving a fully signed-up Redditor the same award, but they have no way of knowing that. That really does not sit right with me, and seems to be very unfair to them.
There needs to be some kind of a system where non-players are simply unable to receive an award which gives benefits they’re unable to obtain. At the very least, someone should be informed that non-players are not going to benefit before they commit to giving them a gift.
Comment by RimfireFoShizzle at 15/05/2024 at 18:45 UTC
148 upvotes, 8 direct replies
Hey u/redditproductteam and u/spez, you know what I want back?
THIRD-PARTY APPS
