Reddit kills awards and coins
Hi all, I’m u/venkman01 from the Reddit product team, and I’m here to give everyone an early look at the future of how redditors award (and...
I can only imagine we’re going to see it replaced with something altogether more exploitative.
The admin that posted that has been working on blockchain/crypto/NFT stuff for the last year… I can only imagine they have some awful plan relating to that.
technically you aren't wrong...
there was an APK teardown once the API changes happened that showed the following information because Reddit broke for a bit:
Android authority page on it here: link to article
Fake internet points are finally worth something! Now redditors can earn real money for their contributions to the Reddit community, based on the karma and gold they've been given. How it works: Redditors give gold to posts, comments, or other contributions they think are really worth something. Eligible contributors that earn enough karma and gold can cash out their earnings for real money. Contributors apply to the program to see if they're eligible. Top contributors make top dollar. The more karma and gold contributors earn, the more money they can receive.
Not just anyone can be a contributor. To join and stay in the program, contributors need to meet a few requirements: Be over 18 and live in the U.S. Only Safe for Work contributions qualify Earn xx gold and karma each month Provide verification information. You must have at least 10 gold and 100 karma to begin verification. NSFW accounts aren't eligible for the Contributors Program
Provide the following information to get verified for the program and start earning: Email Personal Information Tax and bank account information
Once you hit the payment threshold, you'll automatically be paid out via your Stripe account. Approximate calculation before fees. Exchange rate and payment thresholds are subject to change
apparently these are already active in r/cryptocurrency and r/eth or w.e the Ethereum subreddit is...
definitely not looking good and I'm glad I switched to lemmy when I did
That'll be very interesting. I always forget about the NFT shit despite having been a redditor for years. I don't want to give them ideas, but I'm guessing they would let people "reward" each other those fugly ass avatar NFTs.
I saw a post over here earlier today about someone data mining the Reddit app code and finding monetization options for top contributors. Literally paying people to shitpost.
Hopefully someone not on mobile can link it here. Seems like it’s already set in stone.
My bet is a "buy karma with money" program, mirroring the "sell karma for money" one, but geared towards advertisers. That means native, built-in advertisement in the platform, that you can't block through ad blockers because it behaves the same as the content there.
Maybe some day they'll get that the more processor-hungry-techno they pour in the mix, the costlier the server gets.
Hence, reddit gets more addicted to money; so more ads and other corporate agreements.
They never actually replace things that they kill though. They just say they have something better lined up and then you never hear about it again. They said the same thing when they removed the setting from your profile to disable the constant app nagging in your browser. They said "we have something better planned", removed the toggle, and that was it. That was like a year ago.
They have no incentive to improve the user experience, it's a money machine where you're the product and advertisers are customers. When you use their app they can track you and serve ads more effectively.
So, any bets on what's the next feature that's getting killed?
My money's on old.reddit.com.
Irreversibly doing away with the old UI was what killed Digg.
In that case, we should potentially encourage reddit to get rid of it faster.
Selling the power of upvotes to advertisers killed Digg.
Access on Sundays and Wednesdays.
It has come to our attention they Sundays and Wednesdays aren’t always the best content days. In order to return to smarter thinkin and good design, we are discontinuing reddit’s feature known as “being accessing on Sundays and Wednesdays”.
This comes after much thought. We know some of you have gotten great value out of using Reddit on Sundays and Wednesdays, and we hope you can cherish with us the memory of those days’ access on Reddit.
But the future is progress, and the market has spoken. Despite what the market says, we are listening to management. Not to worry though. Sunday and Wednesday access will still be available until September of 2023, when we will begin a phased shutdown of two sevenths of our service.
Why are we doing this? The current move is a compromise between those who wanted Sunday removed but Wednesday to remain, and those who wanted Wednesday to be removed while Sunday remains.
For those of you who just can’t do without your Sunday or Wednesday Reddit fix, we recommend trying Reddit on Mondays, Tuesdays, Thursdays, Fridays, or Saturdays.
We are absolutely dedicated to continuing to bringing 24/5 news, cultural, and community-driven content straight to your web browser or Official Reddit App.
My money's on automod. It's yet another of those "pesky tools" used by the "landed gentry" against advertisement disguised as content.
I also predict that a few subreddits criticising corporations might get banned, such as r/hailcorporate and perhaps r/assholedesign.
I don't think that they'll get rid of old.reddit now because the ghost of Digg still haunts Greedy Pigboy.
I'm honestly surprised it's lasted this long. Especially given the third party app shutoff.
As am I. I was convinced it would’ve been killed off years ago since they introduced the new ui.
That and the mobile website. They're already running an A/B test where they just flat out block mobile users and instead demand they download the app. That fucking app man... They'll try anything to push the app, anything except making it actually enjoyable to use that is.
Blocking mobile browser users will be the beginning of the end. Very few casual read-only users will download the app just to read some content on Reddit. Reddit is highly ranked in search engines and the kind of users that flock into Reddit via Google and the likes for sure make up a decent percentage (perhaps the majority?) of traffic on Reddit. I for sure hope they will enforce this policy, that will only increase Reddit's downfall.
The only way to browse Reddit, but I say let it die. Let the whole thing crash and burn.
We have mlmym.org now. Old Reddit can live on in a new life outside of its greedy creator.
Their lat shred of decency.
For those that don't want to give Reddit traffic, this is the post by the reddit admin:
Hi all,
I’m u/venkman01
from the Reddit product team, and I’m here to give everyone an early look at the future of how redditors award (and reward) each other.
TL;DR: We are reworking how great content and contributions are rewarded on Reddit. As part of this, we made a decision to sunset coins (including Community coins for moderators) and awards (including Medals, Premium Awards, and Community Awards), which also impacts some existing Reddit Premium perks. Starting today, you will no longer be able to purchase new coins, but all awards and existing coins will continue to be available until September 12, 2023.
Many eons ago, Reddit introduced something called Reddit Gold. Gold then evolved, and we introduced new awards including Reddit Silver, Platinum, Ternium, and Argentium. And the evolution continued from there. While we saw many of the awards used as a fun way to recognize contributions from your fellow redditors, looking back at those eons, we also saw consistent feedback on awards as a whole. First, many don’t appreciate the clutter from awards (50+ awards right now, but who’s counting?) and all the steps that go into actually awarding content. Second, redditors want awarded content to be more valuable to the recipient.
It’s become clear that awards and coins as they exist today need to be re-thought, and the existing system sunsetted. Rewarding content and contribution (as well as something golden) will still be a core part of Reddit. We’ll share more in the coming months as to what this new future looks like.
On a personal note: in my several years at Reddit, I’ve been focused on how to help redditors be able to express themselves in fun ways and feel joy when their content is celebrated. I led the product launch on awards – if you happen to recognize the username – so this is a particularly tough moment for me as we wind these products down. At the same time, I’m excited for us to evolve our thinking on rewarding contributions to make it more valuable to the community.
Why are we making these changes?
We mentioned early this year that we want to both make Reddit simpler and a place where the community empowers the community more directly.
With simplification in mind, we’re moving away from the 50+ awards available today. Though the breadth of awards have had mixed reception, we’ve also seen them - be it a local subreddit meme or the “Press F” award - be embraced. And we know that many redditors want to be able to recognize high quality content.
Which is why rewarding good content will still be part of Reddit. Though we’d love to reveal more to you all now, we’re in the process of early testing and feedback, so aren’t ready to share official details just yet. Stay tuned for future posts on this!
What’s changing exactly?
undefined- Awards - Awards (including Medals, Premium Awards, and Community Awards) will no longer be available after September 12. - Reddit Coins - Coins will be deprecated, since Awards will be going away. Starting today, you’ll no longer be able to purchase coins, but you can use your remaining coins to gift awards by September 12. - Reddit Premium - Reddit Premium is not going away. However, after September 12, we will discontinue the monthly coin drip and Premium Awards. Other current Premium perks will still exist, including the ad-free experience. - Note: As indicated in our User Agreement past purchases are non-refundable. If you’re a Premium user and would like to cancel your subscription before these changes go into effect, you can find instructions here.What comes next?
In the coming months, we’ll be sharing more about a new direction for awarding that allows redditors to empower one another and create more meaningful ways to reward high-quality contributions on Reddit.
I’ll be around for a while to answer any questions you may have and hear any feedback!
It's so on-brand for Reddit to announce killing these features without any explanation of what is to take its place. Just a vague mention of more communication "in the coming months".
How exciting.
Reminds me of when they killed Reddit Gifts/Secret Santa.
Reddit and Twitter are racing to see who can kill themselves faster.
Nothing is coming. You'll get nothing and you'll like it!
We mentioned early this year that we want to both make Reddit simpler and a place where the community empowers the community more directly.
The community isn't empowered at all. u/spez is a dictator who doesn't care about the community.
Yep the leaked coming moves will be the death of Reddit. Screwing your users doesn't really matter because the vast majority will obviously contribute to tolerate it.
This will just make Reddit a shitty place to be. They just need to admit that there's no viable business model.
I think “there’s no viable business model “ is where they are, yeah. I think if they had taken a different path… I don’t know, several years ago… they might have found one, but they just keep throwing away their assets.
This is half-confirmation for what Android Authority discovered in the app as the incoming “Reddit pays you for your content”.
For that to work, they have to remove coins and awards.
Wow, how they gonna get rid of all the karma farming bots after this outstanding move?
What? Could you elaborate this is very intriguing
Could some please paste the post here? 🙏
Reworking Awarding: Changes to Awards, Coins, and Premium
Hi all,
I’m u/venkman01 from the Reddit product team, and I’m here to give everyone an early look at the future of how redditors award (and reward) each other.
TL;DR: We are reworking how great content and contributions are rewarded on Reddit. As part of this, we made a decision to sunset coins (including Community coins for moderators) and awards (including Medals, Premium Awards, and Community Awards), which also impacts some existing Reddit Premium perks. Starting today, you will no longer be able to purchase new coins, but all awards and existing coins will continue to be available until September 12, 2023.
Many eons ago, Reddit introduced something called Reddit Gold. Gold then evolved, and we introduced new awards including Reddit Silver, Platinum, Ternium, and Argentium. And the evolution continued from there. While we saw many of the awards used as a fun way to recognize contributions from your fellow redditors, looking back at those eons, we also saw consistent feedback on awards as a whole. First, many don’t appreciate the clutter from awards (50 awards right now, but who’s counting?) and all the steps that go into actually awarding content. Second, redditors want awarded content to be more valuable to the recipient.
It’s become clear that awards and coins as they exist today need to be re-thought, and the existing system sunsetted. Rewarding content and contribution (as well as something golden) will still be a core part of Reddit. We’ll share more in the coming months as to what this new future looks like.
On a personal note: in my several years at Reddit, I’ve been focused on how to help redditors be able to express themselves in fun ways and feel joy when their content is celebrated. I led the product launch on awards – if you happen to recognize the username – so this is a particularly tough moment for me as we wind these products down. At the same time, I’m excited for us to evolve our thinking on rewarding contributions to make it more valuable to the community.
Why are we making these changes?
We mentioned early this year that we want to both make Reddit simpler and a place where the community empowers the community more directly.
With simplification in mind, we’re moving away from the 50 awards available today. Though the breadth of awards have had mixed reception, we’ve also seen them - be it a local subreddit meme or the “Press F” award - be embraced. And we know that many redditors want to be able to recognize high quality content.
Which is why rewarding good content will still be part of Reddit. Though we’d love to reveal more to you all now, we’re in the process of early testing and feedback, so aren’t ready to share official details just yet. Stay tuned for future posts on this!
What’s changing exactly?
Awards - Awards (including Medals, Premium Awards, and Community Awards) will no longer be available after September 12. Reddit Coins - Coins will be deprecated, since Awards will be going away. Starting today, you’ll no longer be able to purchase coins, but you can use your remaining coins to gift awards by September 12. Reddit Premium - Reddit Premium is not going away. However, after September 12, we will discontinue the monthly coin drip and Premium Awards. Other current Premium perks will still exist, including the ad-free experience. Note: As indicated in our User Agreement past purchases are non-refundable. If you’re a Premium user and would like to cancel your subscription before these changes go into effect, you can find instructions here. What comes next?
In the coming months, we’ll be sharing more about a new direction for awarding that allows redditors to empower one another and create more meaningful ways to reward high-quality contributions on Reddit.
I’ll be around for a while to answer any questions you may have and hear any feedback!
Oh yay, spez is getting ready to piss off reddit again.
Anyone who actually cares about what reddit does has already left or is in the process of leaving.
King Steven the Turd is simply changing what his Realm uses as coinage.
It hurt itself in its confusion
Yeah got this pm from Reddit:
I only have premium because I was awarded Platinum. No way in hell I'd buy it.
Just like reddit to include the entire, long email after assuring you the following is the TLDR.
I always disliked the crazy number of awards when they came our, it felt like they all suddenly became meaningless when there were so many. I will miss gold though, getting that shit always made you feel like a celebrity
Reddit gold was great and classy design. Reddit silver should have died the same month it should have been released, April. The rest were dumb money grabs that no one really fell for, and that's why they're killing them.
Might as well throw the baby out with the shitwater.
I made a funny or thoughtful comment that someone with money really liked!
…you laugh, but there are people whose entire career is based on creating that scenario.
In Apollo I turned off awards sometimes especially if it was a super popular post but that one Reddit ama was a time I was happy I had awards visible
Why are we making these changes? // We mentioned early this year that we want to both make Reddit simpler and a place where the community empowers the community more directly.
Might as well say "we're changing it because capybaras need to learn to fly better", as it makes as much logic as they said. (None.) Or just, you know, admit why you're actually doing it?
In the most lenient of the hypotheses, they might have been taking old feedback into account... but only after said feedback lose relevance. Users hated awards when they were implemented, as they were clearly a way to convert money into post promotion. Except that now users grew used to those awards, so their removal will be clearly met with resistance.
Another possibility is that they're trying to simplify the system not for the users, but for advertisers. Think about it: if Reddit plans to allow you to sell karma for money, perhaps it's also planning to allow you to buy karma with money. Advertisers would love this; instead of buying coins to grant themselves awards, now they would be able to buy an arbitrary amount of upvotes to boost their spam.
A third possibility is some unknown party bribing a few Reddit key positions here and there, to wreck their product on purpose. So when the IPO happens, Reddit prices are in the rock bottom, and the unknown party can buy the platform really cheap.
Frankly none of those things seem remotely sane for me. That's how puzzling their decision is in my view.
On a personal note: in my several years at Reddit, I’ve been focused on how to help redditors be able to express themselves in fun ways and feel joy when their content is celebrated. I led the product launch on awards – if you happen to recognize the username – so this is a particularly tough moment for me as we wind these products down. At the same time, I’m excited for us to evolve our thinking on rewarding contributions to make it more valuable to the community.
So your actions did absolutely nothing, and now you're realising it? Might as well call yourself Epimetheus.
My guess is that the real reason is really simple. They don't want people to be able to escape ads anymore. They've done the math and decided that the revenue from ads is greater than the revenue from coins. Any time Reddit says "we're changing it because we have something better lined up" it actually means "we're killing this feature for good and we know everyone will stop talking about it in two weeks, so a lie of improvements is a good enough diversion". Fucking Reddit. Amiright?
is reddit trying to kill their platform on purpose?
By all indication, yes.
I suspect it might be an enemy of reddit playing Wormtongue with upper managemebt.
This is only good news for the lemmiverse
Soon: "Buy NFTs of your favourite comments and posts! The creators get crypto worth $0.50 for every purchase!"
Ugh, they're gonna replace awards with NFTs and crypto aren't they?
It's possible. But another possibility is that they gave up the idea that users would give Reddit money, and instead they want advertisers to buy upvotes with RL money.
Fake currencies like Reddit coins are useful when you're milking users, as it's harder for them to determine the real cost of their actions. For example: how much money would you need to spend to award your own post to become the most awarded post of a subreddit? (A: it depends on which coin package you bought, which award you're granting, in which sub you're posting, etc.) It's probably more expensive than the user thinks, i.e. the "sucker tax".
This backfires for advertisers because they will run the maths and notice your outrageous prices, and they won't pay the "sucker tax". And any additional loop between money and service raises their suspicion, thus the risk that they associate with your platform. When dealing with them, you're better off streamlining everything, and getting rid of things that they might see as risk-increasing uncertainty.
And one of those risk-increasing uncertainties is the value of awards vs. votes in the visibility of a post (i.e. a potential ad). How many users sort by "top" vs. "awarded"? Are you better off buying awards or upvotes? Reddit just removed those two uncertainties, plus one loop (buy Reddit coins to buy stuff → buy stuff directly).
If my reasoning above is correct, bots running rampant in Reddit will be the least concern. Expect stuff like the top post in r/linux being Microsoft "informing" you on the "risks" of running Linux, and the moderator responsible for correctly marking as spam to be "relieved" from his "duties". r/cooking will be full of nothing but advertisement for food chains, r/youtube with an "exclusive promotion for Snoos who buy YT Premium", stuff like this.
What you’re calling “sucker tax” is also just having different values. Someone buying reddit coins is trading money for something else they value more than the money.
Like this cheeseburger isn’t gonna make me any money so it’s a bad investment, but I want the cheeseburger for non-monetary reasons so I’m trading my money for it.
Who cares?
I gave all my coins away this morning to people who didn't need them. Thousands of coins from hundreds of awards over the years were distributed to the least deserving replies. Wewt! Bye, reddit.
Well. There are no coins here. Are they really needed?
Purged by creator