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A lot of Redditors hate the Reddit IPO (www.theverge.com)

submitted 4 months ago by hedge@beehaw.org to c/technology@beehaw.org

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[-] Annoyed_Crabby@monyet.cc 123 points 4 months ago

Despite having been founded in 2005, the S-1 notes that Reddit is “in the early stages of monetizing our business and there is no assurance we will be able to scale our business for future growth.”

Did they seriously just say "although our company start 19 years ago, we only able to start figure out how to make money, and if you buy our stock, we can't guarantee our company will grow further and give you more profits."

Where's the plan, Stevie?

[-] Midnitte@beehaw.org 64 points 4 months ago

"there is no assurance we will be able to scale our business for future growth.”

Then why IPO? Lol.

Yes, we can't make money and can't grow. Invest pls?

[-] originalfrozenbanana@lemm.ee 55 points 4 months ago

To cash out

[-] helenslunch@feddit.nl 20 points 4 months ago* (last edited 4 months ago)

These are very common things for CEOs to say because if they give assurances and it doesn't happen they get in trouble with the FTC.

If you see how often Reddit comes up in search results, you will understand the value of the data. Potentially the most valuable single source of information on the internet.

Of course, all of that means nothing as long as AI companies are allowed to suck up and regurgitate any publicly available info on the web for profit.

[-] DasSkelett@discuss.tchncs.de 9 points 4 months ago

Potentially the most valuable single source of information on the internet.

I beg to differ, there's Wikipedia

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[-] athos77@kbin.social 9 points 4 months ago

Spez is trying to outfit his doomsday bunker and wants the cash.

[-] Hyperreality@kbin.social 10 points 4 months ago

AI.

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[-] helenslunch@feddit.nl 70 points 4 months ago

A lot of Redditors don't have enough self-respect to stop using Reddit.

[-] Alice@beehaw.org 31 points 4 months ago

Reddit's pretty good for niche support communities that still manage to have an active userbase. I wish I could cut the cord entirely but Lemmy just isn't there yet.

[-] GammaGames@beehaw.org 18 points 4 months ago

It doesn’t help that you’ve joined an instance that defederated from the largest (world). Welcome, by the way!

[-] Kichae@lemmy.ca 13 points 4 months ago

The fact that the largest is still so significantly bigger than the rest that this can be a concern shows that Lemmy still hasn't come anywhere close to being where it needs or is supposed to be.

The network should not rest one the shoulders of one or two websites.

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[-] helenslunch@feddit.nl 8 points 4 months ago

Nobody is upset that Reddit is not good for active support comminities. They're upset that they're having their options taken away and being exploited for profit.

Lemmy will never "be that way" so long as people like you perpetuate a self-fulfilling prophecy.

[-] Alice@beehaw.org 12 points 4 months ago

I didn't mean that was a complaint against reddit, I just meant it's a reason a lot of people have been reluctant to leave. I'd love to see the site die personally, but I still think it's a little more complicated than self respect.

Also while yeah I hate to be a person who complains and then doesn't take any action, I know for a fact that I don't have it in me to moderate a support group between jobs.

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[-] Kolanaki@yiffit.net 8 points 4 months ago

There aren't even a lot of specific game related communities that are active here. Even big games like Elden Ring, which recently announced the release date and gave us a huge trailer for the upcoming DLC, have little to no activity here on Lemmy. And that makes me sad. Because I'm not going back to Reddit just to get hype and deep dive into the imagery show in the trailer even though I hella want to 😬

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[-] bradorsomething@ttrpg.network 65 points 4 months ago

Is it insider trading if wsb members short the stock, then make controversial content that frightens investors away?

[-] TehPers@beehaw.org 18 points 4 months ago

If thousands of people contribute to it, even if it is insider trading, can it be reasonably investigated and prosecuted?

But more seriously, not a lawyer, but no I don't think so. The users don't know any non-public business information about future Reddit business decisions (i would assume) and compete fairly with other potential shareholders. It's not like other shareholders couldn't do the same thing, after all.

[-] jarfil@beehaw.org 10 points 4 months ago

In the MOONs sunsetting, some moderators got a 1 hour advance warning before the public announcement... and some sold before it was made.

For the IPO, it would depend on the kind of user: if some mods decided to short Reddit, then stage a sub locking protest like during the APIcalypse, they would have both information and means not available to other public investors.

[-] ada@lemmy.blahaj.zone 59 points 4 months ago

A lot of redditors hate reddit

[-] thingsiplay@beehaw.org 45 points 4 months ago

It's a Love-Hate relationship. The core concept and idea of Reddit is wonderful. But the corporate decisions ruins it. Just like in good videogames...

[-] Maeve@kbin.social 25 points 4 months ago

Just like anything else that started good and had more pure intentions than "money at all costs!"

[-] Deceptichum@kbin.social 18 points 4 months ago

The core concept and idea of reddit can be found in other places, such as right here. And without the corporate decisions ruining it.

[-] Annoyed_Crabby@monyet.cc 21 points 4 months ago

"I hate it here but i don't wanna leave here because i love here."

[-] Powderhorn@beehaw.org 7 points 4 months ago

Pretty much why people stay in abusive relationships.

[-] Nougat@kbin.social 12 points 4 months ago

That's so reddit.

[-] thingsiplay@beehaw.org 58 points 4 months ago

This is the most interesting information I could find (while skipping a lot paragraphs): BTW Huffman is CEO Steve “u/spez”.

Altman was, and still is, the CEO of OpenAI. Altman’s also Reddit’s third-largest shareholder and owns more than twice as many shares as Huffman. Altman was the CEO of Reddit for eight days.

[-] ninjan@lemmy.mildgrim.com 16 points 4 months ago

Altman and short stints regarding being CEO or not, name a more iconic couple.

[-] gwen_real@beehaw.org 7 points 4 months ago

why was he ceo for only eight days??? did he quit??

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[-] altima_neo@lemmy.zip 51 points 4 months ago

It's clearly a move for Huffman to cash out before bailing out. I wonder if things would have gone any differently with the last CEO? I forget her name.

Also buying into the stock early, seems stupid. For a company that's never been profitable, during a time of mass tech layoffs, and how the valuation of other social media has tanked after an IPO, just seems like you're gonna lose money investing in Reddit.

[-] lvxferre@mander.xyz 39 points 4 months ago

My guess is that they're offering early sales because they predict that the stock value will tank after the public offering, so this way there's a slightly higher margin of profit for the current shareholders. If that's correct then it's completely scummy. (i.e. extremely typical for Reddit)

Another possibility is that they're trying to "force" power users to be more cooperative towards the platform, by giving them a financial incentive to do so - "if you shit here you'll be tanking your own shares".

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[-] Nougat@kbin.social 15 points 4 months ago

Ellen Pao.

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[-] TomMasz@kbin.social 44 points 4 months ago

It's never been profitable but Huffman gets millions as CEO. Fuck spez.

[-] furrowsofar@beehaw.org 44 points 4 months ago

I am not sure why anyone cares. As far as Reddit, I moved on last year.

[-] Esqplorer@lemmy.zip 18 points 4 months ago

I care about it like Facebook or Twitter. It has a big influence on our society, even if I don't use it.

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[-] Zworf@beehaw.org 26 points 4 months ago

Of course we hate it. It will trigger a whole new phase of enshittification.

I still use reddit because for some things it's still a valuable resource that Lemmy isn't yet for lack of users. Hopefully more redditors will find lemmy as this proceeds.

[-] Kichae@lemmy.ca 12 points 4 months ago

One of the nice things this time around is that Lemmy has really crystallized as an ecosystem. It's missing some significant niches, but now people who need a working example, and can't just envision it based off of the concept, can see it truly in action, instead of just seeing Leninist wankery.

Future waves should, hopefully, be stickier.

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[-] BurningRiver@beehaw.org 22 points 4 months ago

Just curious here, because I don’t really know how this works - will they have to disclose how many shares they sold to power users prior to the IPO? I’d love for that number to be as close to zero as possible.

[-] onlinepersona@programming.dev 8 points 4 months ago

But won't move anywhere else 🤷

CC BY-NC-SA 4.0

[-] chip16@beehaw.org 28 points 4 months ago

Why do boomers put a license link on public comments where the license has no value? I'd recommend removing it since having it automatically makes your opinions worth less.

From the notices section

You do not have to comply with the license for elements of the material in the public domain

Which means comments posted anywhere.

[-] Lath@kbin.social 22 points 4 months ago

Online sovereign citizen?

[-] Fudoshin@feddit.uk 16 points 4 months ago

That's not how public domain works.

[-] chip16@beehaw.org 11 points 4 months ago

You mean, how you waive your rights to what you post on a website? That makes them public domain.

[-] Fudoshin@feddit.uk 10 points 4 months ago

It depends on the website hosting location. TOS,, users location and relevant international copyright treaties.

It's not a one-size-fits-all.

As a UK citizen I can't claim my (US) first amendment right to call you a "cunt".

It's against the website TOS and I'm not American.

Putting a license at the bottom clears any ambiguity.

Funnily enough you're only highlighting your own "Zoomer" naivety of law by making your "Boomer" comment.

[-] chip16@beehaw.org 14 points 4 months ago

And the license means fuck all on any public website where you waive your right to privacy by using. Esp by federating across other websites, where rules are different across every place it's federated to.

So, expecting to apply a CC license to comments made publicly, is like expecting to not be recorded or photographed when in a public place.

And nice try on the zoomer comment, but way wrong. People trying to license their comments has happened for quite a while and it's always been shown as not binding. Trying to impose your licensing on a public website is laughable.

Also, the 1st amendment has nothing to do with what you can or can't say to a private person. So, please don't speak and try to compare things you obviously don't understand.

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[-] Snarwin@kbin.social 10 points 4 months ago

Posting something on a website does not make it public domain. Typically, the website's Terms of Service will require that you grant the website operator a license to use any content that you post on the site (so that they can display it to other users). That license does not extend to other visitors of the same website.

Of course, in practice, it's very unlikely that someone would take you to court over copying a website comment. But if someone posts, say, an original work of art or a short story in a comment thread, you should be aware that it is still protected by copyright.

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