Reddit is a company no? This seems like a pretty good investment to me, regardless of their stance on the legislation.
They know they're not going to lose users due to a 12 hour outage and they could pretty much bet on a bit of (free) press. It would be interesting to see how much traffic this generates.
HN has been receiving an influx of Reddit users for quite some time now. I do feel HN's quality has suffered as a result (not due to people coming from Reddit in particular, just the classic problem of quality reduction as communities grow)
The SNR in Reddit dropped when Digg destroyed what little community they had left. I hope HN dodge that particular bullet. I'm a temporary (UK-based) Reddit refugee but I'll be back on Reddit in a few hours. This is my methadone, Reddit is my smack.
That is of not much use to the user. By blacking out the whole page, users are now forced to read about the Reddit's stand against SOPA and PIPA which people might miss if Reddit follows your suggestion. Even people ignorant about SOPA and PIPA will read this and get a clear understanding about it
One of the core issues here is the typical US-centric viewpoint that proposed a law affecting sites hosted in other nations. Which makes it annoying that the petition link requires a US zipcode. Just a little thing, but it irks me.
The petition goes to congress, you would need to be a constituent. That makes sense. For example, why would the German MP in the EU parliantment care what I have to think as an American?
Their governments could try (citizens likely wouldn't be able to), but we've seen how that's worked in the past. The only countries who can change US policy is China and Israel.
Many people in the US have a chip on their shoulder about the US taking even a tiny bit of friendly advice from the rest of the world.
When John Kerry mentioned the need for global consensus in one of the presidential debates, George Bush pounced and Kerry immediately tried to back off.
That is the political reality in the states when it comes to outside influence. Even a hint of it, from the best of friends, is not tolerated.
I just went through a handful of articles from google.com/news about the topic. I´m amazed how much coverage Reddit is getting in mainstream outlets like cnn, washington post etc. Lined up there with google and facebook.
Also, European here, the Fox "News" coverage was amusing...
And then global productivity greatly increased as no one was browsing Reddit or getting lost in Wikipedia. Everyone then agreed that SOPA was a good thing and we all lived in productive ignorance forever. The End.
32 comments
[ 5.5 ms ] story [ 113 ms ] threadAs a side note, is Reddit directing to a 502 page for anyone else? I thought they were going to post streams, links, etc.
Maybe they're just not ready yet?
EDIT: It's up now.
Reddit has done a good job on the page. It has a call to action and provides a lot of information. Kudos.
They know they're not going to lose users due to a 12 hour outage and they could pretty much bet on a bit of (free) press. It would be interesting to see how much traffic this generates.
http://oi44.tinypic.com/21et27q.jpg
https://twitter.com/#!/BoingBoing/status/159600157623713793
Why not fill your ads with SOPA/PIPA related items. Why not put info in the header.
reddit may be down, but i can still download issue of the redditor magazine for free, take that reddit!
When John Kerry mentioned the need for global consensus in one of the presidential debates, George Bush pounced and Kerry immediately tried to back off.
That is the political reality in the states when it comes to outside influence. Even a hint of it, from the best of friends, is not tolerated.
Also, European here, the Fox "News" coverage was amusing...