Because they took 1.3 billion dollars from investors who want their money back, moderators currently do the job for free, and Reddit is looking to _cut_ spend, not increase it.
Reddit's biggest risk is community revolt. Financially incentivizing moderators to keep the community aligned with the company's interest seems like something investors would reward (even if the profit margin goes down a little).
In general I agree with you, but the actions of Reddit's leadership over the past few months (and especially the past few weeks) lead me to believe they've completely lost the plot and don't understand the dynamics of their own community. They can say all they want that they value the contributions of the moderators, but their actions speak the truth.
It's a minimum wage / gigwork job at best. You pay for it, you'll get that quality of work.
If you pay people in power, as they do, people will put their heart and soul into it. Not everything is a monetary transaction, and there are better incentives.
There's no need to pay the mods when they're already doing it for free, with many more willing to take their place. Some of the mods do it for power, but I would hope most do it for their love of good discussion and their community.
If it really comes down to it, I wouldn't be surprised at all if the Reddit admins just kick out all the protesting mods, finding replacements will likely be pretty easy.
The mods of several large subreddits were all kicked out, leaving the subreddits unmoderated. Multiple of these removed mods are also locked out of their accounts.
They have no reason to pay them. Hell I think Reddit could find a cheaper way of using ChatGPT and making their own inhouse mods then pay existing mods who go on strike.
It’s worth noting that people don’t pay for a lot of online services, such as access to information in platforms such as reddit. Advertisement is also loathed by public. It’s a tough business, and there isn’t all that much to trickle down.
18 comments
[ 3.2 ms ] story [ 30.4 ms ] threadIf there's a market for paying users directly for content, and also as a way to not need mods, someday this market will bubble up.
Giving money to mods won't help their IPO roadshow or make them profitable.
If you pay people in power, as they do, people will put their heart and soul into it. Not everything is a monetary transaction, and there are better incentives.
If it really comes down to it, I wouldn't be surprised at all if the Reddit admins just kick out all the protesting mods, finding replacements will likely be pretty easy.
Edit: Mass removal is already happening. https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=36412619
The mods of several large subreddits were all kicked out, leaving the subreddits unmoderated. Multiple of these removed mods are also locked out of their accounts.
https://www.reddit.com/r/ModCoord/comments/14eq8ip/the_entir...