WebProNews

Tag: Reddit

  • Yelp CEO Addresses All Your Favorite Accusations On Reddit

    Yelp CEO Addresses All Your Favorite Accusations On Reddit

    Yelp CEO Jeremy Stoppelman engaged in a reddit AMA (Ask Me Anything) today, taking on an assault of questions about extortion, fake reviews, lawsuits, wages, and just about everything you’ve ever heard people allege about the company.

    Not that he has any regrets about it. Someone actually asked him if he regretted doing the AMA, and he responded, “Absolutely not. I should have done it years ago, keep the questions coming!”

    And keep them coming they did.

    On claims that Yelp holds positive reviews hostage by not allowing them to be viewable, Stoppelman said, “There has never been any amount of money you could pay us to manipulate reviews. We do have an algorithm that highlights the most useful and reliable reviews on our site which is about 75% of contributed content. I started Yelp to solve my own need of finding a great doctor, obviously we needed to protect consumer(s) against fake reviews and spam to make sure the site is actually helpful (anyone remember CitySearch?). That’s why we pioneered the development of a review filter, a technology that other competitors like Google have since tried to mimic.”

    “Despite the ‘Yelp extorts’ conspiracy meme, there’s never been a shred of actual ‘smoking gun’ evidence (phone call recording, email, etc.) to back up the claims,” he said in another comment.

    In another, he said that no one in the Yelp Sales organization can write reviews.

    When asked directly if Yelp calls businesses and offers to release good reviews and/or remove bad reviews for money, Stoppelman said, “Absolutely not. Consumer trust is paramount.”

    When a user (going by handle Professional_Fart) replied with “Bullshit,” Stoppelman responded, “What part of that is bullshit?”

    Professional_Fart did not elaborate.

    One user asked the interesting question: Are the reviewers on Yelp your customers or are they your product?

    Stoppleman responded, “Internally we refer to the Yelp community as ‘the source’ (lifted from the newspaper world’s – protect your source) which means we must protect and nourish the community lest we lose everything. Without Yelpers there is no company.”

    The AMA record also shows that Stoppelman had coffee, 2 eggs and half a cantaloupe for breakfast this morning. Read the rest of his conversation here.

    Yelp released its quarterly earnings report last week with a 68% year-over-year increase in revenue. Cumulative reviews grew 42%, while average unique monthly visitors were up 41% at 117 million. Active local business accounts grew 61% to 57,200.

    Image: Jeremy Stoppelman (Twitter)

  • Reddit Co-Founder Alexis Ohanian Gives An ‘At Google’ Talk

    Reddit Co-Founder Alexis Ohanian Gives An ‘At Google’ Talk

    Reddit co-founder Alexis Ohanian recently gave an “At Google” talk to discuss his book Without Their Permission. Google has now made it available for all to watch.

    More At Google Talks here.

    Image: YouTube

  • David Duchovny and Gillian Anderson Spark Rumors

    David Duchovny and Gillian Anderson Spark Rumors

    The truth is out there. It was a fanboy’s dream. David Duchovny and Gillian Anderson, you may know them better of course as Mulder and Scully, both participated in a 20th Anniversary X-Files Panel in New York City. The popular mis-matched FBI duo agreed to answer questions for reddit’s Ask Me Anything forum.

    It’s been over a decade since the uber-popular Fox science-fiction drama went off the air. And since that time, two X-Files films have been made. The first in 1998, simply called X Files and the second one X Files: I Want to Believe was made ten years later in 2008. But could there be a third X Files film on the way?

    When asked about the possibility of a third movie, Duchovny may have fueled the fire, “I think Chris is working on a script. Chris is shooting a pilot right now, so he might not be working on a script, but he claims to be working on a script, and if he does do that and Fox wants to make it … Gillian will do it, I will do it, so start your writing campaign now. Seriously. We’d all love to do it. The ball is in Fox’s hands. And not Fox Mulder, Fox the studio.”

    The pair sat for almost two hours and answered fan’s questions about any and every aspect of the show. Does Duchovny actually believe in aliens? He responded, “Odds are we are not alone.” And how about Anderson, “It wouldn’t surprise me. It’s just the fact of it. The universe is bigger than big.”

    The X-Files ran on the Fox network for nine seasons. Although, it may have began as a cult show, the intriguing paranormal storylines and the “will they or won’t they” sexual chemistry between Mulder and Scully turned the show into a water-cooler crowd-pleaser.

    Image via Facebook

  • Imgur Reaches 100,000,000 Unique Monthly Users

    Imgur Reaches 100,000,000 Unique Monthly Users

    Imgur has now reached a new milestone with 100,000,000 monthly unique users. While certainly helped in no small part by reddit users, the company recently launched its mobile apps, which have no doubt contributed as well.

    The iOS app has been downloaded 92,000 times, and the Android app has been downloaded 200,000 times. The Android app has been out longer, which would account for some part of the difference. Imgur launched on Android in June, with the iOS app following at the beginning of August.

    Imgur iOS

    Last October, Imgur launched its biggest update ever seeking to turn itself into more of a destination site, as opposed to just a place where people upload photos to share elsewhere (though that is obviously still a major part of it).

    Imgur also recently released a meme generator.

    Imgur Meme Generator

    The company says the milestone puts it among the top Internet properties in the world.

    “The insatiable demand for visual content – and our relentless need to share images – shows no signs of letting up,” a spokesperson for the company tells WebProNews. “This is driving massive growth Imgur, which has quickly become a content hub for this visual explosion.”

    “Since day one, we’ve dedicated ourselves to building the best possible user experience for Imgurians,” said CEO Alan Schaaf. “We prioritize our creative community and encourage them to take charge of their experience. With the help of this amazing community and their feedback, we’re making sure this experience stays awesome as we grow and evolve, and we appreciate their support in helping us reach this incredible milestone.”

    Read our recent interview with him here.

    “As Imgur continues to generate more unique visitors and daily image views, the service becomes an attractive partner for brands who want to reach their target audiences in compelling and authentic new ways,” the company said in its announcement. “As brands and agencies look beyond traditional advertising campaigns to more deeply engage with their communities, sites like Imgur present exciting alternatives to tired banner approaches. As the future of native advertising unfolds, companies like Imgur will play an integral role in defining what this looks like.”

    At the beginning of the year, Imgur announced that it had 364 billion image views in 2012. With today’s news, I’d expect a similar report this coming January will provide a significantly higher number.

    Images: Imgur

  • Bob Odenkirk Talks Rumored ‘Breaking Bad’ Spin-Off About Saul Goodman

    Bob Odenkirk Talks Rumored ‘Breaking Bad’ Spin-Off About Saul Goodman

    As previously reported, actors/comedians David Cross, Bob Odenkirk and Brian Posehn did a reddit AMA (ask me anything) today answering numerous questions from fans.

    We talked about HBO’s GO’s lack of Mr. Show here, but another interesting bit to come out of the conversation was what Odenkirk had to say about the rumored Breaking Bad spin-off about his character Saul Goodman.

    Saul spin-off? Don’t know. Really. I trust Vince Gilligan when he says he has a good idea for it, an idea that motivates him to want to work on it. Vince, obviously, can do anything he chooses at this point, so it’s a massive honor that he would put any mental effort into a Saul show. Peter Gould is a Breaking Bad writer who wrote the first script that Saul appeared in, and, I believe, Peter is interested in a possible Saul show. So…that’s a lot of goodwill and energy making it a possibility. But still, this is a creative endeavor we’re talking about, and then there’s the business side that would have to be worked out…so many hurdles. I am thrilled that people like the character enough to want that show to happen.

    Hopefully if it happens, they have a back-up plan for Saul’s hair. This was Odenkirk’s response to another question about that:

    That hair is not mine, it is five different components / pieces that get put into my head. I do not have it at home, the Smithsonian has it next to Fonzie’s jacket and Rerun’s turd from “What’s Happenin’” the episode where the toilet breaks.

    Read the full AMA here. There are plenty of other topics discussed. Cross didn’t have much to share on what’s going on with Arrested Development, by the way.

    In related news, there’s a Breaking Bad Collector’s Edition Blu-ray set coming out, and one of the bonus features is:

    A Criminal Attorney: Bob Odenkirk as Saul Goodman -A look at the character Saul Goodman and the man who played him, Bob Odenkirk.

    Image: BetterCallSaul.com

  • Why ‘Mr. Show’ Isn’t On HBO GO, According To Bob And David (And Brian)

    Why ‘Mr. Show’ Isn’t On HBO GO, According To Bob And David (And Brian)

    HBO GO has a lot of great HBO shows that have appeared on the network from over the years, but there are certainly some notable titles left out. Perhaps the most notable of all is Mr. Show, the sketch comedy show that would go on to become a cult hit and showcase some of David Cross’ and Bob Odenkirk’s finest career moments (and that’s saying a lot, given that these guys are on Arrested Development and Breaking Bad, respectively).

    Bob, David and fellow comedian and cast member Brian Posehn took to reddit this morning to engage in an AMA (ask me anything) Q&A session with fans. When asked why HBO GO does not include Mr. Show, each of them gave their own answer:

    (Bob here) HBO has a hate-hate relationship with the show.
    (Brian here) They are not aware that we did the show.
    (David, back) They hate having to google Mr. Show.

    So there you have it. These may not be the official HBO-endorsed reasons, but their responses appear to give us a pretty good idea of how much HBO cares.

    The actors/comedians have gone on to become much more well-known since Mr. Show was on the air, so you’d think HBO would want to take advantage of that, but for now, fans will have to consume one of the best-ever sketch comedy shows of all time by other means.

    The three are touring this month, with dates in New York, Boston, Chicago, San Francisco and Portland, and then in LA next month.

    Check out the AMA, because they obviously talk about a lot more than just Mr. Show and HBO GO.

    Image: Mr. Show/HBO (via YouTube)

  • C. G. P. Grey Posts An Informative Love Letter To reddit

    C. G. P. Grey Posts An Informative Love Letter To reddit

    How do you answer the “what exactly IS reddit?” question? Is it simply a link aggregation site that features an active audience, or is it a window to many of the wonders offered by the Internet and the world in general? The simple answer is yes, reddit is all of that and a lot more; although, not all of it has been above the board. It’s hard to deny it’s position in the grand scheme of the things when discussing Internet supremacy. All of those cute, funny images your friends are “liking” into popularity on Facebook?

    Chances are, they were found on reddit.

    Which brings us to C. G. P. Grey’s informative, if not mash note-worthy, YouTube video explaining what reddit is and how you use it. While it’s clear Grey is fond of reddit, his video–which is done in the style his fans (almost 900,000 subscribers) expect–offers a great deal of information about how the site works, including the subreddits and the ever-enjoyable comment sections. If you’ve been wanting to get on reddit but it’s a little confusing and/or intidmating, Grey’s video is here to help:

    Are you in the “reddit is awesome” clan or does the text-based interface, combined with a sometimes volatile audience (looking at you, /r/gaming) make it miss your daily website rotation? While individual user mileage may vary, from my perspective, a personalized reddit is an enjoyable reddit. That’s what the subreddits are there for, allowing users to tailor their experience based on their interests.

    [Lead image via Reddit]

  • Woman’s Time-Lapse Weight Loss Video

    Woman’s Time-Lapse Weight Loss Video

    We’ve all seen the sometimes shocking “before and after” pictures of weight-loss success. But how is this one woman’s recent 88-lb weight-loss different than all the rest? Not much, except for the pretty cool time-lapsed GIF one inspired fan made of the awesome transformation process.

    A young woman named Amanda (she asked her last name not be used) started posting pictures of her weight-loss process online for motivation in 2011. After a Reddit user saw the pictures, he decided to make a GIF (Graphics Interchange Format) of the amazing transformation.

    The young woman decided the pictures would serve as a constant visual reminder to keep going until she reached her desired goal.

    “I knew that I had to start somewhere,” Amanda told ABC News.

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QkdMJavMLq8

    Amanda went on to say, “I figured if I did it at least once a month, at the end of however long it took, I would have this really cool end product.”

    To help lose the weight, Amanda ate a high-protein diet, watched her portions and lastly added in a moderate workout plan. After sticking to her plan of attack, Amanda went from weighing 222 pounds to 134 pounds in a year. She’s even successfully kept the weight off.

    The gallery of weight-loss photos she posted had nearly three million views online. Eventually the pics inspired a Reddit user to create the GIF that now so many people have been talking about.

  • Ricky Gervais Talks To Reddit About ‘Derek’ And A Bunch Of Other Stuff

    Ricky Gervais Talks To Reddit About ‘Derek’ And A Bunch Of Other Stuff

    Ricky Gervais participated in a reddit AMA (Ask Me Anything) this afternoon.

    He talked about everything from Louis CK naked to Daniel Day Lewis portraying a young Ricky in a movie about his life.

    Celebrities tend to do these AMAs when they have something to promote, and Gervais’ show Derek is about to have its big Netflix debut on September 12th (Series 1 has already aired in the UK).

    While I’d encourage you to peruse the rest of the Q&A, following are the things he said about Derek.

    When asked if Derek is based on a life experience, Gervais said, “The situation certainly is. Half my family growing up were carers of some sort, mostly retirement homes (stroke, Alzheimers), and Derek is like my fictional superhero of an everyday gentle outsider. I suppose they’re all little fables about kindness. And possibly, a love letter to my lovely, poor and humble family growing up”

    When asked about his most gratifying experience, he said, “The pilot of Derek winning ‘best comedy film’ at the New York Film Festival [short film].”

    He also had this to say about the Kev character from the show: “Yes, Kev is one of my favourite characters, and I was so glad that the audience went from being uncomfortable around him to really rooting for him at the end. He has another dramatic journey in Series 2, but you’ll be pleased to know he is still a drunken, unhygienic pervert.”

    Netflix subscribers around the world should soon learn more about all of that.

    Here’s some more stuff Gervais said about the show on Facebook recently.

    Image: Ricky Gervais (Twitter)

  • Reddit’s Gaymer Community Wins Trademark Fight

    Reddit’s Gaymer Community Wins Trademark Fight

    After a months-long legal fight involving a site owner, one reddit community, and the Electronic Frontier Foundation, the term “gaymer” is no longer trademarked.

    The reddit community r/gaymers has won their fight against a “gaymer” trademark, held by gaymer.org operator Chris Vizzini. Back in August, 2012, Vizzini sent a cease and desist letter to reddit’s r/gaymers requesting that the subreddit change their name to no longer associate with the “gaymer” trademark.

    Soon, r/gaymers had the EFF and law firm Perkins Cole on their side. The EFF claimed that the trademark was faulty from the get-go and never should have been granted.

    “Gaymer is a common term that refers to members of this vibrant gaming community, and we are happy to help them fight back and make sure the term goes back to the public domain where it belongs,” said the EFF at the time.

    Gaymer, a terms referring to members of the LGBT community who happen to also be avid gamers, has been around since the early 90s, according to the EFF.

    And today, the EFF has announced that they have won the fight.

    “In a big win for gay gamers around the world, a blogger has surrendered his bogus trademark claim on the word ‘gaymer,’ freeing online forums, conventions, and others to use the descriptive term without fear of legal threats and interference,” says an EFF blog post.

    Vizzini has shut down gaymers.org, and if you go there now you’ll see a lengthy letter explaining why. Vizzini says that when the EFF and Perkins Cole threw their weight behind the folks at r/gaymer, he was just outmatched.

    I…had to be realistic though. I’m just a regular person with a normal job and make a modest salary. Basically, I’m up against a huge law firm with unlimited resources plus the EFF was in on it. Some chick that works at the EFF said, “This registration isn’t being used to protect consumers – it’s being used to threaten free speech.” Which was ridiculous so I knew there was at least one moron at the EFF and hoped there would be some at Perkins Coie.

    My legal Hail Mary play was to file a motion to dismiss their motion to cancel the trademark. If that went my way then this would all be over with and I wouldn’t have a big lawyer bill. Well filing a motion to dismiss a motion is way more expensive than it sounds and I have the bill to prove it.

    Plus, it didn’t work. The trademark board denied my motion.

    I’m letting go. I’d just be outspent if I pushed the case forward. Closing the site might seem like a case of sour grapes but it’s really not.

    “Trademark is supposed to protect consumers from confusion, not to shut down discussion spaces and the names they have rallied around,” said Zack Karlsson, the r/gaymer community’s representative in the trademark challenge. “We were shocked that anyone would try to assert ownership rights in ‘gaymer’ and felt the term belonged to the public, not Mr. Vizzini.”

    Vizzini claims that he was ready to let the whole thing go after the redditors agreed to puts a disclaimer up denying affiliation with gaymers.org, and that’s when he was hits with the legal challenge to void his entire trademark. He claims he never wanted to shut down r/gaymers.

    “The reason I’m closing the site is because the goals were accomplished but also because I feel disconnected from gay gamers having seen their ugly side though all of this. I know it’s not all gay gamers from the members of my site but its was enough of them saying hurtful things so loudly that it has put me off. What was once a source of passion has now become a source of pain and it’s time to walk away and say goodbye. I hope the passion comes back one day because if it does, the site will come back up,” says Vizzini.

    “It’s good the greater community ‘won,’ says r/gaymer poster feedle, “I know the guy who ran gaymer.org meant well, but I don’t think he completely understood the implications of sending a trademark ‘cease and desist’ letter. First off, just the act of sending such a letter was a ‘thermonuclear’ option, and I don’t think he understands that when you start getting ‘the law’ involved, the gloves come off. The greater community had every right to go seeking legal representation. You don’t launch the only nuke you have and then cry when the retaliatory strike is swift and decisive.”

    [Image via reddit]

  • Hyperloop Immediately Gains Support On Reddit

    Hyperloop Immediately Gains Support On Reddit

    On Monday evening, Elon Musk revealed his proposal for the Hyperloop to the world. The transportation system would turn a five hour car ride from Los Angeles to San Francisco into a 30 minute ride in a tube. Despite being the one who drafted the proposal, Musk is skeptical on a number of fronts. That’s why some Redditors are charging full steam ahead to back him, and the project, up.

    Soon after the Hyperloop was announced, a subreddit called /r/HyperloopCAProp popped up on the popular news sharing site. The subreddit’s goal is to push for a public vote on a proposal that would replace the current high speed rail project in California with Musk’s Hyperloop project.

    The first step is to create a proposal, and the subreddit’s moderator, rocketscientist89, already has a plan:

    The basic fundamentals of the proposal are: re-use the existing land/surveying studies for the rail project for the hyperloop, taking into account any necessary modifications for legal/technical reasons. We should aim to stick to the already approved path.

    Find, fund, and establish a proof-of-concept test line somewhere in CA, where it is is honestly not that important (IMO) but we should try to get it where people can visit, and hopefully ride a full scale version of it even if only for a short distance. There is a lot of fleshing out to do here, but that’s the point of this.

    With both a proof-of-concept and re-using the existing foundational studies/research for the highspeed rail project, we should be able to draft a realistic proposal that addresses the technical and logistical challenges of building the full scale line, running from SF to San Diego. Ideally, this should include estimates of cost, job creation, long-term impacts, etc. Again, a lot of work to do, but if we crowd-source this I believe it is achievable.

    Timeline: We should shoot to have this proposal on the 2016 Ballot. That gives us a little over two years to get it done. Lets hit the ground running reddit!

    To get on the ballot, the subreddit and other volunteers will have to draft the proposal and then obtain 500,000 signatures of California citizens. The subreddit has a lot of work cut out for them if you take /r/California’s population of 12,666 to be indicative of Reddit’s Californian population, but there’s likely to be a lot more if you take subreddits like /r/LosAngeles into account.

    Still, the Reddit community has performed some amazing feats in the past. A group of Redditor’s raised $90,000 as part of TestPAC to challenge Rep. Lamar Smith’s run for reelection in 2012 after SOPA, which he drafted, was defeated in the House. They were ultimately unsuccessful, but gathering 500,000 signatures should be much easier than defeating an entrenched politician with a multi-million dollar reelection campaign.

    [h/t: The Raw Story]

  • Guy Kicks Cat on Vine, Infuriates the Internet

    Guy Kicks Cat on Vine, Infuriates the Internet

    “Look at this goddamn cat on my porch. Get the f*ck off my porch,” said Walter Easley moments before kicking a kitten off his porch and into his yard.

    He then posted a video of the incident on Vine. After the video drew the attention of 4chan and reddit, Easley found himself at the center of an internet justice mob.

    The original Vine post has been deleted, but of course it hasn’t been purged from the internet. Remember, once you upload something to any social network, there really aren’t any take backsies.

    But before it was deleted, it spread like wildfire on Vine. The Vine, actually posted over a week ago, didn’t really receive any attention until it was picked up by 4chan and eventually reddit’s r/rage subreddit.

    “Looks like he’s getting a lot of negative feedback on the app in case anyone was wondering. Nearly 1,000 comments and 3,000 revines, everyone is pissed,” said one redditor.

    “I don’t understand people who do this and post it online. Doesn’t he know people online are obsessed with pets, and cats in particular? That people who abuse animals are mercilessly hunted down and doxed?” says another redditor.

    And it’s probably that – the whole doxing thing – that led to the original post being removed from both reddit and 4chan’s boards. It’s likely that redditors began the chants for internet justice and things got a bit out of control. Rule #1 (literally, it’s rule #1) on r/rage (and most reddit subreddits) is that you can’t post personal information. When a comment thread has been decimated to the level that this one has, you know that’s likely what happened.

    You can see another post and subsequent comments here.

    Don’t abuse animals. Don’t kick cats. Don’t kick cats and then post the video of it to Vine. You know what, forget Vine. Just don’t kick cats, prick.

  • Six Myths reddit Would Like to Clear Up

    Six Myths reddit Would Like to Clear Up

    Although only 6% of American adults use reddit, teen users and international appeal has helped turn the site into one of the most powerful forces on the internet – both in terms of influence and as a content distribution device. Last month, reddit boasted over 67 million unique visitors who viewed nearly 4.7 billion pages. There’s no denying that it’s a behemoth.

    On Tuesday, reddit admins took to their blog to try and clear up some myths and common misconceptions about the site. Mainly that it’s not some giant company, it’s definitely spelt “reddit” (with a lowercase r), and it’s not readying for an IPO – in fact, it’s not even profitable yet. Here are of the top myths that reddit addressed:

    1. reddit is swimming in cash. In reality, reddit says that they are not yet profitable – something they’ve addressed before on numerous occasions.
    2. reddit is prepping to go public. “[G]oing public (IPO) means having to answer to short-term shareholders and irrational market pressures. We don’t want to risk either of those,” they say.
    3. reddit is owned by Conde Nast. The reality is that they used to be, but that all changed in 2012. “reddit was spun out into a re-incorporated independent entity with its own board and control of its own finances,” says the company.
    4. reddit is massive and employs tons of people. Only if you consider 28 employees to be a massive company. Oh, and just FYI, 32% of them enjoy pulpy orange juice (gross).
    5. reddit pays celebs to do AMAs. Nope, they say. “We explain that an AMA is something that anyone with a notable life experience can do, and we may offer them help for free, in which “help” consists of helping schedule AMAs or explaining what an AMA really is and how to execute an AMA well – from signing up for a reddit account to what to expect from the audience to how much time they should try to set aside. We don’t accept payment for any of this – AMAs are by and for the community.”
    6. reddit is actually Reddit. Lowercase all the way, baby.

    The more you know.

  • Imgur App For iPhone And iPad Finally Launched

    Imgur App For iPhone And iPad Finally Launched

    Imgur announced today that it has launched its long-awaited iOS app, following the launch of its first mobile app for Android in June. The iOS app was reportedly being held up by Apple for a bit, but it’s here now.

    The app gives users the full-featured experience they’d expect, with uploading, sharing and commenting.

    Imgur ioS

    Imgur for iOS

    Imgur for iOS

    “Our community drives our priorities here at Imgur, and the Android app was a great start but only got us about halfway there,” said Alan Schaaf, founder and CEO, Imgur. “The mobile iOS app gives our iPhone and iPad users a way to enjoy the complete Imgur experience on the go. As more of our lives take place on the go, we want to make sure Imgurians have access to the full suite of Imgur features anywhere they are, on any mobile device.”

    We had a conversation with Schaaf after the Android launch, when he talked extensively about the app, and the company’s overall strategy and relationship with reddit. You can read that here.

  • Reddit CEO Talks About Site Being ‘In The Red’

    Reddit CEO Talks About Site Being ‘In The Red’

    On Wednesday, reddit announced some changes to its list of default subreddits. These are the ones the site shows on its front page to new and logged out users, and those who haven’t bothered to personalize their own homepages.

    As part of the change, reddit decided to eliminate popular subreddits r/atheism and r/politics from the list because they were deemed not to be “up to snuff”.

    As the conversation unfolded on reddit, CEO Yishan Wong made some comments on the site about its own monetization.

    “I guess I’ll make a statement about our revenue plans vs our community activity,” began Wong. “1/ We didn’t make the frontpage changes for any revenue-related or mainstreaming reason. We made them because (as has actually been discussed in this very subreddit quite often) the default subreddits all evolve in different ways and the community itself begins to find one or more of those subreddits more or less valuable/desirable. (I think you all know what I’m talking about; this will be the only paragraph where I talk a bit sideways, because I don’t want to shit on people) Similarly, other emerging subreddits begin to show a lot of promise so in the interests of adding more fresh material, we’ve added them to the defaults.”

    He continued, “1a/ There is a minor point that sometimes taking a subreddit out of the defaults and removing the pressures of the limelight can allow it to incubate and improve, but that wasn’t a reason in our decisions; it’s just something that occurred to me today.”

    Wong then proceeded to outline reddit’s revnue channels, which consist of advertising, reddit gold and the redditgifts Marketplace, which he said is “actually turning out to be promising.”

    “It’s still nascent, but gift exchanges are quite popular and (again in reddit fashion) we heavily curate the merchants who are allowed in the marketplace,” Wong said. “We’ll see how it develops.”

    He went on to note that none of these require the modification or editorialization of the front page or reddit, and that any changes made are with the interests of users in mind.

    “A note about short-term vs long-term money,” said Wong. “It turns out that you have to plan for BOTH the short-term and the long-term. If you don’t eat in the short-term, you die and never make it to the long-term. If you do everything short-term, you have no long-term future. So we need to make enough money this year to pay the bills and fund next year’s growth, and we also need to put into place the cornerstones of future growth at the same time. It’s a balancing act.”

    He concluded that set of comments by directing conspiracy theorists to an Amazon affiliate link for tinfoil.

    Hours later, Wong left another comment on the subject saying that reddit is “still in the red,” and is “trying to finish the year at break-even (or slightly above, to have a margin of error) though.”

    Wong said they’re thinking about posting a public graph that would be updated regularly showing revenue vs. expenses on a quarterly/monthly basis so people can see how far/close reddit is to be profitable.

    “There is a common misconception that we are ‘part of a billion-dollar conglomerate’ and/or ‘already very profitable, so why keep giving them money’ that is kind of frustrating for us: reddit was given its freedom when we were spun out, so the price of freedom is paying our own way and no one else is paying the bills – a graph like that might help make things more clear,” Wong said.

    He went on to note that AdBlock hasn’t been much an issue in monetizing reddit, as only a small number of people run it and block reddit ads.

    You can see all of Wong’s comments here.

    [via: Business Insider, Image: Yishan Wong]

  • Reddit Gets New Default Subreddits, Boots r/atheism & r/politics

    Reddit Gets New Default Subreddits, Boots r/atheism & r/politics

    Reddit has just announced that they are changing up the default subreddits – the ones you see on the front page when you’re logged out or if you’ve never taken the time to customize your own list. It’s been nearly two years since reddit has made significant changes to the default subreddits, so it’s a pretty big deal.

    The changes involve 5 news additions and 2 removals, the latter of which will please a great deal of redditors who have complained about those particular subreddits for quite some time. It’ll probably piss off a good number of users as well – thus is the nature of big changes. You can’t please all the people all the time, right?

    Anyway, r/atheism and r/politics are now gone from default subreddits list. Here’s reddit’s no-BS reason for the removal:

    “We could give you a canned corporate answer or a diplomatic answer that is carefully crafted for the situation. But since this is reddit, we’re going to try things a bit differently and give you the real answer: they just weren’t up to snuff. Now, don’t get us wrong, there still ARE good parts about them. Overall, they just haven’t continued to grow and evolve like the other subreddits we’ve decided to add.”

    The new additions are r/books, r/earthporn, r/explainlikeimfive, r/gifs, and r/television. These were picked based on a combination of traffic, rate of subscriber increase, and increase in submissions.

    “We’ve tried our best to make sure that the new additions are fairly “general,” and a few of the new additions are also there to help cover some areas that have never had a home on the front page. With these updates, we hope there will be an appropriate default for many of the most popular topics,” says reddit.

    Of course, these changes only apply to new users – for the most part. Anyone who spends any time at all on reddit is likely to create their own account and customize what they see. Or, if you’re a glutton for punishment, you can just browse r/all.

  • Reddit Demonstrates Power Of Social Media, Sends Pizza To Children’s Hospital

    Reddit Demonstrates Power Of Social Media, Sends Pizza To Children’s Hospital

    For the uninitiated, Reddit may seem like a collection of video gaming porn freaks who like cat images, and while that’s certainly a component of the site, it doesn’t begin to encompass the entire Reddit population, a group that is referred to as “Redditors.” There have been multiple documentations of the power of the Reddit collective in relation to Internet outcry, with the most notable probably being for the support they showed Karen Klein, otherwise known as the bus monitor who was bullied by the poorly-raised students she was responsible for.

    Thankfully, the latest show of Reddit kindness doesn’t involve someone being bullied, however, the cause for the latest outpouring is equally heartbreaking. What we have is the story of 2 year old Hazel, who was diagnosed with Neuroblastoma, a form of cancer that involves long hospital stays as part of the treatment. To help lighten the mood, Hazel and her parents taped a sign to the window of her hospital room that said “Send Pizza Rm 4112.” The image was posted at Reddit, you can see a cropped version leading this post and the full-sized image here.

    Shortly after the image was posted, pizzas started showing up at Hazel’s room, which caused her mom to post in the Reddit thread:

    Hello Reddit Users! I am Hazel’s mom and want to just say a HUGE thank you from all of us! We are so surprised by the outpouring of support and are so grateful! Thanks for all the pizza! We will post pictures soon!!

    In fact, so many pizzas showed up, the mother had to post a follow-up saying in lieu of pizza, of which they were being inundated with, to send donations instead:

    Hazel’s mom here! Thank you all so much for the pizza! We have had at least 20 boxes and they are still coming. The 4th floor is stuffed! The hospital has asked that we stop the deliveries because it has gotten out of hand, but please know we are so grateful for the outpouring of support! If you would still like to help/donate, please go to our donation site at talbertfamilyfoundation.org and click on Hazel!!! Thanks again!!!!

    Over at the family blog, the mother wrote a warm, thankful post that also demonstrated the power of social media. The post also features additional pictures, complete with Hazel enjoying some delicious pizza, which is one of the most heartwarming things I’ve ever seen.

    (H/t to Laughing Squid)

  • Golden Corral Can Thank Reddit for This Bad PR Buffet [UPDATED]

    Golden Corral Can Thank Reddit for This Bad PR Buffet [UPDATED]

    Today’s going to be a long day for the public relations team for the Golden Corral restaurant chain. Thanks to some front page prominence on Monday morning’s reddit news cycle, the company is going to have to deal with some pretty disgusting sanitation issues depicted in a few YouTube videos and a series of images posted to the site.

    Posted within a few hours of each other, both a set of images depicting the dishwashing stations at a Golden Corral and a YouTube video showing some unsanitary food practices shot the the top of the front page.

    The images, posted with the title “Just an average day for a Golden Corral Employee, best working conditions ever,” show a kitchen in disarray – with trash and dishes stacked up everywhere.

    “This is how the Golden Corral I worked at was every single day. I feel like more people should see these pics,” says one commenter.

    “I used to work at a Golden Corral in Kentucky and I can confirm this. Ours never got quite that bad but it was still pretty nasty,” says another.

    Alone, these pictures might have been overlooked. But when combined with these videos that just emerged – well, it’s looking like an all-you-can-eat PR nightmare for Golden Corral. There’s even a new subreddit for tracking all the Golden Corral drama. Yes, r/goldencorral now exists.

    YouTube users Ben Jammin actually uploaded these videos earlier this month, but they just found their way to reddit late Sunday night.

    “Apparently, what my company likes to do to get ready for inspections, is put their food by the dumpsters,” says the Golden Corral employee in the video.

    “I’m an employee here, I’ve been working here for a long time – and I don’t feel that this is right.”

    In a followup video, our little Edward Snowden of Golden Corral laments what is happening, expressing concern over the future of his job:

    According to the YouTube uploader, the employee in the video made repeated attempts to turn in statements to management.

    “It’s been over a week now since this has been brought to corporate attention, I contacted the volusia county health dept…..they dont handle it….they gave me a number and a persons name…..said to ask for them in person……the operator didnt know who i was talkin about and didnt seem to care,” they say.

    Golden Corral has yet to respond to any of this on their social media accounts or on their corporate page. But it’ll only be a matter of time, as these images and videos are still holding sway over reddit and are beginning to spread around to other corners of the web.

    If they take their cues from other restaurants that have been “exposed” for unsanitary practices by internet investigators or poor social media decisions (think Taco Bell, KFC, Burger King), Golden Corral will probably just fire whoever was involved and issue a public apology. We’ll have to wait and see how this one turns out.

    UPDATE 1: Golden Corral is beginning to respond on YouTube in the comments section of the above videos:

    “None of these items were served to a single customer. All food items were destroyed within the hour at the direction of management.
    1. Brandon Huber, the employee who made this video, participated in the disposal of the food.
    2. The following day, the father of the employee, posted an offer to sell the video for $5,000, which was not accepted.
    3. The manager involved in the improper storage was terminated for failing to follow approved food handling procedures”

    UPDATE 2: They’re also posting comments to Facebook and Twitter now:

    [via reddit]

  • Six Percent Of American Adults Use Reddit, Shows Study

    Six Percent Of American Adults Use Reddit, Shows Study

    Reddit is huge. Need proof? How about a recent Pew study that said 6 percent of all online American adults use the site.

    The study, which was published today by the Pew Research Center’s Internet and American Life Project, is the first from Pew to specifically look into Reddit. The results of the study won’t exactly surprise you if you spend any amount of time on the site.

    Aside from the 6 percent total, the study found that males predominantly use the site. Fifteen percent of male Internet users aged 18-29 professed to use Reddit where as only 5 percent of females in the same demographic said they used the site. The difference in gender becomes less pronounced in older demographics, but it’s still mostly males who use the site.

    Overall, men are twice as likely as women to be reddit users, those under 50 are significantly more likely to use reddit than those 50 or older, and the site is much more common among urban and suburban residents than among those living in rural areas. Indeed, just 2% of internet users ages 50 and older—and 2% of rural residents—say they use the site.

    Six Percent Of American Adults Are Redditors

    So, what’s the big takeaway from this? Reddit is a pretty big deal. The site has recently come into prominence after President Obama did an AMA last year, and more recently, the fallout from the Boston Marathon bombings investigation. Reddit is also frequently referenced on our site, and many others, which undoubtedly helps introduce the site to more people.

    Now, the next step in all of this should be to see how much time American adults spend on Reddit. We might get some hilariously depressing statistics about how much time people are really spending time online.

  • Lawrence Lessig Discusses Political Reform At Reddit

    Lawrence Lessig Discusses Political Reform At Reddit

    If you are a fan of either enjoying or creating YouTube mashups with content developed by another artist to your heart’s fair-use content, Lawrence Lessig is a person you should really be aware of. Lessig is, perhaps, the most credentialed and articulate individuals regarding the freedom of expression, especially the kind expression the Internet allows. Aside from being a professor at Harvard, the outspoken scholar is also the founder of Creative Commons, and is a renowned expert on issues regarding copyright and trademark laws. Aside from being a champion of creative entities like Girl Talk, Lessig is also something of a political watchdog who actively speaks out against the current climate of US politicians following the money when it comes to enacting policy.

    The culmination of Lessig’s ideas concerning how to stem the tide of special interests groups–ones with deep pockets that are full of cash–was demonstrated during a recent TED Talk that focused on political corruption:


    The next step in Lessig’s spread-the-word campaign was to conduct a Reddit AMA (ask me anything), that, as of this writing, is still going on. The decision to court Reddit’s audience is a wise on by Lessig, especially when you consider just how outspoken Reddit’s audience can be. For instance, if you don’t think the incredibly negative feedback from Reddit concerning the upcoming Xbox One didn’t influence Microsoft’s decision to eliminate many of DRM features that the outcry was focusing on, you probably aren’t keeping up.

    Word of mouth is still a powerful tool, and underestimating the influence of one of the web’s most popular sites, a site that features an incredibly outspoken following, is foolish.

    With that in mind, it makes perfect sense for Lessig to address a group that is largely comprised of like-minded individuals. Furthermore, Lessig was a huge supporter of the deceased Aaron Swartz. As indicated, the focus of Lessig’s visit was discussion surrounding how to combat corrupt politics.

    Some examples:

    werddrew 22 points 59 minutes ago
    I see money in politics being a “chicken and the egg” problem. The legislators who would have to pass the law getting money out of politics are the legislators who got in place by being good gaming the “money in politics” system.
    How the heck do you even START to address a problem this deeploy rooted? I imagine you acknowledge this issue, since the name of your organization is “root strikers.” Is there a practical step beyond “awareness” that can be taken?

    lessig 24 points 50 minutes ago
    Awareness is the gasoline. Spread it broadly, and a tiny spark can ignite change. (Hey, not so bad for on the fly…) And look at states where a similar change was made: Activists in Connecticut spent years pushing that issue, spreading awareness. And when the governor was convicted for corruption, change happened.

    And:

    pixelperfect3 21 points 58 minutes ago
    You advocate in your book that congressmen should be paid much more than what they are right now (about $175,000/year). How much do you think they should be paid to make them lose the incentive to become a lobbyist? Does 250-300k sound better?

    lessig 35 points 47 minutes ago
    Oh please don’t out me on this. Ok, but DON’T TELL ANYONE I SAID THIS: They are lawmakers. Why aren’t they paid as much as a first year partner at a DC firm? In Singapore, gov’t ministers get paid $1 million a year. Where is corruption in Singapore. NO-where.

    As indicated, the AMA looks like it is still active, with Lessig answering the following question about 4-5 minutes ago, Rbob48: “favorite cereal?” Lessig: “unprocessed oats.” There may still be time to get your questions in, if you hurry.

  • Restore The Fourth Is Your July Fourth Protest Against The NSA

    Restore The Fourth Is Your July Fourth Protest Against The NSA

    Does the NSA violate the Fourth Amendment with its data collection programs? A secret FISA court doesn’t think so, but plenty of Internet companies and civil rights organizations do. That’s why they’re planning a nationwide protest on the biggest four of the year.

    A collection of Internet companies – like Reddit, Mozilla and Worpress – alongside a number of civil rights organizations – ACLU, EFF, etc – are joining together to launch Restore the Fourth. The group, according to its Web site, is “a grassroots, non-partisan, non-violent movement that seeks to organize and assemble nationwide protests on July 4th, 2013.” The protests will be officially taking place in over 100 cities across the nation, but they encourage others to join in as well.

    As for the group’s demands, they’re surprisingly simple:

  • 1. Enact reform this Congress to Section 215 of the USA PATRIOT Act, the state secrets privilege, and the FISA Amendments Act to make clear that blanket surveillance of the Internet activity and phone records of any person residing in the U.S. is prohibited by law and that violations can be reviewed in adversarial proceedings before a public court;
  • 2. Create a special committee to investigate, report, and reveal to the public the extent of
    this domestic spying. This committee should create specific recommendations for legal
    and regulatory reform to end unconstitutional surveillance;
  • 3. Hold accountable those public officials who are found to be responsible for this
    unconstitutional surveillance.

    • For more information on the prostests and to see if one is happening near you, check out Restore the Fourth’s handy database and related subreddit. You may also want to check out the resources page if you plan on putting up posters or handing out pamphlets at any of these protests.

    If you want another NSA protest movement that doesn’t require you to leave the house, check out stopwatching.us.

    [h/t: PCWorld]