ALLi News Editor, Dan Holloway
From time to time, people will say something about Reddit and I will think “is that still a thing?” A bit like Tumblr. Or Scribd (both, indeed, still things). And it turns out that yes, the site that is in many ways the ancient grandee of social sharing sites is very much still a thing. So much so that it has, after almost two decades, finally announced that it is holding an IPO (Initial Public Offering). That is, Reddit will soon be a publicly traded company and you can buy shares in it.
The site is synonymous with online creative content. Its many notorious subreddits felt like a hothouse of creative anarchy loved and hated in equal measure. And while it has felt in the shadow of the likes of TikTok and Instagram, its importance and influence have persisted through those subreddit communities. Most notably in recent history r/wallstreetbets achieved notoriety for birthing the Gamestop fracas which saw amateur investors using apps like Robin Hood to push up the value of shares in the beleaguered video game retailer, spreading chaos through the world of hedge funds. Interestingly that particular subreddit was cited as a risk in the paperwork accompanying the IPO.
Substack
Talking of controversial creative platforms, the newsletter site Substack has announced new features. Many journalists and longform non fiction writers have taken to the platform as a way of interacting directly with their readers in the current troubled landscape of journalism.
The latest feature will allow people with a newsletter to curate a “network” of fellow Substackers to recommend to their subscribers. The way I understand it, when you subscribe to someone’s Substack, you will be offered the option of subscribing to the writers they recommend at the same time. This is being marketed as a way for writers with a platform to spread the love, rather like YouTubers who have colleagues on their channel to give them a boost. A cynic might wonder if this will lead to, shall we say, mutually beneficial arrangements around those sponsorships.
I don’t have much cash to pay them, so it’s my way of paying it forward but this is very valuable post for new comers
The Substack feature has been live for some time. I make sure to promote those people whose words I live to receive every week. I don’t have much cash to pay them, so it’s my way of paying it forward. Particularly those who do so much to raise the injustices and apartheid Palestine has faced for sixty years (many of those I follow are Jewish peace protestors and heroes). To the commenter above: the opposite of Nazis! Overall Substack is a great platform. I’m so glad I left Mailchimp. I now feel like part of a community rather than a cog in a marketing machine.
Countdown to Substack-endorsed Nazi networks! Mega gross!
Investing in Reddit in 2024 seems about as astute a move as investing in Myspace or Friendster anytime in the last decade. Whatever value it once had is already badly eroded, and it’s not going to get better.