Reddit’s blockchain-based “Community Points” tokens crash after sunsetting
arstechnica.com
Tokens based on subreddit reputation saw dips over 85% after the announcement.

Reddit’s blockchain-based “Community Points” rewards crash after sunsetting::Tokens based on subreddit reputation saw dips over 85% after the announcement.

  • ChunkMcHorkle@lemmy.worldEnglish
    121·
    1 year ago

    It’s indisputable they failed to think this through, but did Reddit make any money off the attempt alone?

    Is this entire switch to blockchain and then abruptly stopping it a net loss, or a minor, short-term net gain?

    Serious question, because while I have a general understanding of what blockchain is, the whole who benefits/who loses and how that happens thing has become far too complex for me to really follow, so I’m hoping someone here can tell me.

    Also, they didn’t shut it ALL down, apparently there are still some rubes to be fleeced via blockchain:

    Notably, Reddit’s NFT marketplace was not targeted for closure.

    So. Net loss? Net gain? Neutral? What’s your best guess, and why?

    • Eiim@lemmy.blahaj.zoneEnglish
      6·
      1 year ago

      Likely only Reddit can say. I don’t think Reddit was ever trying to make money off Community Points directly (in contrast to their NFTs), but rather to boost engagement. Whether or not it did, and by enough to offset the costs of starting and maintaining the system, we’ll likely never know.

      • banneryear1868@lemmy.worldEnglish
        2·
        1 year ago

        I think it really boosted the worst kind of engagement. I found a whole spam network there modded by a single egomaniac who spent their whole life creating subreddits, maintaining different personas on the site, crossposting posts between all their alt accounts and subreddits, to external subs they didn’t control, etc. People who noticed spammy behavior were silenced and many who spoke out were harassed by them through false reports or just the person calling them slurs in comment threads. Admins recently banned all their main subs and accounts, but they constantly lost individual alt accounts for this behavior. They still operate smaller subs on the site and behave the exact same way.

    • Roboticide@lemmy.worldEnglish
      4·
      1 year ago

      The belief amongst some is that reddit basically did a rug pull. People could and would buy these crypto points with real money, so reddit likely made money. Odds are it just was not successful outside of niche subreddits, hence:

      Its newer Contributor Program, which rewards users with actual money from the Reddit gold and karma they accrue, is one such example. “Part of why we’re moving past this product is that we’ve already launched, or are actively investing in, several products that accomplish what the Community Points program was trying to accomplish, while being easier to adopt and understand,” Reddit’s director of consumer and product communications, Tim Rathschmidt, told TechCrunch.

      Crypto also hopefully seems to be on the decline, and it’s possible Reddit did not want to appear to be behind the times.