Paywalled Subreddits Are Coming to Reddit and I’m Worried

Reddit’s open, community-first nature has allowed it to see exponential growth over the years, hitting a 54% year-on-year growth in Q2 2024, to be specific. However, Reddit’s recent Q2 2024 earnings call has me worried, big time. From the looks of it, Reddit is probably working to introduce “exclusive” content to the platform, that may be locked behind a paywall.

The Scary Reddit Cannibalization

Reddit CEO Steve Huffman, during the earnings call, talked about how every time Reddit has explored new avenues, it has only further expanded and that they’ve “not seen it cannibalize existing Reddit.”

He gives the example of Reddit allowing users to host images, which was not the case before its 2016 era. And, yes, I agree that it was a solid way to modernize the platform. But, what worried me was when Huffman said,

“we will unlock the door for new use cases, new types of subreddits that can be built that may have exclusive content or private areas, things of that nature.”

I don’t know about opening new doors, but it sure does sound like a big door being closed in the face of future free Reddit users. Subreddits are the heart of the platform, and making it exclusive will only cause the platform’s collaborative spirit to take a big hit.

Exclusivity That No One Asked For

There will undoubtedly be a digital divide between free and paid Reddit subreddit users on the platform due to this very exclusivity. Not to mention that, while Huffman sees this “as an opportunity of expansion as opposed to one that is going to cannibalize the existing Reddit”, it will most likely have the opposite effect.

We’re not talking about introducing a new feature here. We’re talking about limiting an “open” platform to users. Are the CEOs in a race to see who annihilates their platform the fastest (*coughs* Elon)?

Huffman thinks that

“the existing altruistic-free version of Reddit will continue to exist and grow and thrive just the way it has.”

Reddit’s Q2 2024 results displayed a staggering 50% year-on-year user growth, with the revenue increased by 54% to $281.2 million, which is more than double that of last year.

These numbers are enticing, and I see why Reddit is fixated on further growing economically. But, with paid subreddits on Reddit, won’t most users bid adieu to the platform anyway? The user conversations on Reddit’s Subreddits are the true treasure here, which is allowing the platform to see such growth. So, that’s something that should be protected.

If Reddit has sustained throughout all those years without this much revenue, I think they can do away with not imposing paywalls at the cost of seeing reasonable growth.

Not to mention that exclusive content is going to be very hard to compartmentalize and filter out from regular content. Which means that Reddit moderators will have a tough time keeping the platform together.

Some Good Out of It

In addition to it all, Huffman has also stated that,

“We’re working towards enabling monetization within the developer platform to empower our users to create and earn money on the platform this year.”

That’s some great news for all those Reddit creators who have been actively at it for years now. Huffman has stated that he’ll share more about this in “the coming quarters,” which is when we’ll get to know the exact monetization plans.

Things Are Already Not Looking Too Good

The Subreddit dedicated to this move by Reddit already has users talking about “It’s about time I was done with Reddit anyway,” and “Imagine paying for Reddit.” Not to mention that someone even mockingly talks about the rise of new Reddit alternatives.

“Do it, kill the site, so we can go to better websites finally,” one user says. It will also allow popular alternatives like Lemmy and Kbin to further thrive and expand, as Reddit users jump ship. I guess the Reddit makers need to be reminded that they’re not the only such platform in the world.

Reddit is also set to introduce AI Search later this year, which is an odd move as well. Especially, considering that a Search God like Google had to roll back on their similar AI Overview feature.

I don’t know where the platform is headed, but I sure as hell won’t pay for Subreddits on Reddit. What about you? What do you think about this potentially alarming move? Drop your thoughts in the comments down below!