Six Ways Reddit can be successful in the next 10 Years

Reddit Turns 20

Reddit is going to be turning 20 years this month. For a Silicon Valley startup, this is an incredible amount of time to be around on the internet. Many startup companies tend to disappear under the weight of too high expectations, or they simply run out of money and the party is over. This was very common after early 2000 when so many promising Internet companies that boasted about changing the world, ended up failing and only a couple resilient ones such as Amazon and Google were left picking up the pieces to build a better Internet ecosystem that would be sustainable.

I have been using Reddit for more 10 years now. It is a great tool that has become an essential part of the internet. Much like Etsy which was founded in the same month 20 years ago, Reddit could be said to be about making the Internet “Human Again”. It is all about the human interactions in the most idealistic view when one looks at this site.

However, it is still a company that needs to make somehow to justify having all these servers to store your and other’s information on the internet.

Reddit refuses to grow up and start adulting

However, the site is at a crossroads now.

The site seems like it is successful now, but that is largely because of the company’s ability to hide its decay with hidden means.

The userbase is now filled with bots and spam. While there are still are many devoted users who attempt to improve the site with user content, it clear that AI generated users and content is moving into the site. They are basically setting up shop and there isn’t much being done to improve the site. In many ways, the neglect is quite noticeable here. Entire subreddits fester with spam and bots and yet the reporting tool basically is on autopilot. Users complain but nothing seems to change and the people in charge talk about how the site is growing and it continues to get bigger. This arrogance is typical of many Silicon Valley startups, especially ones that are even attempting adulting into a more mature company that will make actual money on actual products which have worth.

The question is one has to ask the creators of Reddit is: How serious are they about the site?

The issue with many internet startups is that time marches on and institutions age. Reddit needs to grow up and not remain the teenager it once was in the mid 2000s.

Etsy in many ways is going through the same change and many of the older userbase does not like it. However, the economies of scale demand a certain amount of standardization and movement away from certain mentalities that made that company special in that particular niche. However, what is important is that Etsy still believes in “Making Commerce Human”. It has had to adapt to an ecommerce market where Temu and Shein are getting a lot of market share.

Reddit is still not making that change. While the site may still have a huge presence on the internet, the company may see itself being outmatched by other, newer sites.

What does Reddit Need to be successful in the next 10 Years

1. Reddit needs structure

Earlier in the 2010s, probably about a decade ago, the site got alot more attention than now. This is mainly because of the controversies revolving around the displaying of explicit images without consent of users.

However, the site has largely become essentially a cheat code for journalists who no longer want to leave their offices to actually write stories.

Even on YouTube, there are many users who have made money on just reading a subreddit and using the drama on them to make content for their channels.

In comparison to Facebook, Reddit seems like it is stuck in the 1990s. While it is a Web 2.0 site, its sensibilities are more of the 1990s because of the chaotic nature of the site and its users.

Right now, what is Reddit really about now?

To me, the site is filled with spam and low effort posting by many.

Reddit needs to be more than just advertising revenue. It seems like every site that is huge these days relies on advertising. However, Google moved towards cloud storage. So did Microsoft and Amazon. However, what is Reddit going to do when the advertising money starts drying up? The site is still acting like its the renegade when it has grown up and it is time to start taking responsiblities.

2. Reddit needs to start introducing paywalls.

I think that the site is pretty secure in its userbase. However, I think its time for the website to introduce some new features that will encourage better engagement on the site.

The site began with high-minded intentions. There was this view that just allowing for free speech meant low quality speech was allow to stuff the entire digital ecosystem.

The Reddit site is basically the eBay of social conversation. When eBay began in 1995, it relied heavily on people using the site’s servers to start their own shops. However, Reddit is heavily reliant on advertising to continue the site’s growth. When the site was new, it could rely on people just hoping that it would make money.

The company is apparently making money with ads and renting out its huge information stores to search engines. For example, Google often uses the site in its AI overviews.

However, it is clear that paywalls need to start going up on the site.

Paywalls will probably only be used by a couple of subreddits. Which reedits would use paywalls? It is hard to say. The most likely subreddits would be investing subreddits. There will still be some free subreddits, but investing has become more popular on Reddit in recent years, and I think the company is probably going to monetize that market as those people tend to have more money than the average American citizen.

The introduction of such paywalls could also be seen on sponsored subreddits by big companies.

Another area that could be monetized are news subreddits. Some newspapers in local areas which have been struggling since 2008. One particular way that these local newspapers can revive themselves to focus less on print, They need to refocus on websites and apps. Of course, another approach is by having a subreddit which can serve as a website for local newspapers or even bigger newspapers. Unlike Facebook, Reddit is more intimate in its community while Facebook is biased towards national issues rather than local or regional issues.

Paywalls would go a long way to giving Reddit more reliable income than just relying on advertising revenue on the site.

3. Allow Users to change moderators

This is a big issue on Reddit. Many moderators are not even known by the userbase and have complete control of their various subreddits.

There is very little ability to change anyone trying to ban you or remove your posts on the site.

This has meant that moderators on the site are acting in ways that chill conversations on those subreddits. These moderators on some sites are necessary in my opinion. However, even on those sites, there is little ability to understand how you have violated some rules. To many users on Reddit, it is arbitrary to see moderators just removing posts. Even if you follow rules on these subreddits, these moderators are simply removing everything they do not like even when it is the most inoffensive thing.

Such tyranny on these subreddits is one of the reasons that Reddit has become increasingly more aligned in the areas of circles of political persuasions. There is not much connection or conversations between the groups who have differing views.

With moderators on political subreddits and even local subreddits putting their biased views on the internet, it is tough to have spaces where you can have moderators who are constantly getting in the way of reasonable talks on the site.

4. Reddit needs to update its interface

Reddit’s interface was once charming, but it isn’t anymore. In many ways, it is getting in the way of the site being able to convey information in a concise way to the users.

Web 1.0 was a time of static webpages and lots of blinking GIFS and annoying JPEGSs. Reddit’s site is a mixture of Web 1.0 and Web 2.0. However, the spirit of the site is still a Web 1.0 site. While one does get dynamic updates when one gets message from users and notifications, the desktop website is lagging behind the mobile app. In many ways, the desktop side of things has been put on the back burner in favor of the mobile app here.

The site needs to more like Facebook and shed its Web 1.0 roots. While I love the design of Web 1.0 sites, it is better on sites that are smaller in scale. With the rise of the economics of scale, Web 2.0 makes more sense than a bunch of static web pages and contradicting web standards and styles.

Reddit’s stagnation in this style has been a detriment to the site’s identity. It is unable to change and is basically stuck in the mid 2000s.

While Reddit has a strong community, it is clear that without pivoting to a new interface, it may face an issue that Facebook is currently facing, which is an aging userbase that seeks to get away from social media. Reddit is heavily dependent on its original userbase of tech geeks and nerds to keep it going. However, as time goes on and we see the rise of alternate platforms such as Tik Tok and Poshmark and Lemon8, Reddit may find itself simply outdated and relying on too small of an audience to support a big site.

5. Revamp the User creation process

Right now, the creation of a user on Reddit is simply too easy. Many people do not take much effort into creating their users, creating many burner accounts and moving from one account to another.

What the site needs right now is a great accountability as well as more modifications to allow for users to truly embrace their avatars.

There is a lot of chaos on Reddit, and much that of that stem from its inability to truly invest in its users.

The anonymity of Reddit works better for a small forum rather than a site which is trying to be a global forum for the world and every conceivable culture. Reddit is stuck with a style which is 1990s in its nature here.

6. The site needs to stop being used as Search Engine Crutch

Reddit has the risk of diluting its brand by attaching it to AI generators. If people, simply get the answers on the search engines, then what is the point of Reddit?

Reddit cannot be simply reduced to an answer engine now. Before ChatGPT, Reddit would have had people travel to their site in order to get answers. Google’s search quality was getting worse, and people began typing in “their question and Reddit”. This would work for a time but one has to remember many of these answers were not checked nor did you have any idea that the response in the search result would actually lead to anything here.

Another issue with using Reddit being used as the appendage of Google is of link rot, which shows the fragility of cyberspace. The issue is that websites require tons of maintenance and sometimes links can no longer operate.

The issue compounds itself when the internet has major shifts what technologies are used to bring cyberspace to life.

Flash was removed from the internet and so many sites ended failing and being unsable.

Reddit will have this issue as time continues to go on.

However, the threat of ChatGPT and other LLMs is pretty big for Reddit. Their Reddit Answers tab is rather mediocre and useless in a sense as it is not very well integrated into the site.

The ability to just ask questions to LLMs will take away traffic away from many sites. This is the same thing that happened with Wikipedia’s rise and how it took traffic away from many sites.

Reddit needs to move away from releasing their information to search engines build communities. Ads will still be there; they should try to put paywalls or have subscriptions for specific interests that go beyond removing the ads. With AI rising on the internet, the userbase of Reddit is going to start shrinking and people will notice it. That is why it is important that Reddit pivots now so that it does not make late actions that will help the site.

Tainted Grail: The Fall of Avalon and return of female beauty in Video Games

It is clear that the beauty of female characters in video games is having something of a renaissance now. There has been a movement away from having nice looking women in video games. Artists in the video game industry are not shying away from showing the female form. The Polish Gaming scene has always been open with depicting women, as can been seen in the famous Witcher games.

In the screenshot above, you can clearly see that political correctness is not governing the design of characters.

Compare this to how Oblivion Remastered ended up changing the look of the female characters and their clothing styles.

One can clearly see the inspiration in the interface of Tainted Grail. However, it is clear that the game is allowing for more skin to be showing in the game.

Some YouTubers have made comparison videos of the graphics between the original version and the new version. I saw that some of the female outfits and armor had been changed as to show less skin or to be less suggestive.

Such changes have been trending awhile in Bethesda.

Fallout 3 had many references to sexuality and yet its sequel basically hid it underneath the companions.

Oblivion and Skyrim were basically sexless games while Morrowind had even less sexuality in comparison to the earlier Elder Scrolls Games. Daggerfall and Arena were products of 1990s culture looking back at the 1980s Fantasy craze and putting them into games.

Tainted Grail is not going to have huge amounts of sexuality in it. One of the prominent screenshots for the game on Steam shows a woman with her belly button exposed. She is holding a huge sword over her shoulder. This is a combination of beauty and brawn all in one image.

Why Civilization VII is worse than Civilization VI.

It is quite clear now that Civilization VII is going to be dark age of the Civilization franchise. Considering how successful it has been over the past 30 years, the stumbling of Civilization VII probably hurts the franchise more now than if it had happened with the earlier sequels.

Civilization as a franchise has been seen as a titan in its own genre. However, there is always a time where a franchise ends up unable to balance innovation with a respect for people who spent hours playing and the vibrant modding scene that helped breathe life into these games. The obsession with optimizing gameplay is one of the reasons why the AAA gaming space is in decline and independent companies are being handed the torch by customers who want quality games that are not just content on a screen.

Civilization III always felt more like a Civ game than any of the games after Civ IV. In this screenshot above you can see how the game tried to simulate diplomacy has having more than just leaders speak at each other. The foreign advisor gave very useful information about military strength, cultural strength and resources available for sale.

The early Civilization games were more than just painting a map. They were about building a civilization with warts and all.

In the 1990s, due to the genre being smaller and more niche, gamers could be more forgiving of errors. However, the genre has many more casual fans who paradoxically want more sophistication in games but not too much. Firaxis has a great issue here. They either cut budgets and focus on a smaller audience or increase budgets to AAA levels and end up alienating the hardcore fanbase that keeps the games vibrant and profitable beyond the initial releases.

As the cost of making games increases, there is more of a need for game companies to sell out to the mainstream.

The mainstream is not really interested in highbrow games and really only tolerate them if they are worth their interest at the start. The hardcore fans are willing to stay with a game and even improve it if it is not meeting their expectations.

However, there comes a breaking point where hardcore fans are unwilling to accept mediocrity passing off as excellence.

Civilization VII proves true the axiom; beauty is only skin deep. The woman above in the screenshot is probably too well dressed for an Ancient Japanese woman in the Jomon era but Civilization VII’s developers spent more time with aesthetics rather than making a functional game. A game is not a Tech Demo, which is mainly about the aesthetics. It is something to be used actively by the player not just looked at like a painting on a wall in my opinion.

Civilization VII was basically ignoring the hardcore fans in favor of going after the casual fans. This explains why Firaxis was wasting their time with making a VR version of Civilization VII when they haven’t even improved the gameplay in the PC version of the game.

Meta’s Quest 3 is not a piece of hardware made for Civilization VII. Whatever version of Civilization VII they have for the Quest 3, it is a novelty item just like the Power Glove and the Virtua Boy for the Nintendo. There is no reason for why the game is on this platform especially so soon after the release of the game in February.

Why Civilization VI is surpassing Civilization VII on Steam?

There is a simple reason why the game is doing so poorly on Steam. It isn’t a worthy successor to the sixth game. Having the name “Civilization” on the title isn’t enough to sell a game now. You need to earn the respect of the gamers who made Civilization what it is. The man who played a Civilization II for so many years is the type of player who keeps games that came out that early in public consciousness.

Who is going to be playing a 15 year old game of Civilization VII? The movement away from sandbox gameplay is one of the reasons why people are not staying with this game.

The sixth game had its issues, but it had its fanbase that was willing to support it. Civilization VI peaked at about 160,000 players when it came out. In comparison, Civilization VII was only able to get about slightly above 84,000 players. Civilization VII was also being surpassed by Civilization VI numbers quickly after its release.

Civilization VI released in October 2016. It still the most popular and successful of all the Civilization games. I show you this screenshot of the Hanging Gardens of Babylon wonder to emphasize how this game in spite of its flaws was well made.

Civilization V and Civilization V were similar enough to synergize with one another. Civilization VII, in its pursuit of being different to distract from its own quality issues, is simply not appealing to enough new fans for it to stand on its own.

Civilization VI has been pretty strong in its player count since the release of Civ 7. It has been hovering around 30,000 players on the weekends. Civilization VII has basically disappeared from the grouping of top games. For such a heavyweight as the Civilization franchise, not being in the top games is a cause for concern. The Civilization games have been dominating the charts for many years and yet it seems to have run out of creative juices. The emergence of some competitors such as Humankind and Millenia.

The company who made Civilization VII has to understand that the standards are not the same. Instead of attempting to meet the challenge, they decided to hide the game under glossy advertising and music.

As much as Firaxis may want to spend their time thinking otherwise, Civilization VII is not doing so well right now. This is the time for bold action not doubling down on what is not working right now.

Why is Civilization VI better than Civilization VII?

In my opinion, Civilization VI’s Trajan vs Civilization VII’s Augustus is a clear sign of how quality was declining with the most recent release.

The answer is quite simple. Civilization VI is focused on making the fans happy rather than making a game which is only seen to prop up the company. Civilization VII seems like a game that was made for people who dislike Civilization games and that was an error in the how they were approaching the development of this game.

We should not have an issue with people not finishing their games. That should be the main interest of someone making a sequel to one of the most beloved franchises in gaming history. They should focus on making the game fun, not focusing on problems that on the player not the person making the game.

Civilization VII’s problem: Not letting people not finish a game

Sometimes allowing a game to not be finished are the stories that are worth telling about it.

Civilization II famously had a player who spent years playing a game where it became engulfed in war and conflict. This was a game that was released in the PlayStation One era and yet it was still captivating many people. Unlike Civilization VII, I believe that many of the previous Civilization games, will continue to get praise in the years to come.

Civilization VII represents the dark age of a once great series.