Can Reddit Federate? Should It? (lemmyunchained.net)

submitted 1 year ago by LachlanUnchained@lemmyunchained.net to c/lemmyworld@lemmy.world

45 comments fedilink hide all child comments

Hey all,

I was just listening to the Lex Fridman podcast where Mark Zuckerberg mentioned Meta’s plans for a federated platform. It got me wondering: Could Reddit follow that path too?

Are there technical or financial obstacles that might prevent this? More importantly, should Reddit even consider this move? Would it be a win or a loss for us, the users, and for internet culture in general? Keen to hear your thoughts on this!

(I’m a recent Reddit refugee, fed up with the situation over there. Found Lemmy searching for info on homelab during the blackout. Found all the main things I need here. And the community is great. Like Reddit used to be. Can’t see myself going back)

you are viewing a single comment's thread
view the rest of the comments

[-] Hypx@kbin.social 6 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago)

It is likely impossible because it would mean that the investors will have "lost." There won't ever be a way to make meaningful amounts of money off of Reddit if they did that. Anyone could just move to a less ad-ridden version of Reddit and just see Reddit posts from there. In fact, this is the very fight that Reddit is waging over its API access. So no, Reddit is likely to die off and be replaced by something else. And that something else can never be a big money maker.

[-] LachlanUnchained@lemmyunchained.net 1 points 1 year ago

I’m more thinking what they can rescue from a. Sinking ship.

Some money may be better than none.

I don’t know if they owe people a heap of money, but it appears more corporate greed.

You can monetise the fediverse. It just takes investment and innovation.

Reddit is likely a cash cow right now.

[-] ContentConsumer9999@kbin.social 1 points 1 year ago

Maybe they could try to make instances pay to not be defederated from it.

[-] LachlanUnchained@lemmyunchained.net 1 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago)

I couldn’t see that eventuating. But I could see myself paying to be part of a particular server. Kinda like a tax. But yeh. I can’t see it getting to a point that they could force you to stay.