14 DAY TRIAL // Reddit is shifting from its model business and may soon turn into a more social-media-like platform. It all starts with the new profile pages the company is rolling out to users.
The feature is currently in testing only and there are a handful of people who have access to it, but it's only a matter of time before the bugs are squashed and every redditor can enjoy the profiles.
So what are the changes? Well, the testers will have a new profile page design, as well as the ability to make posts directly to their profile, not just communities. Logged-in redditors will be able to follow them.
"We’re making this change because content creators tell us they have a hard time finding the right place to post their content. We also want to support them in being able to grow their own followers (similar to how communities can build subscribers). We’ve been working very closely with mods in a few communities to make sure the product will not negatively impact our existing communities. These mods have provided incredibly helpful feedback during the development process, and we are very grateful to them. They are the ones that helped us select the first batch of test users," reads the announcement.
Big changes
So what do these profiles look like? Well, they're quite familiar if you've been on any kind of social media in your life. There's a profile picture, a description and a background picture, as well as a full list of their posts. Unlike Facebook, Twitter and others, there's no followers number displayed. Instead, there's the Karma number in clear view.
This is an effort to push Reddit another step further by encouraging users to think of the platform as a place to put their creations, to engage with fans, and more.
Users fear that the future of Reddit will be a mix of Facebook and Twitter, and that's not something they want. The biggest issue seems to be the ability to create subreddits for themselves. Over the years, the platform has remained somewhat immune to efforts to push news, marketing campaigns or general self promotion. With the new changes, redditors fear this will only open the door to those who want to advertise in disguise.
Given the strong feelings many have on this topic, it remains to be seen whether this particular addition will make it out of beta testing or not.