Reddit to pay top contributors for popular posts

Reddit says paying its top contributors for popular posts will be first implemented in the US.

File photo: Reddit logo

Reddit to pay users for top posts

According to a BBC report, Reddit made the announcement this week. Implementation started in the US on Tuesday.

Revenue will be split with people awarded "gold" by other users, who pay a fee. Gold awards will range in price from USD1.99 (around PHP 113) to USD 49 (around PHP 2,795), with users receiving as much as half of that.

Redditors usually join a variety of subreddits, a forum within Reddit where a group of people gather to discuss a particular interest. Users then see posts of these subreddits on their feeds.

Gold was originally like a virtual reward for posts or comments that people liked.

A user could pay a nominal fee to give another user gold, but this would have no real-world value.

The announcement received mixed reactions from Redditors.

I think Reddit had to find a way to reward its most valuable users," said social media expert Matt Navarra. To incentivize top creators, you need to provide opportunities for them to generate an income, either by paying them directly, or by giving them tools to generate an income from their fans.

However, he warned about the risk of paying people with real money as this can affect the kind of content that will be popular on the platform. He made X's (formerly Twitter) ad revenue.

This incentives X users to post content that sparks the most replies, and the characteristics of content that typically generates the most replies is content that is divisive, polarising, provocative, and controversial... exactly the sort of content that brands do not want to have their ads placed amongst, he pointed out.

This has been problematic for Elon Musk, and it could become a new problem for Reddit's founders too, he added.

What do you think about this?

Via: BBC