Read all about it at the above link. There’s way too much to process here. This is going to be wild.

  • 👍Maximum Derek👍@discuss.tchncs.de
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    Community Points are the first step towards a better future for online communities. In order to be truly independent from platforms like Reddit, communities need to be owned by their members in ways that platforms cannot take away. With the advent of blockchain technology, we now have a way to establish this freedom in a decentralized and secure way.

    The way to be independent of Reddit is by having a token on a blockchain maintained by Reddit?

      • Hitchie_Rawtin@lemmy.world
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        1 year ago

        They’ve updated their preview feature TOS as recently as last month to push forward with avatars and community points, I reckon they’re just biding time to sync it with the next bull run to maximise value and heighten chance of seeming like they have genius cutting edge foresight.

        Link here, specifically 5.1

        The bottom of that’s also funny because it makes it clear their smart contract is permissioned and if they don’t like what you do with your virtual goods they can remove them from you. Very immutable, wow, such ownership.

        • Fish [Indiana]@midwest.social
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          1 year ago

          Thanks for this! I was having trouble finding anything with a recent date on it related to Community Points.

          That makes me wonder if Reddit is trying to keep this under wraps until release date, so that their remaining userbase doesn’t have another protest. It’s kind of crazy that they have been working on this crypto garbage for three years, yet don’t have the foresight to see that this is going to backfire. Is there anyone, aside from crypto bros., that are even interested in crypto and NFTs anymore?

          “Failure to follow and comply with the above rules may constitute a breach of the Previews Terms and result in a temporary or permanent ban from Reddit or certain subreddits or removal of your access to Reddit Econ Goods.”

          So they can take your coins at any time if they don’t approve of something that you do.

          “By using any Feature, you understand that the Feature may be canceled at any time for any or no reason, in our sole discretion, without advance notice or liability to Reddit. We reserve the right to modify, suspend, or discontinue any Feature (in whole or in part) at any time, with or without notice to you…There will be no refunds if any Feature is no longer usable on or through the Services.”

          Also, they can get rid everyone’s coins at any time without reimbursing them. I hope Community Points will be the final nail in Reddit’s coffin. It would be really funny if Reddit was killed by crypto.

          • Hitchie_Rawtin@lemmy.world
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            1 year ago

            Oh there’s a ton of interest but just kept to shitcoiners for now - the subreddits are nothing like they were during the bear market around 2019, back then it was a ghost town even with a subscriber count of 800k but now they’re still very active due to an influx of millions of users (6m subs on the main shitcoin sub).

            It’ll all likely swing back up in the next two years and become a media and scam frenzy again, then another crash, rinse, repeat.

            Reddit shilling decentralisation and ownership knowing how they’ve acted the last few months is hilarious though, they’ve been prideful of saying “nope you don’t own shit,now fuck off somewhere else” and spez bootlickers have been parroting it endlessly too. Seems odd that they’re the people Reddit are going to have to advertise this… Fauxnership to.

            • Fish [Indiana]@midwest.social
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              I’m not sure if I agree that crypto is going to swing back up, or at least not like it did in 2021. The subreddit may have more than 6 million users, but it doesn’t have any posts in the past week with more than 1000 upvotes. In reality, the crypto subreddit has a smaller userbase than Lemmy. That’s probably not entirely representative of the entire crypto community, but I think that it does indicate that a lot of people have lost interest.

              I’m definitely looking forward to seeing how it all goes down though. Makes me glad I’m on Lemmy now.

              • Hitchie_Rawtin@lemmy.world
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                1 year ago

                It was much worse in 2019, a post hitting over 100-200 was unusual and the comment sections were beyond dead. Most comment sections these days are still filled with hope, in 2019 suicide hotline threads were a weekly occurrence or more.

                We’ll see anyway, the BTC halving has led to a run 3 times in a row so far, just like clockwork. Barring another recession I just see the same pattern forming.

    • MentalEdge@sopuli.xyz
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      1 year ago

      Reading this: are they implementing ActivityPub?

      Blockchain

      Oh sweet lord, no. No, they are not.

      • DrQuint@lemmy.world
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        Like, they’re giving users monopoly money, and try to pass it off as control. Like, the fuck are they gonna do with the monopoly money?

        Plus imagine if users actually believe the monopoly money is important. We’re back on the days of BB Forums where you can make a factual point but oops, you’re level 2 and the forum regular (4506 posts) just called you a cocksucker.

        Edit: Oh god, the moderator wallet thing. They’re letting moderators moderate themselves. This is going to set off a massive amount of infighting as some admins will take the whole wallet and the other moderators will call them out and the seriousness of the whole thing (moderation teams not getting along) will get drowned out with all the people shitposting about fighting for monopoly money.

        This is the stupidest thing I’ve ever read.

      • pelespirit@sh.itjust.works
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        1 year ago

        I think that’s their point, to sound like the Fediverse but is actually a different way for them to get money and control the narrative. They’re also possibly trying to take away shutting down shitty sites “by giving the communities control.”

    • fluxion@lemmy.world
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      So long as you have Reddit Mobile installed since your vault is tied to it

      • ElegantBiscuit@lemm.ee
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        That’s been their mission ever since they bought and killed alien blue and released a pile of shit in its place. They can’t make a good app so have been slowly tying more and more exclusive features to it, and to new Reddit, hoping that this new shiny useless thing that no one asked for or wanted will get people to use it. I think with interest rates rising, their investors are looking for profits higher than t bills and so this trend that has been going on for the past few years is now kicked into overdrive.

  • jeffw@lemmy.world
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    1 year ago

    Step 1. Kick out all the mods from the past 15 years Step 2. Spez temper tantrum Step 3. Give ownership to ??? Mods and content creators??? Or some shit??? Step 4. Pr?f?t???

  • bloopernova@programming.dev
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    1 year ago

    I wonder if whoever wrote that announcement really doesn’t see the irony in what they wrote. Or maybe they do and they secretly hate reddit?

    Either way, lollercoaster. Lollercopter. Lollapalooza.

    • Hubi@feddit.de
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      I’m convinced a lot of admins are not happy with the direction reddit is going. You tend to notice it in little things, like them accidentally using old.reddit.com in their monthly newsletter. I’d love to see the shitshow going on behind the scenes.

    • athos77@kbin.social
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      When I read it, it sounded like they heard everything we were protesting in favor of, harvested all those words, and put it on the press release in order to try to convince some of the people on the edge of breaking free to stay, and maybe entice some of high-karma people who left to come back. All while glossing over that what they’re saying is the exact opposite of what they’re doing.

  • DundariousRedripulin@lemmy.world
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    Damn that’s just strange. Reddits explanation still doesn’t really explain what “community points” actually do. I don’t really get what their angle is with this.

    Why would they do a 180 (from recent policy) and talk about how subreddits should be semi-independent? And are they really planning on making “community points” based off if you moderate and post, rather than paying for them?

    • 1chemistdown@kbin.social
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      Why would they do a 180 (from recent policy) and talk about how subreddits should be semi-independent?

      Well, the just dusted off the group of people who could read and do math. Now they have the people who will do what Reddit wants as long as it sounds okay. “These Are People Of Reddit. The Common Clay Of The New West. You Know… Morons”

    • empireOfLove@lemmy.one
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      Why would they do a 180 (from recent policy) and talk about how subreddits should be semi-independent?

      PR, PR, PR. They have to tell all the little sheep to forget about that noisy kerfuffle and pile of sheared wool down at the end of the paddock. thats all in the past now. Only look forward to the new and shiny there’s nothing else to see, move along! The wolf has your best interest at heart!

  • OsrsNeedsF2P@lemmy.ml
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    1 year ago

    This Reddit coins on a blockchain has been happening for a while. The cryptocurrency subreddit had “Moons” for years now.

    I sold 110k Moons as soon as they came out, nobody tell me how much they’re worth now

  • PolydoreSmith@lemmy.world
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    My god, that copy makes me want to vomit. It reads like it was written by an executive in a coke bender.

    Community Points are the first step towards a better future for online communities. In order to be truly independent from platforms like Reddit, communities need to be owned by their members in ways that platforms cannot take away. With the advent of blockchain technology, we now have a way to establish this freedom in a decentralized and secure way.

    I can almost hear the zoom call they brainstormed this shit in. This is some PragerU level slime. “Crypto Currency will grant users autonomy that they would otherwise never possess!” Right, anything that can’t be bought has no value. Oh THANK YOU for creating this system where everything is tied to crypto, so we can experience real community again! Finally my voice can be heard. Not like that horrible, communistic, voting system that counts every user equally.

  • joelghill@lemmy.ml
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    1 year ago

    Earn points through generating content and moderation? Okay, sure, why not?

    Use those points to weigh votes in community governance? Suuuure, okay I can see how that could be cool.

    The points are on the blockchain? Uh… so what’s stopping rich assholes from buying up points and using their capital to take over communities?

    If the points are non-transferable then I can see the merit of a points system… but then why would you need a blockchain at all? It’s all still a closed off walled garden despite what they are pitching.

    • CheshireSnake@lemdit.com
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      so what’s stopping rich assholes from buying up points and using their capital to take over communities?

      Oh silly boy/girl, that’s exactly why it’s set up that way. :D

      JK. Seriously, though, I doubt reddit cares where the funds come from. Pretty short-sighted to me, tbh. When money takes over, I wonder how redditors will react.

      • jarfil@lemmy.world
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        1 year ago

        Check r/cryptocurrency for a glimpse of future Reddit. So far it’s managed to become a shitpost cesspool.

    • AvaAmazing@lemmy.world
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      Or just create bots to farm community points and then you don’t even have to pay that much at all.

    • redcalcium@lemmy.institute
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      This system basically encourages karma-whoring reposting behavior that slowly turns Reddit into a TikTok mirror. What could go wrong?

      • furikuri@programming.dev
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        It also encourages the vague rule-making and arbitrary/excessive enforcement so that power mods can farm points. All the things people love about the site!

    • jarfil@lemmy.world
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      The points are on the blockchain? Uh… so what’s stopping rich assholes from buying up points and using their capital to take over communities?

      That’s the whole point. Want control over a community? Just buy it!

    • Omgarm@lemmy.world
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      If you get downvoted that means less points at the end of the month so you better conform.

      • ArbitraryMary@lemmy.world
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        That’s no different to now with Karma. And it seems like this new model doesn’t give them any real money so what’s the incentive to contribute at all?

    • xigoi@lemmy.sdf.org
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      so what’s stopping rich assholes from buying up points and using their capital to take over communities?

      Nothing, that’s the point :) Rich assholes pay, Reddit makes $$$.

    • ShustOne@lemmy.one
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      Yeah it’s not the worst idea in theory but implementation needs to be perfect. Even if they don’t allow token transfers I feel like this will make power users even more powerful without some kind of forced regulation. A repost bot could get the lion’s share of tokens and take over governance.

    • AtHeartEngineer@lemmy.world
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      Right, there is a potential path here that could be awesome, non transferable tokens that represent voting rights/karma, and points you can sell that could later be use as “gold” used to be used. But I don’t think that’s what they are doing

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    Glanced over it. Complete word salad. Corporate nonsense: baffle them with bullshit.

    You get points from communities. These points are stored on the block chain, because why not? The points themselves come from reddit, but the communities distribute them. Since they’re on the block chain, reddit can’t take back your magic bean points or whatever once you get them. Nevermind that they’re worthless and that reddit controls the only platform that they’re even remotely useful on.

    For now, Reddit will cover gas costs for distributing Points to users and allowing them to spend Points on features such as Special Memberships.

    Emphasis mine. Someone has to pay for it, because that’s how the block chain works. For now it’s Reddit. In the future? Who knows!

    How does this benefit the consumer? It doesn’t, really. Potentially it gives posters more control over a subreddit, but looks like mods will still hold essentially all the power when it comes to a subreddit, which is how it works now.

    How does this benefit reddit as a business? It doesn’t, really. They’re handing out magic beans with the selling point being that they can’t take them away from you once you get them. It costs them money to do this, because it’s on the block chain as opposed to some in-house database. This replaced coins, right? They killed an income stream and replaced it with an expense.

    They get to tell investors that they’re into the block chain when they launch their IPO, I guess. All I can say is buyer beware. Chances are high the powers that be unload their stock options in the IPO hype and then get the hell out of dodge. They might have waited too long, though. The tech bubble deflated, and I don’t know if the books are impressive enough to draw in the big bucks from investors.

    If you want genuine control over your community, start one on the Fediverse and self-host an instance. No admins will kick you off since you’re your own admin and head mod rolled into one.

    • theodewere@kbin.social
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      its main value to the owners is that it is a more direct means of controlling user behavior… once they get people used to “real” rewards, they can better use the platform as a means of controlling discourse… which is why the Mukser is doing it on the other thing, and where they got the idea…

      they’re trolls… they want to use it to troll harder…

    • __dev@lemmy.world
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      They’re handing out magic beans with the selling point being that they can’t take them away from you once you get them.

      And that’s not even true in any practical sense. If reddit decides that the token in your crypto wallet is invalid, then it’ll stop working on reddit. And since they’re the only issuer every possible use is going to be tied to reddit in some sense.

    • Shelbyeileen@lemmy.world
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      Thank you for making this more understandable. It really feels like a “the people who pay us more will have a louder voice” and I am grossed out, if that’s the case.

    • Tanglebrook@lemmy.ml
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      How does this benefit reddit as a business? It doesn’t, really

      $5/month per community

      You may have missed it, but they snuck in that Special Memberships (subreddit subscriptions, which unlock badges and emojis and stuff) cost $5 a month per subreddit, outside of Reddit Premium. You can also spend 1000 Community Points, but if you don’t have the balance and want the benefits, you’ll be giving reddit money.

      It feels like reddit has come to understand how much closer redditors feel to their communities than reddit as a whole - reddit is hated, but users still cling to their communities. A sitewide Reddit Premium badge is irrelevant, even repugnant and a badge of shame, but special flairs and features in close knit communities are still desirable.

      This is reddit exploiting their users’ relationships with their communities with a stackable 5 buck alternative to Reddit Premium.

      • Cubes@lemm.ee
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        I still don’t really get who gets the money from this special membership? I understand people subscribe to YouTube and twitch personalities because they want to support the creator and they get most of the money, but what incentive does anyone have to buy this community membership here? Is it really just the special avatars/badges/whatever?

        • Tanglebrook@lemmy.ml
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          Clout in a community they care about. I can’t relate to wanting it, but people buy clout all the time online and in games. This is basically a more personalized Twitter Blue.

      • abraxas@lemmy.ml
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        They also said something about community points being usable for moderation/governance. Does that mean people can come in and save/buy enough Community Points to enact a coup?

        Like, Atheists could get enough Christianity sub credits and ban all the Christians? Or bigots could seize an LGBTQ+ sub? It seems kinda like a nightmare waiting to happen if so.

  • ikidd@lemmy.ca
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    Holy. Fucking. Shit.

    “Own your community with our blockchain bullshit, but fuck you gently if you try to exert any control over it if it works against our IPO.”

    What a bunch of shitbirds. Fuck me, I’m so glad I’m shut of that dumpster fire. Let 'er burn.