[mtkd]

I was going to post it feels like the last days of Digg, but thought I'd check the comments first

It's unfortunate Reddit can't leave a working formula alone - HN has barely changed in 7 years - I really respect the control that must have taken - the lack of category filters on HN means I always need some other source

I do hope this and the imgur change last week doesn't mark the start of the end but it's probably time for a new player ... CIX -> Usenet/Dejanews -> Digg -> Reddit -> ??

[simonswords82]

I totally agree, I feel like this is the beginning of the end for Reddit. There's also a bunch of other recent changes that make me feel like Reddit is starting to work hard on monetisation but will struggle to do this and maintain the 'vibe' they've had to date. For the record it's right that they seek to make money...they're not a charity.

Having said that I think comparing Reddit to HN is a bit unfair. The HN forums are is a happy byproduct of a successful VC firm. Hacker News forums could be switched off tomorrow and Y Combinator would almost certainly continue successfully. As far as I'm aware they generate zero revenue from the forums, in fact, it's probably impossible (or at least very hard) to measure any ROI on the forums.

[Twirrim]

> It's unfortunate Reddit can't leave a working formula alone

Working for who? They're not making money, so the service is unsustainable. It has to change.

[erikpukinskis]

There's no way a text-only site with 100% user generated content can't be maintained profitably with a traditional ad sales team. They're going for a bigger play, which is fine, but there are definitely easier strategies to sustain a smaller team.

[dpc59]

During the censorship fiasco a lot of people moved onto voat.

[unlinker]

Check voat's homepage, and look how many upvotes do links have. It's dead, for the most part, although I guess very small communities (like those coming from /r/niggers, or /r/fatpeoplehate) are there to stay. But there is not much more to it.

[CM30]

Voat can have some good content in the sections for general gaming, tech, etc, since it's small enough that the spammers don't seem to be as common. That said, it's not really active enough to be anyone's primary social media/bookmarking platform, and that tends to mean that anything not super popular or controversial is pretty much completely dead there.

[fencepost]

So voat is like 4chan but without the charming community?

[unlinker]

If you share their ideas, it's charming, believe me. I can assure you hate unites more than love.

[unlinker]

>HN has barely changed in 7 years

HN maintenance cost is orders of magnitude smaller. Also it is losing money and nobody cares because this is just like a pet project for YC.