[Kibae]

Reddit relies on user-generated content so cutting the "unprofitable" users makes the product less useful for the "profitable" users.

This could lead to some initially profitable users into leaving the site and as a result make it less useful for the remaining users. This could lead to a negative spiral until Reddit is left with a fraction of its' user base.

[SamuelAdams]

A lot of user generated content is recycled though. Take a look at the top twitter subs /r/whitepeopletwitter etc. notice the dates on the screenshots of tweets. Notice how they are 3-6 months old or longer.

Then notice how many posts in /rAskReddit are recycled from 6-12 months ago.

It’s gross, but honestly I kind of respect it. Reddit has recreated modern day TV for mobile phones. And it works because people can’t be bothered to retain what they’re consuming, so waiting 6 weeks for the news cycle to restart makes it all feel like a whole new thing.

[asoneth]

It's certainly a risk that these cuts might be going too deep.

Personally I would have made the process more gradual but who knows, maybe they're running out of runway, or their research gives them confidence that a sufficient number of (profitable) users will stick around.

This is all just armchair conjecture but I suspect that either they'll be fine or that they're screwed regardless -- either way I doubt this decision will sink them.

[nicce]

Youtube also relies on the user-generated content to be fair. However, the difference is that you might get paid from that.