Reddit has the secret to fixing facebook

Reddit somehow seems to fly under the radar for the average person, despite being the sixth most popular website in the world.

But while its ugly aesthetic – and often, ugly content – is alienating to many, there is much to admire.

In fact,  Reddit provides a model for how to create a more interesting, fairer web. A model that doesn’t drag down other publishers in the process.

Reddit’s system – where users upvote things they like, and downvote things they don’t – is about as transparent as it gets on today’s algorithm-dominated web.

You can see how many votes each item has attracted, with a few exceptions. You know which user posted it and when, and what the source of the information is. You can choose to rank your own page accordingly – adding and subtracting topic pages, known as subreddits, to your pleasing.

Contrast this to the black box of Facebook, an impenetrable tangle of calculations which are a mystery to everyone outside its HQ, and I’d wager to most inside too.

Facebook recently polled its users on which news organisations they found most trustworthy. It has shared neither the results nor which content is being boosted or demoted as a result.

Yet companies are destroyed and created as a consequence.

With Reddit, though, it’s right there on the homepage.

This voting system has its downsides. Putting Reddit’s mechanics out in the open makes it easier to game the system.

Reddit’s problems with propaganda – and other unsavoury content – shouldn’t mask the positive effect this site has on the internet at large.

While Facebook tries to keep users inside its walls, Reddit actively encourages visitors to go elsewhere.

This is the healthiest way to maintain the internet economy – it gives content creators the best chance of making the most of these eyeballs.

A front-page Reddit spot typically delivers millions of views – though this can be a mixed blessing: sites unable to handle the load refer to this as the Reddit “hug of death”.

Crucially, Reddit does not currently insert itself as a middle man to skim off advertising dollars. Once you click the link, you’re gone.

By contrast, Facebook and Google have developed faster-loading page formats. These are being used to serve ads to sites that had typically earned revenue independently – though Facebook and Google would argue they’re creating a bigger pie.

And that’s just the beginning. When Facebook ramps up its efforts to sell subscriptions to others’ content, its grip on their financial security will get even tighter.

At a separate panel at SXSW, Facebook’s head of news, Alex Hardiman, spoke about the company’s attempts to promote “quality” news over untruths or clickbait.

Reddit offers a solution, giving prominence to articles that users feel are important and/or enjoy rather than simply “engage” with.

This is an often overlooked difference between these two networks. As it stands, Facebook doesn’t care if your reaction to something is positive or negative, so long as you react.

In all its efforts to help users flag offensive material, Facebook has failed to a create a tool to let them signal that something isn’t worth their time.

Under Reddit’s upvote/downvote system, clickbait headlines often sink quickly, while long, descriptive titles, leading to genuinely insightful information, thrive.

The Reddit community, more often than not, rewards originality and creativity – and punishes inauthenticity.

READ MORE>> BBC.com

Related posts

Leave a Comment