It’s that point of the early summer when many in tech and business take a well-deserved break. Aside from the nonstop machinations of Elon Musk—whose only purpose in life, apart from transforming cars and rockets, seems to be keeping journalists employed—the most interesting tech news story of recent days centers on Reddit. The site’s volunteer moderators have been rebelling for weeks at fees the company has imposed on apps that are popular with Reddit moderators and users. (For more on that, see here). This weekend, things escalated when the unpaid folks behind Reddit’s signature Ask Me Anything sessions—where users can ask actors, celebrities and others anything they like—said they would permanently scale back the work they do. All of which raises a question: Why is a company that generates hundreds of millions in revenue annually relying on volunteers for key editorial tasks?
Sure, there’s a long history here. As a Reddit spokesperson explained to me when I asked that question, Reddit’s entire purpose is to be a “platform…built around communities that are primarily created, governed and moderated by the users themselves.” That’s all well and good. But let’s face it, there is something unsustainable about a for-profit company that relies on the unpaid labor of volunteers, as the recent dispute has demonstrated. Indeed, venture capitalist Albert Wenger signaled last month that this issue has repeatedly kept him from investing in Reddit. The tension exists at other social media sites, of course. It has fueled the angry reaction of some Twitter users to Musk’s efforts to remake that site, for instance. One other user-driven site, Wikipedia, has dodged the issue by being a nonprofit. If Reddit wants to stick with the for-profit model, though, it should give stock to all its moderators.
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