Need some opinions and suggestions from active reddit users!

[Reality]

I have just started development on a new project that will be centered around user-created and moderated forums. While this project will not be just like reddit, I am sure it will share some aspects because forums have been around since the early days of the web and reddit has subreddits which are basically forums.

While I do not want to give out too many details at this time, i can tell you it is not just a hosted forums service. Everything will be built using my own code and framework. To see what I am capable of developing, check out two other near-launch-ready projects of mine at readchan and ZERRG.

What I am looking for, from those of you who are active reddit users or users on other similar sites, are the things you like and hate most about reddit or any other similar forum/discussion-based services.

This is really important and I need opinions and comments ASAP on this as I have already started development on this project, and need to know now any other information I should be considering!

Any help will be greatly appreciated!!

** Please keep this thread on topic! **

NOTE: If you would rather not post your comments publicly, Send me a PM instead!

 

[munkee]

The voting system they have is the best part of reddit. I would like to see that system on more forums. It does have a hivemind problem, but for the most part the best content get the most votes. I do get tired of seeing the same exact same content upvoted again and again with different titles.

 

[fishspill]

The key to a well-functioning subreddit is a good moderation team. If you have individuals that are passionate about the subject, have integrity, and have a vision for the sub then you're in luck. Unfortunately, corporations and businesses now know the game and if a new platform comes out with access to the public creation of subs and implantation of mods then the whole integrity part goes out the window as they swoop in to claim their turf. Over time I think this is inevitable anyway which is why Reddit is now much more infested with advertising than most people recognize.

 

[CyberB0b]

It's all about content for me. If I need to find something in a niche, that's where I go.

 

[DandyDon1722]

My favorite sub in Reddit is Futurology and it's because they do an excellent job of managing expectations. Here's what I mean.

First, the content is mind blowing in that the things that are happening in technology and medicine are so incredible and happening so fast that I can't even have conversations about it with people because they look at me like I'm alien.

But specifically what makes he sub so good as compared to many others is the passion and expertise of users which limits the amount of nonsense. People on there are serious and I like that. The moderators are obviously well connected and it shows - they don't mess around and neither do the users who have no problem reporting others. There's still debate but it usually stays within the context of the subject matter It keeps cheap shots, personal attacks and nonsense out. For instance, on the front page you will get four or five good responses then the thread is almost exclusively who can out-clever who.

In this sub, the tone is set and you find out quickly how to play ball. Another thing they do well is ask for suggestions on how to make it better. I asked for updates on things like potential cancer cures to be followed up each year to see where the progress is and they are going to start doing that.

Good examples of similar well run subs are finance and weight training, all for the same principles. I understand certain topics lend themselves to these protocols and other subject matter is supposed to be a free for all and certainly there' s a place for that but keeping in mind the things they do well will with serious subject matter will help gain some credibility.

Good luck.

 

[pancakeman]

What drives me nuts about Reddit on my phone is the upvote/downvote and collapse comment icons are all way too close together. I've often collapsed when I meant to upvote, and I wind up having to zoom way in get those triggers far enough apart to make sure I'm hitting the right one.

 

[Reality]

The voting system they have is the best part of reddit. I would like to see that system on more forums. It does have a hivemind problem, but for the most part the best content get the most votes. I do get tired of seeing the same exact same content upvoted again and again with different titles.

I am still debating whether or not to support down voting. I like concept of letting users up and down vote content, but it also makes it too susceptible to abuse by organized groups of users. For example, let's say you are a moderator on a very popular subreddit (forum) and you get into a debate on another subreddit. You could urge the users in your subreddit to go to the other subreddit and down vote the posts and comments by the users you do not like. There's another issue too when you have a polarized user base on a specific topic, yet one side had more users behind them. They can use their numbers advantage to mute the other side's opinion.

 

[Reality]

The key to a well-functioning subreddit is a good moderation team. If you have individuals that are passionate about the subject, have integrity, and have a vision for the sub then you're in luck. Unfortunately, corporations and businesses now know the game and if a new platform comes out with access to the public creation of subs and implantation of mods then the whole integrity part goes out the window as they swoop in to claim their turf. Over time I think this is inevitable anyway which is why Reddit is now much more infested with advertising than most people recognize.

This is something I predicted long ago. Companies come in and reserve the subreddit names of their company and its products and services. That's fine though as users can always create other similar subreddits. The problem comes in when the companies that grabbed those names turn them into advertising mediums. As you said, it is already happening and it will continue to get worse. The same thing goes for twitter as I predicted years ago that the famous people on twitter would eventually get bored of tweeting regularly, so they would turn their accounts over to their personal assistants and public relations staff. I predicted many of those famous people's twitter accounts would evolve into little more than press release announcements, tour dates and buy-this ads.

I think part of the problem is that long ago, reddit was for the users, by the users, and due to being sold and having more money put behind it which has driven more corporate interests, it's more for the advertisers, using the users.

 

[Reality]

It's all about content for me. If I need to find something in a niche, that's where I go.

That's what I'm hoping will evolve eventually on this project. A forum service, much like forum sites, are only as good as their content. They can look great, work great, etc., but none of that matters if the content isn't plentiful and interesting to users.

 

[Reality]

My favorite sub in Reddit is Futurology and it's because they do an excellent job of managing expectations. Here's what I mean.

First, the content is mind blowing in that the things that are happening in technology and medicine are so incredible and happening so fast that I can't even have conversations about it with people because they look at me like I'm alien.

But specifically what makes he sub so good as compared to many others is the passion and expertise of users which limits the amount of nonsense. People on there are serious and I like that. The moderators are obviously well connected and it shows - they don't mess around and neither do the users who have no problem reporting others. There's still debate but it usually stays within the context of the subject matter It keeps cheap shots, personal attacks and nonsense out. For instance, on the front page you will get four or five good responses then the thread is almost exclusively who can out-clever who.

In this sub, the tone is set and you find out quickly how to play ball. Another thing they do well is ask for suggestions on how to make it better. I asked for updates on things like potential cancer cures to be followed up each year to see where the progress is and they are going to start doing that.

Good examples of similar well run subs are finance and weight training, all for the same principles. I understand certain topics lend themselves to these protocols and other subject matter is supposed to be a free for all and certainly there' s a place for that but keeping in mind the things they do well will with serious subject matter will help gain some credibility.

Good luck.

This is the way it is with many forums though even beyond reddit. If the forum has defined guidelines and/or etiquette, the moderators are level-headed and the forum topic is not overly controversial, the forum tends to remain a quality source of content and discussions. It gets considerably more difficult to keep everyone happy as users get divider on topics and/or the moderators abuse their powers.

The problem is that the actions of the staff, the guidelines for the forum, etc. are all subjective. Where a lot of users may be very happy with everything, others won't be. That's the beauty of services like reddit though. If you and several other people don't like how a forum is being run, then you can go create your own. Because it's part of the same service, users are more likely to switch over and visit yours and, more importantly, post new topics and comments as well, where that would be difficult if you had to create a whole new site where the users have to register in order to post.

 

[CyberB0b]

That's what I'm hoping will evolve eventually on this project. A forum service, much like forum sites, are only as good as their content. They can look great, work great, etc., but none of that matters if the content isn't plentiful and interesting to users.

Besides niche sites like this, I think reddit is the king and will be hard to beat. Good luck.

 

[Reality]

Besides niche sites like this, I think reddit is the king and will be hard to beat. Good luck.

Again, I'm not trying to create a reddit competitor. I have a different angle on what I'm creating. I just used reddit as the example given it is basically a forum service at its core and a lot of users use it.

 

[DandyDon52]

keep it simple , easy to use, easy to navigate.
Have a option for a darker easy on eyes site like grey or brown back ground instead of white.

To me Reddit was confusing and hard to navigate.

 

[jterrell]

Ultimately, information is and always kill be king.
Content drives all else.
Finding a way to garner and push quality content is what set Reddit apart for a long time.
Knowledgeable users posted accurate things and that rose ot the top.
That content could be VERY hard to find anywhere else.

I found myself spending hours on Reddit for nootropics as it interested me to see if anyone really had found a solid "brainboost" supplement.

 

[Reality]

keep it simple , easy to use, easy to navigate.
Have a option for a darker easy on eyes site like grey or brown back ground instead of white.

To me Reddit was confusing and hard to navigate.

With forums, I know that light forum themes can be a big turn off to some users, while dark themes can be a big turn off to even more users. My goal will be to offer options. Exactly which options I am not sure as it will depend heavily on how I setup other areas which I am still thinking on at the moment. That's one of the reasons I am asking for feedback. I need as many comments and suggestions as possible to factor into my decisions.

 

[BotchedLobotomy]

I suspect the reddit voting system could get ugly on a sports forum

 

[Reality]

Ultimately, information is and always kill be king.
Content drives all else.
Finding a way to garner and push quality content is what set Reddit apart for a long time.
Knowledgeable users posted accurate things and that rose ot the top.
That content could be VERY hard to find anywhere else.

I found myself spending hours on Reddit for nootropics as it interested me to see if anyone really had found a solid "brainboost" supplement.

I agree completely. I even mentioned this in a post above. That said, I want to provide the tools for users to create and run their own forums, but also make the site very enjoyable for users to use as well. Content is what drives long term user retention. A site layout can be pretty to look at initially, but it will not encourage users to return if content is limited or lacking.

Even ignoring that my project is different than reddit in many ways, reddit has one thing that will make it nearly impossible to pull users from there and that is a massive amount of content. So many people, especially developers, think in absolute terms when they build or launch something. They think about taking users away from other sites and services, rather than accepting that's is a very unlikely to happen. Why? We as users rarely make changes to our online routines, and when we do, we rarely do a one-for-one trade. The best you can hope for as a site owner is to get users to visit your site and keep coming back each day long enough for your site to become part of their routine.

For example, if you find a new sports news site that blows you away, you don't stop going to ESPN, PFT, DMN, CZ, etc. for your sports news. Instead, you add that to your rotation. The only reason we usually drop a site from our daily routine is if it shuts down, stops being updated, becomes too frustrating to use or it no longer offers any news or information that you have not already read elsewhere.

The smart way to look at things is not how I can take users from another site, but rather how I can get users to add my site to their daily routines/rotation.

When reddit ticked off a lot of users back in the summer of 2015, users started looking for reddit alternatives immediately. Sites like voat, hubski, etc. surged in traffic as a result. However, reddit's traffic never dipped. Now, maybe their total posts decreased by a little for a week or two, but traffic remained the same. All of those users who said they were leaving did not really leave. They just cut way back on their posting. After emotions cooled, and a trickle of users started to return to posting, the rest eventually joined in.

Of all of those sites, voat benefited the most because, while it did not maintain the huge spike of traffic it received initially at the height of the event (part of this was because voat's servers were not capable of handling the initial surge), they did pick up a lot of regularly daily traffic from that event and, more importantly, they have retained a large number of those users even after it died down. Even so, most of their users still likely visit reddit just as much as they did before, but that's fine. voat gained a lot of new users and I am sure they are thrilled over it.

My goal is to provide enough features and options to give some users incentive to post content which will give all users a reason to want to visit the site daily, hopefully even several times per day. This will not happen over night, not unless there is another big reddit rebellion like last summer, but hopefully in time, more good content will get posted and published on it and user interest and traffic will increase.

 

[Reality]

I suspect the reddit voting system could get ugly on a sports forum

Exactly my concern, and not just with sports. That is why I am not a fan of support for down voting. When you first think about it, down voting sounds great. You think of the spam posts, the obvious trolling posts, the really stupid posts, etc. and think it would be great if there was a way to get rid of those. The problem is that it becomes less about improving the quality of a forum or thread and more about revenge against someone who disagrees with you. It becomes a weapon for groups of users who organize or band together to mute a user they do not like. It's basically the online version of, "lalalalalalala-i-can't-hear-you-lalalalalalala" but it keeps anyone from hearing you, not just the down voters.

That is why I am leaning against supporting down voting.

 

[DandyDon52]

Exactly my concern, and not just with sports. That is why I am not a fan of support for down voting. When you first think about it, down voting sounds great. You think of the spam posts, the obvious trolling posts, the really stupid posts, etc. and think it would be great if there was a way to get rid of those. The problem is that it becomes less about improving the quality of a forum or thread and more about revenge against someone who disagrees with you. It becomes a weapon for groups of users who organize or band together to mute a user they do not like. It's basically the online version of, "lalalalalala-i-can't-hear-you-lalalalalalala" but it keeps anyone from hearing you, not just the down voters.

That is why I am leaning against support down voting.

that makes sense, even here you can like a post, but not dislike one

 

[jterrell]

I suspect the reddit voting system could get ugly on a sports forum

of course.

what may work is a rating system that starts at 5 (or 6) and goes to 10. --I'd avoid starting at 1 because 1 feels like downgrading.
any vote is a positive effect but 10 is really special.

and instead of an average voter score do a composite... i.e. total votes times total ratings. 50 x 10 plus 20 x 5 would be 600, not 8.5.
so all votes help. keeps the trolls at bay. also encourages feedback for their effoprt even if a post isn;t 10 worthy.