Adorable little alien robot... Reddit's logo is cute, but its threads don't always fit that description. This year, Reddit has been at the center of a social-driven retail trading frenzy. On Sunday, it made headlines again for spending its entire marketing budget on a five-second Super Bowl ad (inspired by the trading frenzy). Now it's making headlines for a different (but also likely related) reason:
Craigslist aesthetic... The internet has transformed since Reddit launched in 2005 — but Reddit has stayed true to the early 2000s vibes. That's fitting, since it thrives on being the dark horse of social media. Though Reddit and Facebook were founded just one year apart, they couldn't be more different – especially in the eyes of advertisers:
With more funding comes more pressure... to cater to advertisers and make $$$ for investors. Reddit said it's using some of its new funds to grow its ad biz, and noted that ad sales jumped 90% last quarter from the previous year. But to really capitalize on its engaged communities and cultural relevance, Reddit will likely have to address some of its non-ad friendly traits — and possibly become more like FB (not necessarily a good thing). Most importantly, it'll have to revisit its laissez-faire moderation. Reddit has been criticized for allowing racist/sexist/offensive dialogue on its platform. That could scare off marketers.