Community Points - Own a Piece of Your Community
www.reddit.com
Community Points allow members of Reddit communities to own a piece of their community, earn rewards for quality contributions, and unlock special features.

Read all about it at the above link. There’s way too much to process here. This is going to be wild.

  • 👍Maximum Derek👍@discuss.tchncs.de
    3223·
    1 year ago

    Community Points are the first step towards a better future for online communities. In order to be truly independent from platforms like Reddit, communities need to be owned by their members in ways that platforms cannot take away. With the advent of blockchain technology, we now have a way to establish this freedom in a decentralized and secure way.

    The way to be independent of Reddit is by having a token on a blockchain maintained by Reddit?

  • epicspongee@midwest.socialEnglish
    296·
    1 year ago

    In order to be truly independent from platforms like Reddit, communities need to be owned by their members in ways that platforms cannot take away.

    Is this a fucking joke

    • MentalEdge@sopuli.xyz
      189·
      1 year ago

      Reading this: are they implementing ActivityPub?

      Blockchain

      Oh sweet lord, no. No, they are not.

      • pelespirit@sh.itjust.works
        30·
        1 year ago

        I think that’s their point, to sound like the Fediverse but is actually a different way for them to get money and control the narrative. They’re also possibly trying to take away shutting down shitty sites “by giving the communities control.”

      • DrQuint@lemmy.worldEnglish
        17·
        1 year ago

        Like, they’re giving users monopoly money, and try to pass it off as control. Like, the fuck are they gonna do with the monopoly money?

        Plus imagine if users actually believe the monopoly money is important. We’re back on the days of BB Forums where you can make a factual point but oops, you’re level 2 and the forum regular (4506 posts) just called you a cocksucker.

        Edit: Oh god, the moderator wallet thing. They’re letting moderators moderate themselves. This is going to set off a massive amount of infighting as some admins will take the whole wallet and the other moderators will call them out and the seriousness of the whole thing (moderation teams not getting along) will get drowned out with all the people shitposting about fighting for monopoly money.

        This is the stupidest thing I’ve ever read.

      • ElegantBiscuit@lemm.ee
        5·
        1 year ago

        That’s been their mission ever since they bought and killed alien blue and released a pile of shit in its place. They can’t make a good app so have been slowly tying more and more exclusive features to it, and to new Reddit, hoping that this new shiny useless thing that no one asked for or wanted will get people to use it. I think with interest rates rising, their investors are looking for profits higher than t bills and so this trend that has been going on for the past few years is now kicked into overdrive.

  • DataBlade@lemm.ee
    2942·
    1 year ago

    Today’s online communities are not like this. They are trapped inside apps and platforms, where they do not have independence or control anything of value.

    That’s hilarious, when they literally just trapped users in their app and killed 3rd party apps.

    • Tanglebrook@lemmy.ml
      52·
      1 year ago

      In case anyone’s confused about what this is all about:

      $5/month per community

      It’s easy to miss, but they snuck in that Special Memberships (subreddit subscriptions, which unlock badges and emojis and stuff) cost $5 a month per subreddit, outside of Reddit Premium. You can also spend 1000 Community Points, but if you don’t have the balance and want the benefits, you’ll be giving reddit money.

      It feels like reddit has come to understand how much closer redditors feel to their communities than reddit as a whole - reddit is hated, but users still cling to their communities. A sitewide Reddit Premium badge is irrelevant, even repugnant and a badge of shame, but special flairs and features in close knit communities are still desirable.

      This is reddit exploiting their users’ relationships with their communities with a stackable 5 buck alternative to Reddit Premium.

  • Phantom_Engineer@lemmy.ml
    181·
    1 year ago

    Glanced over it. Complete word salad. Corporate nonsense: baffle them with bullshit.

    You get points from communities. These points are stored on the block chain, because why not? The points themselves come from reddit, but the communities distribute them. Since they’re on the block chain, reddit can’t take back your magic bean points or whatever once you get them. Nevermind that they’re worthless and that reddit controls the only platform that they’re even remotely useful on.

    For now, Reddit will cover gas costs for distributing Points to users and allowing them to spend Points on features such as Special Memberships.

    Emphasis mine. Someone has to pay for it, because that’s how the block chain works. For now it’s Reddit. In the future? Who knows!

    How does this benefit the consumer? It doesn’t, really. Potentially it gives posters more control over a subreddit, but looks like mods will still hold essentially all the power when it comes to a subreddit, which is how it works now.

    How does this benefit reddit as a business? It doesn’t, really. They’re handing out magic beans with the selling point being that they can’t take them away from you once you get them. It costs them money to do this, because it’s on the block chain as opposed to some in-house database. This replaced coins, right? They killed an income stream and replaced it with an expense.

    They get to tell investors that they’re into the block chain when they launch their IPO, I guess. All I can say is buyer beware. Chances are high the powers that be unload their stock options in the IPO hype and then get the hell out of dodge. They might have waited too long, though. The tech bubble deflated, and I don’t know if the books are impressive enough to draw in the big bucks from investors.

    If you want genuine control over your community, start one on the Fediverse and self-host an instance. No admins will kick you off since you’re your own admin and head mod rolled into one.

    • theodewere@kbin.social
      36·
      1 year ago

      its main value to the owners is that it is a more direct means of controlling user behavior… once they get people used to “real” rewards, they can better use the platform as a means of controlling discourse… which is why the Mukser is doing it on the other thing, and where they got the idea…

      they’re trolls… they want to use it to troll harder…

    • Shelbyeileen@lemmy.world
      29·
      1 year ago

      Thank you for making this more understandable. It really feels like a “the people who pay us more will have a louder voice” and I am grossed out, if that’s the case.

    • __dev@lemmy.world
      17·
      1 year ago

      They’re handing out magic beans with the selling point being that they can’t take them away from you once you get them.

      And that’s not even true in any practical sense. If reddit decides that the token in your crypto wallet is invalid, then it’ll stop working on reddit. And since they’re the only issuer every possible use is going to be tied to reddit in some sense.

    • Tanglebrook@lemmy.ml
      9·
      1 year ago

      How does this benefit reddit as a business? It doesn’t, really

      $5/month per community

      You may have missed it, but they snuck in that Special Memberships (subreddit subscriptions, which unlock badges and emojis and stuff) cost $5 a month per subreddit, outside of Reddit Premium. You can also spend 1000 Community Points, but if you don’t have the balance and want the benefits, you’ll be giving reddit money.

      It feels like reddit has come to understand how much closer redditors feel to their communities than reddit as a whole - reddit is hated, but users still cling to their communities. A sitewide Reddit Premium badge is irrelevant, even repugnant and a badge of shame, but special flairs and features in close knit communities are still desirable.

      This is reddit exploiting their users’ relationships with their communities with a stackable 5 buck alternative to Reddit Premium.

      • Cubes@lemm.eeEnglish
        2·
        1 year ago

        I still don’t really get who gets the money from this special membership? I understand people subscribe to YouTube and twitch personalities because they want to support the creator and they get most of the money, but what incentive does anyone have to buy this community membership here? Is it really just the special avatars/badges/whatever?

    • HuddaBudda@kbin.social
      44·
      1 year ago

      Hey… Hey boss. I got an offer for ya. How would you like a crypto that you cannot take off of reddit! Only exists on Reddit. And gives you “exposure.”

      • Carighan Maconar@lemmy.world
        28·
        1 year ago

        “All the downsides of any other cryptocurrency, and like all the other ones, none of the upsides! It’s redditcoin!” *crowd jeers, C-suites look confused*

    • GoodEye8@lemm.eeEnglish
      51·
      1 year ago

      I read that and thought “This can’t be real. This is too on the nose.” then I read the rest and had to check the URL to make sure it’s not a joke, because it reads like one big joke.

    • Excrubulent@slrpnk.netEnglish
      35·
      1 year ago

      If you read just the next section that’s where the other shoe drops. Blockchain. It’s blockchain of course it’s blockchain because everyone there has tech bro brain rot.

      Community Points

      Community Points are the first step towards a better future for online communities. In order to be truly independent from platforms like Reddit, communities need to be owned by their members in ways that platforms cannot take away. With the advent of blockchain technology, we now have a way to establish this freedom in a decentralized and secure way.

      As blockchain tokens that are owned and controlled by communities themselves — not by any app or platform — Community Points represent a way for Redditors to own a piece of their favorite communities. They are earned by making contributions to the community, like creating content and moderating. They not only represent ownership and reputation within the community, but can also be used for community governance, moderation, and unlocking premium features. They can even be used in custom tools outside of Reddit and on other platforms.

      Most importantly, Community Points are a flexible tool that each community can shape to its needs. Each community has its own Points that it can customize with its own name, symbol, distribution rules, and uses. Every community has its own needs and we expect each to use Points differently and in novel ways that help take them to the next level.

      • Interesting_Test_814@jlai.lu
        727·
        1 year ago

        What’s wrong with blockchain exactly beyond the fact cryptoscammers gave it a bad rep ? To my understanding blockchain has the same goal as the fediverse : decentralisation, and we should support it (the system, not the scammers using it).

        • Excrubulent@slrpnk.netEnglish
          42·
          1 year ago

          The fediverse solves the decentralisation problem by enabling communities to operate around a basis of trust. Blockchain is antitrust. It is fundamentally built on an assumption that functioning communities cannot exist.

          Blockchain solves a problem that doesn’t exist. Give me a problem that blockchain solves and I’ll consider it. A decentralised ledger is an ancient technology that has never needed immutability in order to work.

          Also what odds would you give me on whether reddit don’t want to use this blockchain system for a grift? 1/100? 1/1000?

          That’s the other problem with blockchain, the foundation of antitrust attracts grifters, because it is a technology that enables grifts. Immutable ledgers lock people in with no escape clause, so they fundamentally enable bigger fool scams. I hate fiat currency as much as the crypto bros, but at least it sometimes allows recourse for scam victims.

        • illi@lemm.eeEnglish
          410·
          1 year ago

          Not an expert but overall yes, the technology seems like a good idea, it’s what it was/is most used that gives it bad rep. The most inhetently bad thing about it might be the environmental unfriendliness with the energy used needed for the verifications and stuff (though there are alternatives to it I think)

          But I don’t know much about it beyond the basics, so might be wrong.

          Maybe I get downvoted because I’m wrong. Or mayne because I wasn’t inherently negative about blockchain and since it is mostly asociated with NFTs and similar scams, people just automatically hate it. If it’s the former, I deserve it - but would love for someone to say so and explain if that’s the case.

          • InputZero@lemmy.ml
            51·
            1 year ago

            I think you could have explained yourself more clearly. Did you mean to say that otherwise in a vacuum, the only downside to blockchain technology is it’s ecological impact? I’d agree with that, but nothing operates in a hypothetical vacuum.

            What’s got some people up in arms is the fact this blockchain is a solution without a problem. It’s going to do things that can already be done easily in a much harder way. Which is what most blockchain deployments do. I think you know that nuance but didn’t articulate it well in your post. Perhaps that’s why you’re being down voted?

            • illi@lemm.eeEnglish
              3·
              1 year ago

              Honestly, as I said, I knly know the basics. From what I know about it, at face value and in vacuum, it sounds usable - with the environmental negatives. So more or less, you understood me correctly I think. I may’ve not been too clear, because I only have basic understanding of it - never looked too deep into it.

              Maybe (probably) there are more inherent negatives to it that I don’t know about. Maybe the environmental ones just stuck with me because I understand those.

  • bloopernova@programming.devEnglish
    149·
    1 year ago

    Guaranteed that people smarter than the reddit staff will exploit their processes or code to cause mayhem and chaos.

    100% guaranteed.

    • yukichigai@kbin.social
      46·
      1 year ago

      I can hardly wait for someone to find a vulnerability in their blockchain implementation that allows community points to execute arbitrary code.

      • Riccosuave@lemmy.world
        161·
        1 year ago

        After watching the literally insane ACE that speedrunners have been able to figure out, I’m pretty sure you’re hitting the nail on the head. Someone is going to get up to some serious skulduggery with this one.

  • partial_accumen@lemmy.worldEnglish
    1191·
    1 year ago

    So you get points for posting and for moderating. It’s this literally being “paid in exposure”? Don’t we joke about this all the time how worthless it is?

    • empireOfLove@lemmy.oneEnglish
      77·
      1 year ago

      Oh God, now they’ve actually monetized all the repost bots. It’s like they WANT their site to turn into a bot hellhole.

      • Nepenthe@kbin.social
        46·
        1 year ago

        Well, they kinda do. They don’t have to be human to look like users from the outside.

        Looking at this screams that they’re planning to cut and run, though. It’s arson for the insurance money. Nobody would look at this longterm and think it was going to turn out well

    • jarfil@lemmy.world
      1·
      1 year ago

      When you get 100,000 exposure, and there are suckers paying $4 for each, how many USD do you have?

      (Spoiler: none, but if you’re smart, then you may get USD 200K)

  • falkerie71@sh.itjust.worksEnglish
    100·
    1 year ago

    So it’s basically Reddit NFTs. Let’s just call it as it is.

    It is time for them to take back ownership and control. It is time for a change.

    Lol. You’re still on Reddit. You’re not controlling shit.

    As blockchain tokens that are owned and controlled by communities themselves — not by any app or platform — Community Points represent a way for Redditors to own a piece of their favorite communities.

    You don’t own it, it’s made by Reddit, distributed by Reddit, and only useful on Reddit and not anywhere else. What’s the meaning of decentralization and ownership if it’s only useful in one place?

  • mindlight@lemm.ee
    92·
    1 year ago

    Today’s online communities are not like this. They are trapped inside apps and platforms,

    How ironic… Reddit trying to lock me in was the exact reason why I stopped being active there…

  • PolydoreSmith@lemmy.world
    87·
    1 year ago

    My god, that copy makes me want to vomit. It reads like it was written by an executive in a coke bender.

    Community Points are the first step towards a better future for online communities. In order to be truly independent from platforms like Reddit, communities need to be owned by their members in ways that platforms cannot take away. With the advent of blockchain technology, we now have a way to establish this freedom in a decentralized and secure way.

    I can almost hear the zoom call they brainstormed this shit in. This is some PragerU level slime. “Crypto Currency will grant users autonomy that they would otherwise never possess!” Right, anything that can’t be bought has no value. Oh THANK YOU for creating this system where everything is tied to crypto, so we can experience real community again! Finally my voice can be heard. Not like that horrible, communistic, voting system that counts every user equally.

  • N0body@sh.itjust.worksEnglish
    83·
    1 year ago

    A crypto scam? All this was building to a crypto scam? They burned Reddit to the ground to pump some shitty Redditcoin going into the IPO?

    I expect nothing and I’m still let down.

  • illi@lemm.eeEnglish
    731·
    1 year ago

    Community Points represent a way for Redditors to own a piece of their favorite communities. […] They can even be used in custom tools outside of Reddit and on other platforms.

    How the fuck would this work, I wonder? I tried to read through some but it makes little sense to me. It sounds like putting karma on blockchain and making it into a currency acting as reddit gold.

    Rest is just regular cryptobro talk formulated so that Reddit looks like it cares about communities - or am I missing something?

    • Cheshire@feddit.de
      40·
      1 year ago

      I don’t think you’re missing anything.

      It’s just tradable karma on the blockchain.

    • Stumblinbear@pawb.social
      3·
      1 year ago

      Community points have been used on the cryptocurrency subreddit for years, now, called Moons. They’re fine I guess. You can withdrawal them relatively easily and do whatever with them. They’re given out based on up votes

      • illi@lemm.eeEnglish
        2·
        1 year ago

        So you can basically cash out if I understad you correctly?

        • Stumblinbear@pawb.social
          3·
          1 year ago

          Pretty much. You can use them to get additional rewards in the community and/or withdrawal them out to the Ethereum blockchain if you want to. Could even sell them if anyone would bother to buy

          • audaxdreik@pawb.social
            1·
            1 year ago

            God, but that just seems like the worst. The fun of karma was that it was worthless but hey, a lot of us liked seeing big number go up and that was fulfilling in itself. Now people are going to be incentived to post for the sake of posting to try to earn something. Low effort, contentious, engagement driving spam.

          • Ganrokh@lemmy.world
            1·
            1 year ago

            Small correction: They’re Arbitrum Nova tokens, not ETH tokens anymore.

            Greatly saves on gas fees, but Arbitrum Nova has narrower support.

            Kraken just added support for Moons and Bricks, so the methods of cashing out are becoming easier.

    • beebarfbadger@lemmy.world
      1·
      1 year ago

      “We made reddit blockchain crypto NFT … things!”

      “Great, what do they do?”

      “Good things! You like good things, right? Think of a good thing. It does that! You’d be too stupid to understand the complicated complexities of the details. Give us your money now.”