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> Maybe the best we can do is subreddits. God save us.

Sub reddits are just Usenet on the web but worse, rather than anything social.

Maybe if Reddit added a profile page with some social stuff (for paying users?) they could destroy Facebook.




Eh, I feel like most people on reddit like being anonymous on reddit.


Well, those people wouldn't be affected. Even those people with a profile could still create throwaway accounts for those other subreddits.

There are a few sub reddits where people are sharing real life information, so maybe confirmed profiles would be beneficial for them. I don't know if that just adds a bunch of cost and not much revenue.


I really think it would just ruin the simple, anonymous beauty of reddit to start involving identities. Leave that for IAmA :)

People go to reddit to get away from reality.


Part of what makes Reddit so good at what it does is that it doesn't try to be more social. By assigning very few pixels to users and making signup easy, the focus stays on the content of the discussion.

The idea of subreddits applies more generally. One piece of software, one account, many communities with different foci and norms. A more social forum could do the same thing.


Sub reddits are just Usenet on the web but worse, rather than anything social.

This may be why you are being downvoted, but:

Maybe if Reddit added a profile page with some social stuff (for paying users?) they could destroy Facebook.

Is of course very interesting, and probably much discussed at Reddit. Anonymity issues/pseudonyms is probably a determinant factor.


It wouldn't destroy Facebook, it would destroy Reddit.


Exactly. Reddit could fit real life profiles and anon pseudonyms equally and powerfully.


In general, social networks tend to settle at establishing a norm of either pseudonymity or verinymity. The two don't mix very well; users either feel cloistered or overexposed based on the normative behavior they observe.


Quora allows very public profiles and very private Anon User identifiers equally and powerfully..




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