back to article Redditors start flinging Pooh after mega-forum takes cash from Chinese behemoth Tencent

Condé-Nast-stablemate forum Reddit has slurped another $300m in a round of funding led by Chinese giant Tencent. The splurge means that the San Francisco-based website has now raised over $550m over four rounds of funding since it was founded in 2005. The platform for often-heated discussion must now deal with the needs of …

  1. CAPS LOCK

    Who cares?...

    ... It's not like Reddit has anything special to offer.

    1. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Re: Who cares?...

      That's it exactly. There is nothing special going on so there won't be special advertising.... right? Reddit users are about to experience the equivalent of subliminal advertising via data stealing... I'm mean data sharing.

      I'm not sure how Reg does their subliminals, although there is an awful lot of the inciting color red. I suspect one day they'll auto load 0.2sec audio clips of boy bands at random volumes, PER page load.

      1. Fatman

        Re: Who cares?...

        <quote>I'm not sure how Reg does their subliminals...</quote>

        You might ask amanfrommars1, he might know.

    2. Youngone Silver badge

      Re: Who cares?...

      That's not entirely true. The default subs are mostly full of idiots doing what they tend to do on the Internet, but I subscribe to a couple of special interest subs that are quite well run and interesting.

  2. Lt.Kije

    Fun

    Well this should be best the sideshow in years.

    Look forward to the the redditariat excercising their democratic rights and letting the self interested, and certainly not communist, grand pooh-bahs know what they think, complete with uncomfortable reminders of inconvenient facts.

    As for El Registrites, we know they wouldn't ever stoop to that level.

    1. Throatwarbler Mangrove Silver badge

      Re: Fun

      "As for El Registrites, we know they wouldn't ever stoop to that level."

      Please, the correct term is "commentards."

      Also, I'm going to go out on a limb and suggest that the inability to post pictures, moderation, and a participant base that harks back to a more civilized time on the Internet combine to create a more civil and elevated discourse overall.

      Whew, I think I sprained my shoulder, there.

      1. Anonymous Coward
        Anonymous Coward

        Re: Fun

        alt.trees.larch.larch.larch.limb.stretch.ouch

  3. vir

    "Here at El Reg we are of the belief that it's more about quality rather than quantity when it comes to forum contributors"

    Hear him! Hear him!

    1. Captain Scarlet Silver badge

      As a user of both forums, yeah I'll admit Reddit is just there to repost old LOLCATs and road rage videos.

  4. Twanky
    Go

    "quality rather than quantity"

    "Here at El Reg we are of the belief that it's more about quality rather than quantity when it comes to forum contributors"

    You smooth-talking bastards.

    Oh all right, just a quick one then.

  5. Starace

    $550m!

    Always nice to have further proof that it's not just governments that are capable of throwing mountains of cash into a bottomless pit and end up having almost nothing to show for it.

    1. Joe W Silver badge

      Re: $550m!

      Yeah, but governments are working on a higher prefix ("milliard", as it was called in a civilised age ;p)

      As M. von Lipvig put it: "if you stole five dollars you were a criminal. Steal 5000 and you were either government or a hero"[Pterry] (cannot be bothered to look up the exact words, sorry)

      [Pterry] Sir Terry Pratchett, "Going Postal"

  6. Steve 114

    Kittens and bears

    If you've watched, ever since Christmas the Reddit front page has been aberrant. Now guess why.

  7. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Reddit blueit

    I hope Reddit insist on keeping a majority share, that Tencent must transfer it's technology to Reddit, plus no propaganda will be permitted through the great freedom-wall to afflict the open minds of their users.

    1. martinusher Silver badge

      Re: Reddit blueit

      >plus no propaganda will be permitted...

      Do the words "Integrity Initiative" mean anything to you?

  8. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    The problem with Reddit is, users get 'karma' which accumulates over time, by other users voting on their posts. This means if the tide is moving sentiment one way (e.g. ludicrous overreaction, extrapolation of facts and general panic) and you try to contribute a voice of sensible moderation, you KNOW you're going to get downvoted and lose a bunch of karma. So there's this natural force that works against voices of dissent, and promotes whatever daft thing is the meme of the day.

    Still, I love it :)

    1. Brangdon

      Another issue is that their algorithm favours short-form content in busy sub-reddits. This is because long-form content gets pushed down the list before people have time to vote on it, so good stuff disappears before it has acquired enough votes to stay at the top. Short-form content gets its votes quicker so is able to keep its place at the top longer. Hence the site tends to drown in images.

  9. 89724102172714182892114I7551670349743096734346773478647892349863592355648544996312855148587659264921

    "... here at El Reg we are of the belief that it's more about quality rather than quantity when it comes to forum contributors."

    ...sure Reg, it not about size...

    Maybe China.Corp want to replace China.Gov with a Direct Democracy powered by Reddit

    p.s. Why the hell do animated .GIFs require javascript enabled in order to display on so many websites, these days?

  10. adminopithecus

    Redditors are afraid of China's online censorship.

    Also in the news: Pot is calling the kettle black.

  11. Steven Raith

    Er...

    "Reddit is inaccessible in China..."

    "That isn't to say that Redditors didn't get a bit hot under the collar, cooling themselves off by posting images of the popular children's character Winnie-the-Pooh over and over again. The image has attracted the ire of Chinese censors in the past due to some wags alleging a resemblance to the country's President, Xi Jinping."

    Is it just me, or does the logic there seem flawed? I mean, if it's not available in China, what's the poi....ah, it's Reddit, there is no point.

    Steven "Grumpy today" R

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