Reddit CEO Confirms Paid Subreddits Are Coming, But What Content Will be Hidden Behind Paywalls?

Almost everything on the internet and in apps require some kind of monetary payment now, and it seems the same will be true very soon social news aggregator platform Reddit.

Since the company went for its initial public offering (IPO), many have theorized that it would try to monetize the platform, and this eventually started when it gatekept its previously-free API from developers.

While it is expected that Reddit will soon add payments for some experiences on the platform, it is still bad news for users. For the longest time, users enjoyed the online forums and helpful experiences without having to pay for anything.

Reddit to Add Paid Subreddits Soon, Confirms CEO

A new Reddit AMA (Ask Me Anything) segment featuring its CEO, Steve Huffman, revealed that there will be an upcoming change to the platform known as paid subreddits.

It was revealed by the Reddit CEO that the company is now working on offering a kind of Reddit paywall to arrive, one that will offer exclusive content to those who subscribe to the experience.

The CEO talked about how the company is still working on developing the paid subreddits experience on the platform and that it will come soon in the future. However, he did not provide details as to what will change in the current experience.

That being said, the CEO only said that the paid subreddits experience is part of their list of things to develop, but Huffman did not reveal when it would be available on the platform and how it will affect users.

What Kind of Content Will Be Behind Paywalls?

For now, the only confirmed information about this latest update from Reddit is that users will soon see paid subreddits appearing on the platform, and it will lock content behind paywalls.

Details have yet to be confirmed by Reddit, so what is available online as of writing are mere speculation.

Reddit and Its Monetization Campaign

Almost two years ago, Reddit was on a mission to significantly change their performance and overturn their years of losing money in operating the platform. This led to the company changing its API policies that no longer allow free access to it, leading to hundreds of developers to lose access and stop the services they have to offer.

One of the next steps that Reddit took on its platform was to step up its advertisement programs by bombarding users with more personalized ads that appeared when scrolling subreddits, particularly its comments section.

However, this changed last year when Reddit moved towards introducing ads to the main feed, where the ad placements would appear as regular posts and are indistinguishable from organic ones.

As Reddit saw immense success with its monetization campaign last year following its new ads program and IPO, the company is looking to take it to the next level with its paid subreddits.