“Layered Responsibility” Helps Reddit Find Redemption … and Revenue
Fatherhood on Friday: Reddit may have found the right amount of community oversight that can cater to responsible people and still make a buck.
Among our favorite podcasts is Ad Lib, where Ad Age Editor Brian Braiker interviews those who have moved and shaken their way to prominence in media and marketing. Braiker’s journalistic background made him an exceptional dad blogger back in the day (both on his own and at the dearly departed Dadwagon), so we enjoy hearing the insights from a Local Boy Who Made Good.
We look at his latest conversation, with Reddit COO Jen Wong, as a roadmap for how social media will redeem itself, because it shows how building brand-friendly, self-regulating online communities is both possible and profitable.
Among social platforms, unfettered growth and enthusiasm has given way to skepticism and fatigue over incidents of snooping, predation, and lawlessness. And Reddit, the self-declared “front page of the Internet,” has had to confront its own sordid side. Despite this, brands still know the best way to connect with consumers is through the authenticity of user-generated content (UGC).
The road forward, then, is to use layers of oversight to develop smaller, more focused communities that are vibrant, safe, and open to brand involvement. And Reddit, whose U.S. ad revenue is on target to double over the next two years, seems to have found the way to pave that road, by establishing the communities the web was meant to facilitate without coming across as too stifling or paternalistic.
If you remain a stubborn optimist about the web’s power to inform and inspire as well as enrich, this podcast will be really good Snoos.
IN THE NEWS
Something has gone wrong when parents are willing to risk everything, including their integrity and/or jail time, to get their kids into college.
Offering paid paternity leave is a hollow gesture if the work environment makes men reluctant to take it.
Across all age groups, studies have found that strong parental communication can protect kids against low self-esteem and poor academic achievement.
“Instead of answers, what your children need when they have trouble grasping something is understanding and support. Ask them questions.”
“If a 10-year-old lit a fire at an American playground, someone would call the police and the kid would be taken for counseling.”
“Experts say enhancing ‘EQ’ may be a fundamental way to boost a child’s happiness and success, and parents can do quite a bit to promote it.”
Want your kids to be healthy and happy? There’s an outside for that.
If you act like your kids’ concierge, they derive less satisfaction from doing adult things like driving, paying bills, and being independent.
Are your kids (and/or you) addicted to screens? There is help.
PORCHLIGHT POSTS
- “There’s this awkward dance that happens when your children start growing up. It’s the Holding On and Letting Go Two-step.” — Matt Todd, I Took My Firstborn Away to College. And I Survived.
- “Young Men, you have so much more support than we did to break this cycle.” — Sean Leacy, On Prom Dress Policing
- “Unconditional love should not be luck of the draw.” — Amber Leventry, Parents Don’t Deserve Accolades For Loving Their Trans Child
- “Today is about a different lesson. What is important to her, no matter how trivial to me, is important to me.” — Shannon Carpenter, The Art of Sharing Our Kid’s Rage
- “Being a father is way more than just your income. It’s about bonding. Showing love. ” — Jean Marcelin and Brock Lusch, Balancing My Childhood with Raising My Boyz
‘GRAM OF THE WEEK
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Photo by Kon Karampelas on Unsplash
Originally published at https://www.dad2summit.com on September 20, 2019.
