For years, Reddit has shown mobile users who aren’t logged in an annoying, screen-blocking overlay insisting that they download the Reddit app. Soon, the experience of getting slapped in the face with some kind of walled-garden enforcement mechanism while trying to glance at Reddit will expand to even more platforms, at least judging by a recent post by Reddit CEO Steve Huffman.
As flagged by The Verge, Huffman (who goes by the Reddit username “spez”) posted to the site on Thursday announcing that Reddit will become a “primarily logged-in experience,” and that providing the best version of Reddit “requires personalization.” Translation: There will be some kind of new wall around Reddit content that limits what unregistered users can see, presumably applying beyond mobile to the desktop site. Huffman acknowledged it’s a big shift for open-internet types, himself included.
“And I don’t know about you, but as someone whose life has been defined by the open internet, it’s a big change for me,” Huffman wrote. “But I’ve come to the conclusion that this is the right decision for our platform and the right decision for our business.”
“Reddit is so big now that without some personalization, it’s just not relevant,” he added. “Or even worse, it just doesn’t work.”
Requiring logins will mean “helping surface what’s most relevant to you and quickly getting you to where you want to go—whether that’s your favorite subreddit, a game you want to play, or a thread you’re looking for,” Huffman wrote.
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