

Reddit's challenge: More users and higher costs - seminatore
http://news.cnet.com/8301-17939_109-57547743-2/reddits-challenge-more-users-and-higher-costs/

======
fourstar
I don't necessarily see how this is article is anything surprising, really.
Bigger sites === more resources needed.

I started and presently run a large subreddit (top 30) and after awhile it
takes its toll on you. Sure you find other moderators, but they lose passion
after getting no return. That will be the bane of reddit's existance as
subreddits are what is keeping the site alive, but the quality seems to
decline when you get X amount of users, and at that point, it becomes less of
a hobby and more of a full-time job.

~~~
graeme
I started and run a subreddit in my niche. It's top ~4,000 in subscribers, and
top 1,300 in activity levels according to Stattit. See my profile for the
subreddit name.

Having created this forum has _really_ helped me within my field. The
subreddit is really popular, and my self-interest in its operations doesn't
seem to have caused any rancor, since the forum is so clearly providing value.

This likely is not a solution for the largest subreddits, but I expect that
more small to mid sized subreddits will be created and maintained by
'enlightened self-interested' moderators.

My role often makes me think of this XKCD: <http://xkcd.com/810/>

edit: Obviously, this does nothing to address the server load issue

~~~
fourstar
+1 on helping you get acquainted with your field! I've added an AutoModerator
bot which goes through and removes particular links on submissions, but other
than that, a lot of stuff has to be manually approved (or removed from the
spam filter).

