Reddit considers letting users pay for self-promotion

A Reddit moderator proposed having content makers pay for putting links to their own content on Reddit Friday morning. The post, which went up on the the moderator news sub-thread, had a full proposal based on discussions that Reddit moderators have had about how to handle self-promotion on the popular forum. The argument behind the proposal is basically that self-promotional links are fine, but there should be some clear way of delineating them from “organic” posts, and ideally finding a way to thread the needle between users who want to see the content and outright spamming by websites eager to get more clicks via Reddit.

At the online community Reddit, forum moderators–volunteers who are neither selected by nor employed by Reddit the company–are proposing a new set of rules that would allow users to submit self-promotional links and content for a small fee. Though Reddit has built its reputation as an online Wild West, the startup, which closed a $50 million round last week, has been known for outright banning users who violate its community rules, which include submitting self-promotional content and manipulating votes. (Generally, the startup errs on the side of free speech. Case in point: In light of the celebrity iCloud hack last month, Reddit banned the thread that disseminated the leaked nude photos–not because of privacy violations but because of copyright laws.)Instead of punishing users by banning them, the proposed “paygate” would give content creators looking to promote their own work the ability to pay so they can tag their submissions as “self promotional.” The  proposal did not decide on any type of pay structure. Moderators, who would approve or reject any sponsored content, will decide whether or not their subreddits would opt into these changes.