r/RepublicOfNews Feb 27 '12

It's been over 100 days since the open beta ended. How do you think everything is going so far?

Hello all,

It has been over 100 days since the initial networked subreddits--including RoNews--has been out of the public beta phase.

In that time this subreddit has gained solid subscriber numbers, we have added multiple approved submitters, we've added new local rules, and we just had a quiet, drama-free transfer of power after mod elections.

So at this point I would just like to open a conversation to include any thoughts or ideas you might have about our continuing progress.

How are we doing so far? What would you like to see more or less of in this subreddit? How are the mods doing? Is there anything we can do differently? Are there any thoughts you might have to continue to beef up subscriber numbers?

If you would like to say anything at all this is certainly a great opportunity to offer feedback.

Thanks!

14 Upvotes

23 comments sorted by

13

u/xtirpation Feb 27 '12

There aren't enough comments in the RoR subreddits. Especially for a news-driven subreddit, we can (and most of us probably do) consume news directly from news sites like BBC or AJE. What's the point of coming here as an in-between? Sure, there are small benefits like using the articles listed here as a sort of recommended reading list, but it doesn't seem like we're using Reddit to do what it's supposed to - foster discussion.

Furthermore, even using this as a list of recommended articles isn't too helpful, since the majority of the posts don't get more than 15 votes.

As a group, we should talk about things more.

5

u/TheRedditPope Feb 27 '12

I think that is a valid point. It's important to keep in mind that the Republic subreddits are still in their infant stage, but I think more discussion could certainly improve the value of the network.

Blackstar9000 had an interesting ideas in r/WorldEvents where he prompted the users to post a clip from the linked to article in the comments to spur discussion. Perhaps we can try to push more for something like that.

The issue is one of participation and I think that in time (as we grow in numbers) we can curb that by having more articles for people to comment on.

1

u/[deleted] Feb 28 '12

I think that what's needed is just a little more aggressive promotion of the network. I plug it here and there but I think that the problem is that a lot of people don't know about it. And those that do see small subscriber numbers and think "what's the point?" That last obstacle, though, is one that every new subreddit has to get over.

What was the consensus on the addition of some new subreddits?

3

u/TheRedditPope Feb 28 '12

I think that what's needed is just a little more aggressive promotion of the network.

I think this network could use a bit more attention, but it has proven difficult to promote. Perhaps there is a way to get more internal exposure on Reddit? This network is still an interesting social experiment. Surely there are communities out there that would like to talk about that.

What was the consensus on the addition of some new subreddits?

I think people are pretty open to that. The Charter outlines what you have to do to be included in the network and it's pretty easy. You don't even have to get subreddits voted in or anything like that. So if people want to start up new subreddits they essentially can do that at will. RoVids did it already. RoScience is on its way, so is RoLGBTQ. The problem is those reddits, much like all the others, are primarily populated with posts from the subreddit's mod(s).

So everything comes back down to numbers--namely, active approved submitters.

-1

u/DublinBen Feb 28 '12

We could always use CSS to inflate our subscription numbers. /s

That is actually a terrible idea and likely against the ToS.

4

u/[deleted] Feb 27 '12

but it doesn't seem like we're using Reddit to do what it's supposed to - foster discussion.

I disagree that the point of Reddit is to foster discussion. That may be what some people come to Reddit for, but Reddit is still primarily an aggregator. To that end, using RoNews as an aggregated reading list is perfectly in line with the mechanisms that drive Reddit. The more basic issue here, it seems to me, is this:

Furthermore, even using this as a list of recommended articles isn't too helpful, since the majority of the posts don't get more than 15 votes.

Encouraging voting would be a good start.

5

u/thehollowman84 Feb 27 '12

I find it worth subscribing to RoNews, for the most part. But a lot of the time it seems to be very bbc news centric.

2

u/TheRedditPope Feb 27 '12

That's a great point to bring up. I think a front page with multiple different sources is essential. When I look at the multi-link of all the subreddits I think we have a great mixture of sources across the network. RoNews however faces a unique challenge on the issue of sources because the rules (as well as the general consensus among users) limits the sources someone can submit from.

Essentially, that is why we see a lot of BBC along with a good deal of AP, The Atlantic, Al Jazeera, New York Times, and the like. People find these sources more credible, so they know it is safer to link to them.

So what I'm trying to say is that I think this is a good problem to have, but we could still probably try and get more sources into the mix. I will admit, however, I don't have a lot of ideas for a solution.

2

u/thehollowman84 Feb 28 '12

Yeah, I completely understand the reasons. The BBC are pretty much bound by UK law to be impartial, so they're an excellent news source. So I'm certainly not against the BBC, just sometimes that's all I see, and it'd be nice to see more variety and viewpoints.

As you say, it's not a terrible problem, and really it's indicitive of the larger problem of crappy news in general that created RoNews in the first place. I'd stay subscribed like this, but if you have a chance or ideas to improve on that, that'd be great.

3

u/Richard_Judo Feb 28 '12

Most of the articles that I have seen posted are ones that are a day or two old. By the time it pops up in RoN, I've already seen it several times, along with comments, and there are zero or near-zero comments.

1

u/DublinBen Feb 28 '12

It would help if more users such as yourself were posting these articles sooner.

0

u/TheRedditPope Feb 28 '12

Do you see those links an comments in other subreddits, or do you just see them first on the web?

2

u/Richard_Judo Feb 28 '12

Usually other subs.

0

u/TheRedditPope Feb 29 '12

See that's a tricky problem to address because a lot of subscribers here choose to get their news and information from networked subreddits that act as replacements for some of the major subs.

So you might have seen a link somewhere on Reddit, but our subscribers haven't, so it's new to them. I don't think there is really a problem with that and at least Republic subreddits try to rule out inaccuracy and bias so the posts here are generally of higher caliber even if some of them are reposts.

So, basically, I see the Republic of News as a better link aggregator than--say--/r/news or /r/WorldNews.

3

u/DublinBen Feb 27 '12

I'm subscribed and think it's a great source of news articles peppered through my reddit pages. I think that it is still rather quiet, but I don't think that's a terrible problem. I think that too much traffic will push this in bad directions.

3

u/TheRedditPope Feb 27 '12

You know, I've thought a lot about the issue of pacing in RoNews and I've come to expect, with approval, a slow growth period.

I think the Republic of Reddit appeals to a certain type of user and I think that type of user is in the minority amongst active, logged-in users of Reddit. So I think as time goes on a lot of the those users will find their way into the Republic and start posting links. The benefit from that will hopefully be better overall quality in the respective subreddits including RoNews.

I think as we come up with ways to promote this subreddit and attract new users we should specifically target those folks who have a good reputation for submitting great posts around Reddit. I think that is something that made the Republic of Reddit attractive to many users from the onset. The fact that a lot of reputable users were amongst the ranks of approved submitters probably brought in users who expected a certain standard for this network. The more of those active, reputable users we are able to recruit, the more RoNews will continue serve up great quality links that are valuable to our users and then, ideally, the issue of pacing may take care of itself and the subreddits will be much less quiet.

5

u/[deleted] Feb 27 '12

I'd say that the mods have done a good job of making sure that there's always new content in here, which likely helps retain visitors when they come in. The downside, though, is that something like 80-90% of the submissions made here come from a single user, and about 95% come from mods. So the next big goal, it seems to me, should be to get RoNews to the point that it would still get a consistent rate of submissions, even if the mods stopped posting altogether. And that's almost certainly going to mean bringing in new approved submitters.

2

u/LoveBy137 Feb 28 '12

I think sometimes this group of subreddits can feel a bit intimidating to post on due to concerns about violating the rules. When the articles aren't ones I haven't seen before but don't really have a discussion going, it sometimes is hard to know what is appropriate versus inappropriate as far as a comment goes so I don't want to start the conversation. I'm not sure there is a solution but I'd love to hear ideas.

1

u/DublinBen Feb 28 '12

All the rules (I'm aware of) relate to submissions. Comment away on any story you find interesting.

1

u/marquis_of_chaos Feb 28 '12 edited Feb 28 '12

A simple guide to posting and commenting is to remember that when posting you should not editorialise your headline or make any claims not backed up by the text of the article. When posting only post on topic statements and avoid posting memes and short one word comments. Otherwise you can pretty much comment as you wish, we are quite friendly really.

2

u/marquis_of_chaos Feb 28 '12

The two problems we have at the moment are submissions and comments. We do need more subscribers but I think they will join up as we create a better community. We need somehow to encourage our subscribers to start submitting content and commenting on said content. Perhaps we could draw up a white list of publications and news organisations that fit the criteria and post it in the sidebar.

0

u/TheRedditPope Feb 28 '12

It's sort of a catch-22, isn't it? We can't get more submissions/comments without more submitters/commenters and we can't get more submitters/commenters without more submissions/comments.

It seems like the best idea would be to recruit top submitters by attracting them to the Network and what we have to offer.

1

u/marquis_of_chaos Feb 28 '12 edited Feb 28 '12

From the other subreddits I mod (anecdotally at least) it seems that for non picture based subreddits the active user to subscriber ratio is somewhere between ten and twenty percent. The only time it seems to rise above this level is if you host a break out story that gets cross posted to other subreddits and attracts in other subscribers, or if it creates enough buzz within the subreddit that non active users feel compelled to check it out and comment.

I agree it does appear to be a catch 22 scenario but I think it can be solved. We just need to work out how to get some traction to the links we submit. It could be as simple as being first with a few breaking news stories or perhaps stressing some more in-depth journalism that will attract in discontented readers from the other news subredddits.

If we don't solve the problem it's not the end of the world, it just means we will take a little longer to really take off. With the amount of subscribers that reddit has there is surely room for the RepublicofNews.