Abstract
Platform changes are a phenomenon endlessly confronting social media users, impacting how they create and consume content. The social media platform “Reddit” is, as of writing, in the midst of a significant planned shift in their socio-economic foundation. Reddit’s owners are moving the company from being a privately held business to a publicly-traded one. While scholarly attention in domains such as human-computer interaction (HCI) has focused on tracing how users understand and respond to changes in the interface features of social media, less consideration has been given to how users make sense of the socio-economic side of the social media platform equation. Through a thematic analysis of Reddit posts and comments mentioning the Reddit IPO made to “r/announcements,” “r/theoryofReddit,” “r/askreddit,” “r/stocks,” “r/wallstreetbets,” and “r/technology,” this study examines how users discuss and make sense of socio-economic change in this social media environment. Findings from this study focus on three themes: 1) What aspects of the techno-cultural facets of Reddit (defaults, protocols, algorithms, and interfaces) users believe might change as a result of the IPO. 2) What policy changes users believe might occur on Reddit, particularly in relation to moderation practices and the kinds of content allowed on the site. And, 3) User beliefs about the particular interests that these changes may serve.
Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Free) 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a call
