Reddit community points: cash grab or long term strategy?

Rarely do companies disrupt themselves. Disruptors often come in the form of startups, new business models, sudden regulation, or changes in consumer behavior. Will society trust companies like Twitter and Reddit to disrupt themselves or expect new paradigms to emerge?

While Twitter’s Blue Sky initiative is a good step forward, the company has a sustainable business model and is incentivized to keep it. Perhaps, even more so now that Twitter is being “supported” by activist hedge fund Elliot Management Corp.

Reddit, on the other hand, is in a unique position.

How profitable is the front page of the internet?

Marc Pincus termed the word Internet Treasure and Fred Wilson has since expanded on the definition.

“An Internet Treasure is a service on the Internet that is wide open, gets better when more people use it, and solves a need that many/all of us have. Wikipedia is an Internet Treasure. Quizlet is an Internet Treasure. Reddit is an Internet Treasure.” - Fred Wilson

Reddit meets all the criteria to be an Internet Treasure. It’s the world’s 11th most popular social network.