The Community to Media Evolution
Platforms grow up. We’ve seen social networks like Facebook and Twitter evolve from being communities for people to connect, share content and consume each other’s content to being media platforms supported by ad dollars and always working to strike a careful balance between meeting financial goals and keeping users happy enough to continue using the service.
Tumblr and Reddit are the latest platforms to start this evolution. Tumblr just launched Sponsored Web Posts that will place up to four ads per day in user content feeds. Reddit is now working with advertisers to integrate their products and services in original video programming. Both platforms have built massive user bases. Now, they’re ready to monetize them.
Still, what makes Reddit and Tumblr special is their organic, “do this our way” mentality that seems counter to what advertising brings to the table. Both argue that they’re working to stay true to their roots and not alienate users. That same argument has been made by Facebook. However, users notice more ads, and they complain about those ads more and more.
That begs the question: can these platforms successfully evolve from being social communities to media platforms?
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