Before Reddit’s IPO, the company offered users (“Redditors”) with at least 100,000 “karma” (upvotes) the chance to buy stock at the offering price of $34. My karma count is well north of that (the lamest flex ever), so I got an invitation. Here was my opportunity to invest in a 20-year-old social media platform with an aging user base that has never turned a profit! I couldn’t say no fast enough.
This came to mind Wednesday while reading Pintrest’s first quarter earnings report. That little social media platform saw its revenue increase by 23% to $740 billion and its user total break half a billion. Earlier this week, Snap (aka Snapchat) reported a 21% increase in revenue and a 10% increase in users. (I don’t own stock in either, BTW.) That tells me they’re good at connecting with their users.
Now, even though I clearly spend way too much time on Reddit, my (theoretical) advertising dollars would still go to the companies making money.
Constantine von Hoffman
Managing Editor
