We reported this morning that Reddit would be launching a new website later today, and that time has come. Known as Upvoted, this new website is a more centralized version of Reddit that doesn’t allow users to comment or vote on posts. Community contribution and discussion have been done away with to create a pure news aggregator, one that’s managed by Reddit’s own editorial team. The team goes through the most popular new content on Reddit and filters out all of the editorial spin and false facts, leaving just raw news and other content. It’s meant for people who love Reddit but hate the Reddit community, and I must say, I liked what I see so far.
Reddit launched Upvoted on Tuesday, a new website that dedicates a 10-person staff to mining news and entertainment stories from Reddit’s posts by 200 million people per month. It’s an “if you can’t beat ’em, join ’em” sort of play. Reddit has long stood back as its users hunt and gather the best and weirdest stories on the internet, offering them up to mainstream news organizations. “Today, we’re launching a hub to give the stories of Reddit—from the seemingly ordinary to the extraordinary—the creative space to expand, breathe, and grow,” wrote Alexis Ohanian in a post on Upvoted. Ohanian added that the site was the continuation of Reddit’s efforts to create content from its users’ submissions, something it started in January with a podcast that also goes by “Upvoted.” Upvoted is a kind of digest of the best content on Reddit, which is, in the site’s parlance, “upvoted” by its users. (Redditors, as they are known, can also downvote posts in protest of their importance, relevance or quality). The site’s ten writers look for stories on Reddit. They then report and write those stories in a more traditional style, following the lead of digital journalists for mainstream organizations who frequently do the same. Upvoted’s first day included a notable departure from Reddit’s reputation for adorable animal pictures.
