Conde Nast’s Largest Web Property Literally Begging Users For Money

Conde Nast’s print properties aren’t the only ones slowly dying, apparently. Now popular user-driven news site Reddit, which Conde Nast bought in 2006, is asking users to donate money so the website can hire more staff.

In a sad blog post, Reddit programmer Mike Schiraldi asked Reddit to donate to the website in a new program called “Reddit Gold” because its four engineers are being worked to the bone. “The bottom line is, we need more resources,” he writes.

What’s weird about this that Reddit is a massive success, audience-wise. It currently boasts around 280 million pageviews/month. (Gawker, in comparison, clocks in at around 41.2 million pageviews/month.) Conde Nast is a giant corporation who is currently considering moving to a pricey new Manhattan headquarters. So why doesn’t Conde just cough up some dough?

Shiraldi writes:

Here’s the thing: corporations aren’t run like charities. They keep separate budgets for each business line, and usually allocate resources proportionate to revenue. And reddit’s revenue isn’t great.

Reddit users to the rescue… right? Well, it seems that they’re not too keen on supporting Reddit. One user helpfully offered to buy the site; others wondered if they were just subsidising Conde Nast’s tone-deaf decision to starve one of the biggest user-driven websites on the Net.

And, yeah, Reddit has robust pageviews, a diehard community and strong growth. Instead of forcing Reddit to trade on that loyalty in what amounts to a fund-raising drive, Conde should realise that a few extra resources could go a long way to increasing profitability. Maybe they could cut back on those sweet holiday gifts?