WEBVTT - Reddit CEO Steve Huffman Talks New Public Content Policy

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<v Speaker 1>Bloomberg Audio Studios, podcasts, radio news. Steve Huffman, of course,

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<v Speaker 1>his co founder and CEO of Reddit. He joins us

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<v Speaker 1>here live at the Bloomberg Tech Conference earlier this week.

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<v Speaker 1>I was covering your earnings and the first earnings that

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<v Speaker 1>you guys had as a publicly traded company.

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<v Speaker 2>You guys just knocked out.

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<v Speaker 3>Of the park. We had a nice quarter. We're happy

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<v Speaker 3>with it.

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<v Speaker 4>Revenue forty eight percent, users thirty seven percent. I think

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<v Speaker 4>it's a great way to start, and I think we're

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<v Speaker 4>pretty happy.

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<v Speaker 2>What was it that worked well for you for the quarter?

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<v Speaker 4>Well, look the way I've been describing the folks as

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<v Speaker 4>our work is working. And so this has been really

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<v Speaker 4>a multi year effort of making and Reddit like it's

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<v Speaker 4>easy to say, it's easier to use, faster, easier to

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<v Speaker 4>sign up, easier to find your home, and it's paying off.

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<v Speaker 1>We should know when you stay multi year, you don't

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<v Speaker 1>just mean like a couple of years. I mean, Reddit

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<v Speaker 1>is like a company that is almost as old as

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<v Speaker 1>as Facebook focus.

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<v Speaker 2>Point, and it was a much longer path year in

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<v Speaker 2>ibo So.

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<v Speaker 4>We started the company in two thousand and five, I mean,

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<v Speaker 4>and we've had a journey.

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<v Speaker 3>We sold the company and spun out. I left, I

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<v Speaker 3>came back.

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<v Speaker 4>I'd say, really the kind of modern era of Reddit

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<v Speaker 4>started at twenty fifteen, that's when I came back, But

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<v Speaker 4>it was really a couple of years ago where I

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<v Speaker 4>told the company. I was like, we need to but

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<v Speaker 4>being so academic about our work and just make credit better,

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<v Speaker 4>just focus on quality.

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<v Speaker 5>Well, so how talk to a little bit about how

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<v Speaker 5>you do and continue to make it better. There was

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<v Speaker 5>a quote I think on the earnings about you say,

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<v Speaker 5>building the next generation of Reddit. So how do you

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<v Speaker 5>think about that? Steam in a world where we are

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<v Speaker 5>talking a lot about AI.

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<v Speaker 6>We know of the data that you guys have.

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<v Speaker 5>On your platforms, it's smart data, it's targeted data.

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<v Speaker 6>What is the next generation of Reddit? What does that

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<v Speaker 6>really mean? So?

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<v Speaker 4>Reddit is people, right, people create community that have incredible conversations.

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<v Speaker 4>So really what we're doing is revealing that now as

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<v Speaker 4>it happens. People are users, but any people really they

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<v Speaker 4>have I think a deep down need or community and

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<v Speaker 4>a sense of belonging, and that's what we provide now.

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<v Speaker 3>At the same time as conversations.

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<v Speaker 4>They're having are totally unique on the Internet where increasingly

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<v Speaker 4>more and more content online is written by AI, is

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<v Speaker 4>written by machines. There's a premium now on content that's

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<v Speaker 4>made by humans or it comes from humans, and I

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<v Speaker 4>think people have a craving increasingly through that realness as well.

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<v Speaker 1>I'm wondering about the content policy that you guys rolled

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<v Speaker 1>out today, because the whole idea here is to create

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<v Speaker 1>a place for Reddit content to actually help train AI models.

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<v Speaker 1>So you have a deal right now out there with

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<v Speaker 1>Alphabet's Google to help it train its AI models. What

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<v Speaker 1>works about Reddit's content and how do you balance that

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<v Speaker 1>with making sure that the people who contribute there feel

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<v Speaker 1>like they're not contributing to developing an AI algorithm.

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<v Speaker 4>So Reddit has been open for a long time, and

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<v Speaker 4>we love that about Reddit, and we've been very well

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<v Speaker 4>indexed in search and Google Search for example, and I

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<v Speaker 4>think of AI the AIS that we see as like

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<v Speaker 4>search two point zero, and so it's important for us

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<v Speaker 4>or we like Reddit being out there and our content

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<v Speaker 4>being out there. It helps users find their home on Reddit,

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<v Speaker 4>it helps people get answers to questions. I think this

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<v Speaker 4>is very powerful. But what we announced this morning is

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<v Speaker 4>that we can't just be completely permissive. We have to

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<v Speaker 4>be very picky about who we work with, and we're

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<v Speaker 4>gonna work with partners like Google who will do so

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<v Speaker 4>on our terms, right, not reverse engineer the identity of

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<v Speaker 4>our users, not try to use public content and Reddit

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<v Speaker 4>to target ads or things like that, but really use

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<v Speaker 4>it for what it's attended for. It's just advancing the

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<v Speaker 4>state of the art and helping people find their home

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<v Speaker 4>on Reddit.

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<v Speaker 6>It does feel like we're.

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<v Speaker 5>Going into a new generation, maybe a more informed generation,

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<v Speaker 5>if you will, when it comes to this social media world.

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<v Speaker 5>Is that fair after seeing some of the stumbles of

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<v Speaker 5>kind of the first round, if you will.

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<v Speaker 3>So, the way I think about this ecosystemic and I'm.

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<v Speaker 5>Not just saying Reddit, I'm just talking about broadly social media.

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<v Speaker 4>Well, so Reddit, remember we started in two thousand and five,

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<v Speaker 4>so we actually pre date the word social media and

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<v Speaker 4>the idea of influence.

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<v Speaker 6>There was a time when that happened.

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<v Speaker 4>Yeah, And so I feel like we're kind of going

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<v Speaker 4>through this this evolution where Reddit's becoming more mainstream and

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<v Speaker 4>increasingly people who maybe have grown up with social media

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<v Speaker 4>are seeing that hey, there's another way, and this might

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<v Speaker 4>be a better way or a better fit for them. Right,

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<v Speaker 4>Because Reddit is free of a lot of the I

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<v Speaker 4>think incentives or misincentives that calls people to behave unnaturally.

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<v Speaker 4>Like on Reddit, people just help each other and you

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<v Speaker 4>don't get credit for it in real life.

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<v Speaker 3>So the only reason you do it is.

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<v Speaker 4>Because you enjoy doing it, and I think that's really special.

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<v Speaker 1>Yeah, I feel like I'm actually so late to the party.

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<v Speaker 1>I've talked about this, talked about I can't tell you

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<v Speaker 1>what time he talks about it. I'm not a young person,

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<v Speaker 1>and like, I basically feel like I just discovered Reddit

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<v Speaker 1>and it's probably the platform that I spend the most

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<v Speaker 1>time on. It has communities for you know, I'm a cyclist.

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<v Speaker 1>I live in a certain part of New York. Like

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<v Speaker 1>I can follow all of these communities and it's like

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<v Speaker 1>it's super helpful too, with like home improvement stuff.

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<v Speaker 2>I'm finding it.

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<v Speaker 1>How do you get more people like me to find it?

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<v Speaker 1>Sort of later in there.

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<v Speaker 3>Hey, you're doing your part. But I feel like like.

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<v Speaker 1>My brothers are like, yeah, this has been around.

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<v Speaker 2>Okay.

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<v Speaker 4>So this is the funny thing about our demographics that

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<v Speaker 4>we're actually what we're seeing as people age out or

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<v Speaker 4>social media and they age into reading, and so it's

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<v Speaker 4>kind of pick people up. You know, we call them

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<v Speaker 4>a merging adults EVE in their early twenties, late teenage.

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<v Speaker 4>The peak of the bell curve is maybe twenty five,

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<v Speaker 4>but I've inc recently seen sixty and seventy year olds

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<v Speaker 4>on reading. The way I describe it is whatever you're

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<v Speaker 4>into or going through just in life, it's on Reddit somewhere.

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<v Speaker 4>It's just people, and so yeah, I think the platform

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<v Speaker 4>is a little older.

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<v Speaker 1>Well, something that you've brought up a lot lately is

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<v Speaker 1>the idea of when you're googling something, you actually find

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<v Speaker 1>Reddit answers in Google. How big of a traffic driver.

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<v Speaker 2>Is that to you?

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<v Speaker 4>It's a big one, Like how big it's it's coming gone,

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<v Speaker 4>it's coming gone. Over the years, but we've been seeing

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<v Speaker 4>more traffic from Google because we made the website much faster,

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<v Speaker 4>and Google like speed, so faster website rank higher. And

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<v Speaker 4>then again, I think there's been this secular shift towards

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<v Speaker 4>people want to hear from other real people, and that's

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<v Speaker 4>what we provide. I think Google's pretty good just as

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<v Speaker 4>a search engine of figuring out what are people actually

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<v Speaker 4>looking for?

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<v Speaker 3>It happens to be Reddit right now.

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<v Speaker 6>What's it like to come back to the company, you know.

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<v Speaker 4>So it was nine years ago when I came back

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<v Speaker 4>to Reddit. It was going through difficult time. But look,

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<v Speaker 4>I love Reddit so much. I think Reddit is so

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<v Speaker 4>important and the opportunity is so big that I mean, honestly,

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<v Speaker 4>it's my dream job. I feel so thankful to have

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<v Speaker 4>this job, and to really to have had it twice,

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<v Speaker 4>you know, once the first time, and having come back.

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<v Speaker 3>It's sometimes I just kind of pinched myself. I feels

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<v Speaker 3>so incredibly fortunate.

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<v Speaker 6>And being a publicly held company.

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<v Speaker 4>I mean, it's I think ipoing is it's a big milestone.

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<v Speaker 3>But I've likened it to getting married.

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<v Speaker 4>A lot of planning, a big special moment, you know.

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<v Speaker 4>But we went out. We went out on a Thursday

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<v Speaker 4>and on Monday, It's like, okay, work.

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<v Speaker 1>Where do you see yourself fitting in in this?

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<v Speaker 2>In the social media ecosystem?

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<v Speaker 6>Is it?

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<v Speaker 1>You have TikTok, you have meta platforms or Jones, Instagram,

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<v Speaker 1>I mean, you have YouTube.

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<v Speaker 2>They just dominate. Where do you fit at?

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<v Speaker 3>We've been doing our own thing for such a long time.

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<v Speaker 4>If you were to look at our traffic, you would

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<v Speaker 4>not see the rise or fall of any other social

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<v Speaker 4>media platform. So we've we've kind of grown up in

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<v Speaker 4>our own image.

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<v Speaker 3>We we like the way we do.

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<v Speaker 4>Things, and what we're seeing is that people increasingly just

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<v Speaker 4>appreciate the Reddit way versus maybe what you find somewhere else.

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<v Speaker 5>The biggest challenge for your guys going forward, what do

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<v Speaker 5>you see that as?

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<v Speaker 4>So I think similar to that last question, uh, staying

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<v Speaker 4>true to our values from the way we do things.

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<v Speaker 4>And so I as and remind the company we're here

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<v Speaker 4>for our reason. We get to survive because we've done

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<v Speaker 4>things to Reddit way, and it means sometimes we've maybe

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<v Speaker 4>not grown as fast as we could have because we said, hey,

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<v Speaker 4>that doesn't fit the.

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<v Speaker 3>Way we do things.

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<v Speaker 4>And so I think we have to take pressure to

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<v Speaker 4>grow and pressure to do things this or that, Yeah,

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<v Speaker 4>and just filter them through, well, how does it fit

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<v Speaker 4>with Reddit?

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<v Speaker 3>And how do we make sure we stay true to ourselves.

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<v Speaker 6>Yeah, we should be tough as a publicly held company, as.

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<v Speaker 3>You know, it can be tough, but I think we're

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<v Speaker 3>ready for it.

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<v Speaker 6>Listen, Steve, you are ending our show and our coverage

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<v Speaker 6>here and just on a high point. So thank you

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<v Speaker 6>so much and good luck with everything.

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<v Speaker 3>Thank you, thank you, you really appreciate it and Steve.

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<v Speaker 6>Helped me, the co founder of Course and CEO of

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<v Speaker 6>Read It. That's a wrap, guys

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<v Speaker 5>A Bloomberg Business Week finishing up here at the Bloomberg

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<v Speaker 5>Technology Summit