Upvoted, the Comment-Free Reddit ‘Experiment’, Begins

Yesterday marked the launch of the new Reddit website Upvoted, an attempt to deliver the news without the threat of harassment largely associated with sprawling Reddit threads. The editorial team behind Upvoted refers to itself as “A Redditorial Publication… a creative space to expand, breathe, and grow.”

Presenting the internet’s most hidden and wonderfully bizarre content is what has made Reddit a powerhouse in the news aggregate game. Although Upvoted will maintain itself as a close Reddit property, removing user comments is a different approach to content than users are accustomed to. As Wired points out, Reddit suffers from “a reputation as the dark, unruly id of the Internet,” and the new endeavor is an “experiment”. After a flurry of Reddit business shake-ups this summer, many have high hopes for the Upvoted launch.

The move comes months after the site first launched a popular podcast by the same name. The new online branch of Reddit includes homes for gaming, food, animals and travel.

In August Mediaite reported on the updates to Reddit’s policies regarding specific online forums, which Andrew Husband called, “hateful, incendiary and outright racist”. Despite the issues that are well-documented regarding free speech and controversial user comments, Upvoted now provides a cleaner social alternative to Reddit content.

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