As Reddit enters a new decade, the platform is hitting growth milestones that probably seemed like a pipe dream when it launched in 2005. With 430 million monthly active users, it's the fifth most-visited website in the United States and has a valuation of $3 billion. But for Chief Operating Officer Jen Wong, the song remains the same for Reddit.
"I actually don't think it's new, this growth, I think it's been happening over time," she explained to Cheddar's Michelle Castillo in an interview at CES.
"It's because people like the context, they like the realness, they like the fact that they can get together with people they may not know but have a shared interest and talk about the things they care about."
Reddit remains the go-to place for many when it comes to learning more about a particular subject from others like themselves.
"When you think about the internet, more people want to spend time intentionally. They want to spend time on things they care about," said Wong.
That is why the COO believes Reddit's ad business, which is only a couple of years old, offers brands an unparalleled opportunity.
"Somebody is seeking information or understanding, versus kind of scrolling through it, and they're in a mindset of openness, of trust, of looking for realness and information from their peers," she explained.
"It's an unduplicated mindset anywhere else in digital life."
Joe Cecela, Dream Exchange CEO, explains how they are aiming to form the first minority-controlled company to operate an exchange in U.S. history. Watch!
A Michigan judge is putting sponges in the hands of shoplifters and ordering them to wash cars in a Walmart parking lot when spring weather arrives. Genesee County Judge Jeffrey Clothier hopes the unusual form of community service discourages people from stealing from Walmart. The judge also wants to reward shoppers with free car washes. Clothier says he began ordering “Walmart wash” sentences this week for shoplifting at the store in Grand Blanc Township. He believes 75 to 100 people eventually will be ordered to wash cars this spring. Clothier says he will be washing cars alongside them when the time comes.
The State Department had been in talks with Elon Musk’s Tesla company to buy armored electric vehicles, but the plans have been put on hold by the Trump administration after reports emerged about a potential $400 million purchase. A State Department spokesperson said the electric car company owned by Musk was the only one that expressed interest back in May 2024. The deal with Tesla was only in its planning phases but it was forecast to be the largest contract of the year. It shows how some of his wealth has come and was still expected to come from taxpayers.
At 100 years old, the Goodyear Blimp is an ageless star in the sky. The 246-foot-long airship will be in the background of the Daytona 500 — flying roughly 1,500 feet above Daytona International Speedway, actually — to celebrate its greatest anniversary tour. Even though remote camera technologies are improving regularly and changing the landscape of aerial footage, the blimp continues to carve out a niche. At Daytona, with the usual 40-car field racing around a 2½-mile superspeedway, views from the blimp aptly provide the scope of the event.
