What is Reddit really worth? - podcast

A place where humour abounds, niche interests are obsessed over, gossip is traded and viral videos are spread.

As the Guardian’s UK technology editor Alex Hern tells Helen Pidd,Reddit has taken the ultimate step towards the mainstream: a flotation on the New York Stock Exchange that valued the company at US$6.4bn (A$9.7bn).

It is a platform that has never made a profit and relies on the patience and commitment of its anonymous and unpaid moderators to keep order.

One who goes by the moniker Pedantichrist tells us that he can spend up to 16 hours a day on the site removing hate speech and keeping the forums on topic.

Meanwhile, for users such as Hussein Kesvani, the site is a place to hang out with people willing to share obscure skills such as bookbinding.

And the drive to monetise after its IPO is fraught with the danger of killing what made Reddit special in the first place.