It's Reddit's World (and National Geographic Just Happens to Live in It)

Earlier this week, a post on the r/science Reddit subthread rocketed to the top of that channel when National Geographic Society announced a 'partnership' between 11 NatGeo writers and editors and r/science writ large, a pool of science-heads that as of this writing stands at 3.5 million subscribers.

The post was submitted by user Neuraxis, and reads:

In the interest of full transparency … r/science will continue to be 100% user-generated content. National Geographic will not be given any special privileges with regards to submitted content, and thus will not be allowed to submit any stories under these usernames.

Overtures of transparency aside, the idea of a 'partnership' sparked criticisms and heated questioning from the r/science community. Many commenters seem to fear that this sort of arrangment could spur a branding trend that finds marketer-Redditors vying for a slice of the online cake.

To be sure, National Geographic Society is a non-profit institution. But for any non-profit that also makes original content and is looking to stay relevant in today's flaky and quickfire online world, it comes down to engaging an ever-broadening audience. It's a reality that even NatGeo--both as a long-running magazine and a website--must live with. At the end of the day, NatGeo wants to drive more traffic and endear a growing readership. Do you blame them?

Nevertheless, r/science commenters have criticized the "NatGeo" tag. The tag appears everytime an employee posts. For some users, the tag gives the impression of an omnipresent advert--an unsavory prospect for which some users have already suggested a fix: The tag could be changed to something to the effect of "Verified editor/writer", an approach not unlike Twitter, where journalists and others in varying shades of the public spotlight often have a "Verified" check to bolster credibility and highlight statuses without advertising. For now, the "NatGeo" tags make r/science look like a Reddit AMA, only instead of being a one-time event, the tag appear constantly on the science subsection.

So is it a dangerous precedent? Here's r/science user captain dumptruck:

If this move is regarded as good, it opens the door to a place I really don't want Reddit to go … If this works out, the next step could be a real partnership, then why not all the subreddits with their own corporate sponsors? Marketing teams have to be drooling over this move. [sic]

Yet there are still those who welcome NatGeo to the often messy, noisey party that is r/science. Given that the subthread's moderators are known to arbitrarily take down posts that stink too much of shameless seeding (or of straight nonsense), this new player within the Reddit branch could may well lead to more consistency and relevance of all the links posted on r/science.

Of course, this is dependent on the 11 NatGeo writers and editors engaging the popular subthread as a means to start interesting dialogues about science rather than using the arrangement to post links to their own work, thus re-directing users to the NatGeo site. It's not uncommon to hear of publishers and social teams alike relegated to Reddit's penalty box for planting their outlet's stories all over Reddit, sometimes to the point of getting flat out banned for spamming. So who knows. This could just be a workaround for NatGeo. One user went so far as to ask if there will be an upcoming issue of National Geographic on Reddit.

Response to the outcry, Neuraxis posted an addendum to his original announcement that aims to clear "some miscommunication":

In its simplest form, we are giving 11 users flaired usernames. The partnership consists of nothing more than what's stated below. The National Geographic Society is a non-profit organization, and is not the same as the NG Channel which is owned by NewsCorp.

As it stands, the back-and-forth between r/science users and their community's new moderators are centered on the experience and science-writing backgrounds of the 11-strong NatGeo editorial crew. Noticeably absent from the lively dialogue? Talk of, well, science. Here's hoping that changes--even if it is difficult to gauge any mood shifting in r/science beyond the oringal PSA posted by Neuraxis.

The point is that is arguably one of the first instances of an official "partnership" between a publication and Reddit. There are countless AMAs involving journalists, websites and magazines (including one with the editors of Motherboard), the most trafficked and crowded and Internet-stopping of which can be found here. There have been brand deals on Reddit in the past, too. Remember when Invicta Watches became the official sponsor of r/watches? The move offended many, and for good reason: The watch brand could undoubtedly influence or modify the content that appeared on the site, critics warned, potentially even curbing the presence of competitors.

But perhaps a better term for the Reddit-NatGeo effort is "relationship" "symbiotic relationship." Or at least that's what the joint effort should strive for. NatGeo's hand in r/science has the potential to safeguard againt stale, irrelevent content clogging up the subthread, provided Neuraxis' talk of a two-way street isn't just blown smoke. Now that would be Reddit gold.