I would presume that, especially since those users are disproportionately at a computer where it's simply easy to contribute.

Only Reddit knows how much old UI users contribute, user activity in online communities is very unevenly distributed.

In the end running the old version probably doesn't cost Reddit much, nobody expects them to update or maintain it and so they have no reason to shut it down as long as it keeps working. It isn't worth the inevitable backlash.

>Only Reddit knows how much old UI users contribute, user activity in online communities is very unevenly distributed.

Which is why they don't phase https://old.reddit.com out.

They know the contributors use the "old" reddit.

Also the reason why they don't publish those stats. Too ashamed.

Yeah I generally agree with that, I just think reddit is at the point of not giving a shit if they break the old.reddit site, and that somebody in every meeting is probably calling for them to axe it entirely, and if they actually did that it wouldn't kill the site even if it would be bad for it.

I honestly think one of the biggest issues with axing old reddit is that old reddit users are disproportionately moderators (even though new reddit has unique mod tools). Reddit survives off of unpaid labour, it may be a bit wise to rock the apple cart too much.

Yes, based on this, it is possible that the quality of conversation could get worse.

I feel pretty strongly that the quality suffering is also a reflection of the type of engagement the new layout encourages.

Does it make a difference if they contribute or not? All you really want them to do is view the ads.

You need some content to put next to the ads to encourage users to go there.

Its Reddit, the bots will just repost something from a few days ago.

For the vast majority reddit is just the 15 or so default subs ran by a tiny number of power mods regurgitating content. Has been for years now.

It's easy to forget how strong the filter bubble is on Reddit. I very rarely encounter any of the gigantic subs and to me, the quality of discussion is fairly good. But geez, if everything devolves to r/politics then I'm out, permanently.