Wubel launches self-proclaimed “Reddit alternative”

Can social news site Reddit handle its explosive growth? To a few serious redditors, the answer is a clear “no.”

Many believe that Reddit’s voting algorithm, the heart of how it sorts content, simply can’t cope with millions of users.

Enter Wubel, a self-proclaimed “Reddit alternative” created, unsurprisingly, by two hardcore Reddit users, Daniel Leicht and Erez Shinan. (Another recent Reddit alternative, Hubski, was also started by a longtime redditor). Wubel officially launched on Saturday after three months of programming and testing.

Wubel distinguishes itself from its giant cousin by taking a Netflix-esque approach to link-aggregation: Rather than sort posts by subscriptions and popularity, Wubel recommends them to you based on your voting history.

Just like with movies on Netflix—or selections on Pandora Radio for that matter—the more you tell Wubel what you like or dislike, the better the site gets at recommending content for you.

Leicht and Shinan took a smart approach to launching the product. Three months ago, the two asked reddit’s r/TrueReddit community what features those redditors would like in a Reddit alternative. That community takes social news sites seriously and provided some thought-provoking discussions on how a link-aggregator can best serve its users.

Will it work? We’re in touch with Leicht and Shinan and are planning to take a more in-depth look at this new social news site. In the meantime, you can sign up for an account and give it a test drive. Feel free to let us know your thoughts in the comments section.