Right, but you probably don't hear the biggest Twitch streamers telling people to go read Reddit threads to learn about games and you definitely don't expect them to be on Reddit engaging with people.

Stacker News' built in monetization changes the calculus a bit, but I'm not sure it will be enough.

As much as people trash Reddit (deservedly), it's still one of the best places to find information about lots of topics.  Like if I have a question about a video game, i'd trust Reddit more than I'd trust most other information sources.  Crowdsourcing works, especially if it's on topics that aren't politically charged.

SimpleStacker

ideasfromtheedge

Any ideas to promote SN ? part 2

Roll

I think the logic is that crowdsourcing is a substitute for following particular experts. 

They worry that people will prefer the discussions we have over just receiving their insights and they don’t want to take the time to actually engage with their audience. 