I imagine a great deal of Reddit's value comes from the fact that its front page is essentially a mass viral advertising engine under the guise of original content.

I remember reading only a handful of moderators control all of reddit's most popular subreddits, the ones frequently hitting the front page. These I'm sure are just sock accounts for marketing firms to use when they mass promote content. I wonder how much of the front page is even "real" content these days, not just an advertisement.

The smaller niche communities are what make Reddit great for me. I guess a rigged front page is the price we pay to have so many quality smaller subreddits.