I assume that they measure active users, though, which would ignore these throwaways. And Reddit's approach lets users opt in to "higher-value" features anyway - a Reddit user can opt for an experience much like any other social network (and with comparable "value" flowing to Reddit themselves) if they so choose.

The problem for Reddit is that no one sane would choose to do this at the moment, simply because the abysmal performance of the "new" site and app severely impacts usability, which alone makes them uncompetitive! (And no, this is not just a HN user's typical bias talking: try using the app or the new site designs, and you'll see what I mean. They're even more terrible than FB! And this especially bad for engagement with Reddit in countries outside the U.S., where legacy or underpowered hardware is far more common.) This is entirely a self-inflicted problem from the Reddit leadership.

Users won’t ask the stuff they do without throwaways. They’re needed for some level of anonymity, within reason.

Can't wait for an 'aliases' 'feature' to be developed while throwaway accounts become increasingly more difficult to create.