I think Reddit clones would be a lot more commonplace and popular if they had a name other than "Reddit clones"; it's a simple site architecture in retrospect, analogous to a blog or a wiki. They are all categories of web applications that have interactive elements, but also act as websites for those who don't care to participate.<p>Now, imagine if blogs had been called "Wordpress clones", or wikis had been known as "Wikipedia clones"? [Yes, I know, not the originators of the species, but surely the ones the most people are familiar with.] I don't think they'd have nearly the traction on the web that they do now, as the media wouldn't be caught dead talking about the "Wordpress clone usage and participation phenomenon" without being payed off. If there was a non-trademarked, one-to-two syllable name one could use to describe both Reddit and HN, I think we'd see the usage shoot up.