From what I've heard, Reddit early on scrapped content from other sites. Mostly to actually make it seem like it had more users that it actually did. They stopped once they got to a critical mass of user generated content which was self sustaining. That's not exactly something that would fly nowadays.
Although, as Im researching this I can't find a source for this. So please correct me if I'm wrong.
Although, as Im researching this I can't find a source for this. So please correct me if I'm wrong.