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Livestream of Reddit subreddits going private in protest

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Re: Livestream of Reddit subreddits going private in protest

#31

Post by TheAnachronism »

giantrobot wrote: post #18
Exmoor wrote: post #9

Maybe I'm just a pessimist, but if Reddit doesn't backtrack what's the endgame here? I've seen multiple subs indicate they intend to fully shutdown if the API changes continue, but for the popular ones what's to stop Reddit from just appointing new mods and starting the sub back up?

What tools will those new moderators use? The mods of any decent size subreddit have to use third party tools because the first party ones are apparently garbage. I think a better question is what's Reddit's endgame? Mods of huge subreddits will just capitulate and use Reddit's crappy tools to do their unpaid work? Somehow those subreddits won't be flooded with spam and trolls? People will stick around to look at ads…

Agreed, a large part of the platform will just go to shit, as no good moderation tools are available to the mods (regardless if you replace them or not).

Reddit's value lies in what its users provide and post about. This also goes for that data that Reddit (publicly) wants to protect from AI companies. With their change, not only do they screw over its users and communities, but also mess up any valuable future conversation data.

Re: Livestream of Reddit subreddits going private in protest

#32

Post by matkoniecz »

d4mi3n wrote: post #22
dorkwood wrote: post #14

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Well to be fair, there doesn’t seem to be anywhere else for all these users to go, right? So the executives do provide something.

Reddit has about as much technical complexity in its core product as Twitter—both can be trivially cloned. Alternatives exist. It’s the network effects that made Reddit valuable: the people, communities, 3rd-party clients, platform integrations, etc. Most of these things are fairly portable, so I think Reddit execs are mainly gambling in users not wanting to bother with finding a new place to gather. I have to wonder…

> both can be trivially cloned. Alternatives exist

Trivially? No. As can be seen by lack of alternatives of comparable quality.

Re: Livestream of Reddit subreddits going private in protest

#33

Post by 0cVlTeIATBs »

makin wrote: post #6
aunty_helen wrote: post #3

Incredibly impressive to see the community unite with nearly 80% of the subreddits blacked out.

Keep in mind this is 80% of the subreddits that announced would be participating in the event. There are over 3.5 million subreddits altogether, though of course most of them are dead or with a single user.

TIL. I thought reddit had already cracked down on unmoderated subreddits; that if a subreddit didn't have active mods whom the admins could command that they would shut it down.

Re: Livestream of Reddit subreddits going private in protest

#35

Post by TheAnachronism »

radarsat1 wrote: post #27
redundantly wrote: post #7

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's definitely surreal. Will apathy help Reddit to succeed? Will users and communities end this protest and go back to business as usual? Will Reddit buckle under pressure and go back on the API changes? Is this the beginning of the end? Or will Reddit drastically change because of this and it will be unrecognisable in the years to come? It's an interesting time.

> Will users and communities end this protest and go back to business as usual? Maybe. It's hard to get back to business as usual when your usual client just stops working. We'll see how people adapt. I'm not sure I want to install the official reddit app. Switching apps may as well switch sites too.. I've already got Jerboa installed, trying to see if content picks up there enough for it to remain interesting. Defin…

> I'm not sure I want to install the official reddit app.

You probably don't as most requests that app makes, are tracking requests. And they clutter the app so much, it's basically unusable with all the ads and broken video players.

Re: Livestream of Reddit subreddits going private in protest

#36

Post by TheAnachronism »

dorkwood wrote: post #26
d4mi3n wrote: post #22

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Reddit has about as much technical complexity in its core product as Twitter—both can be trivially cloned. Alternatives exist. It’s the network effects that made Reddit valuable: the people, communities, 3rd-party clients, platform integrations, etc. Most of these things are fairly portable, so I think Reddit execs are mainly gambling in users not wanting to bother with finding a new place to gather. I have to wonder…

I’ll admit I don’t know much about the back end. I’m not that sort of dev. Is anyone working on a reddit clone to deploy, then? If there was ever a time, it’s now.

There exists Lemmy, which is a fediverse alternative. From what I've heard, the development of it, is a bit messy, but it seems to work well enough and has potential.

Re: Livestream of Reddit subreddits going private in protest

#37

Post by Gigachad »

olalonde wrote: post #28
Exmoor wrote: post #9

Maybe I'm just a pessimist, but if Reddit doesn't backtrack what's the endgame here? I've seen multiple subs indicate they intend to fully shutdown if the API changes continue, but for the popular ones what's to stop Reddit from just appointing new mods and starting the sub back up?

> appointing new mods and starting the sub back up That's what I'd do. Most subreddit mods are easily replaceable. And in many subreddits, the people who are mods aren't necessarily the best suited for the job. They often got there through luck, bootlicking, etc. It isn't a meritocracy.

For any one sub, sure. But there is no way reddit can replace the majority of mods.

Most companies have to pay for moderators, reddit has gotten them for free for a long time. If they piss off all those free mods, it’s gonna cost them an unimaginable amount of money.

Re: Livestream of Reddit subreddits going private in protest

#38

Post by Gigachad »

bmarquez wrote: post #8

I was watching the stream earlier. It was an exciting feeling to have 10,000 people viewing, and cheering on the chat whenever a new subreddit went dark. I don't know if I should be excited or sad. Reddit is dying, but I'm seeing it live on Twitch with the community cheering on in a festive atmosphere.

I remember a time when when people actually liked reddit. And would buy reddit gold with the intention of helping out host the site. Seems like Ellen Pao and the IAMA drama was the turning point that soured the users against the company.

Re: Livestream of Reddit subreddits going private in protest

#39

Post by quenix »

TheAnachronism wrote: post #30
benjaminwootton wrote: post #21

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I don’t think anyone is claiming it’s the death of Reddit. They are going dark for 2 days, then it will be business as usual.

It will be business as usual until the change of the APIs. Numerous moderation tools use these APIs and with Reddit shutting them down, many subs will be completely overrun with spam. /u/spez mentioned in the shitshow that was his AMA, that there would be moderation tools provided by Reddit, but nothing in that direction has ever been shown. So yes, maybe until the end of June it will be as usual, but afterward many…

I remember the Reddit side quoting some very low number on third-party moderation tool use… something like 8% of moderators using third party tools.

Maybe that effect is overstated.

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