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Reddit CEO tells employees that subreddit blackout ‘will pass’

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Re: Reddit CEO tells employees that subreddit blackout ‘will pass’

#31

Post by dijit »

activiation wrote: post #3

> I am sorry to say this, but please be mindful of wearing Reddit gear in public. Some folks are really upset, and we don’t want you to be the object of their frustrations. LoL

I wouldn't be so quick to dismiss, external popularity can paint a target on your back for 0.000x% of people (which, of course is infinitesimal but non-zero).

I myself have been harrassed for wearing local game studio garb because our games are "violent" and we have "problems with violence" in the city.

The game was a vampire fantasy battle royale, so not exactly a realistic depiction of gun crime- people who feel vindicated to act a certain way will do so without shame or impunity. Best to not give them anything to cling to.

Re: Reddit CEO tells employees that subreddit blackout ‘will pass’

#32

Post by mr_00ff00 »

kibwen wrote: post #13
minimaxir wrote: post #2

Before the blackout, many subreddits hinted at extending the blackout indefinitely if Reddit is being adversarial. This seems adversarial.

Extending the blackout indefinitely has now become a coordinated action via /r/ModCoord (which is the also the source of the list of blacked out subreddits that people are using), with an optional "solidarity mode" that involves blacking out one day a week in perpetuity (which they're calling "Touch Grass Tuesdays"): https://old.reddit.com/r/ModCoord/comments/148ks6u/indefinit...

The irony of organizing a blackout to teach Reddit a lesson while organizing it on a subreddit.

Re: Reddit CEO tells employees that subreddit blackout ‘will pass’

#33

Post by smsm42 »

kibwen wrote: post #13
minimaxir wrote: post #2

Before the blackout, many subreddits hinted at extending the blackout indefinitely if Reddit is being adversarial. This seems adversarial.

Extending the blackout indefinitely has now become a coordinated action via /r/ModCoord (which is the also the source of the list of blacked out subreddits that people are using), with an optional "solidarity mode" that involves blacking out one day a week in perpetuity (which they're calling "Touch Grass Tuesdays"): https://old.reddit.com/r/ModCoord/comments/148ks6u/indefinit...

This sounds like finding ways to fold without it looking like they folded. The question is simple - can they live with the new situation or not? If they are willing to, then protesting on Tuesdays is not going to do much. If they are not, then they are not on every day, not only Tuesday. I don't endorse either side here, but looking realistically, it's either win - Reddit changes their behavior to more acceptable - or loss - Reddit doesn't. Solidarity Tuesdays are just a form of the loss where people still pretend it's not lost yet.

Re: Reddit CEO tells employees that subreddit blackout ‘will pass’

#34

Post by almost_usual »

QuarterRoy wrote: post #21
hopefulrabbit wrote: post #7

Got a chuckle from him addressing his employees with a "Hi Snoos". Am I the only one surprised how hard they are doubling down on this?

His job is to double down on getting Reddit public with a successful IPO. Investors want their $ back out of Reddit

With all the negative publicity this IPO is DOA. Not unless they push it out year(s) and do PR. Damage is already done.

Re: Reddit CEO tells employees that subreddit blackout ‘will pass’

#35

Post by HDThoreaun »

TheFreim wrote: post #18

I don't understand why reddit didn't respond to the initial criticism by decreasing the pricing/demands and just slowly implementing what they want over time. Doing it all at once seemed like a silly move.

They want to IPO very soon. Don't have the luxury of rolling this out over a year plus.

Re: Reddit CEO tells employees that subreddit blackout ‘will pass’

#36

Post by adrr »

TheFreim wrote: post #9

If the blackout is only for two days then they're right, but if they continue indefinitely it could force a change (reddit is currently unusable since all but one sub I enjoy is gone, if it was gone indefinitely then reddit would be indefinitely out of the picture for me).

They’ll just replace the mods if the popular subreddits go longer than 2 days.

Re: Reddit CEO tells employees that subreddit blackout ‘will pass’

#37

Post by perfectstorm »

can someone help me understand what's the core of the issue is? is it because they are now charging for APIs which used to be free? i hope that's the not the issue because that's not a sustainable business. third party apps can grow revenue using Reddit's contents and Reddit don't see a penny from them.

if the issue is the amount Reddit charge per call, why can't those third party apps charge their users more based on the API charge? the whole thing seems bit immature from both sides.

Re: Reddit CEO tells employees that subreddit blackout ‘will pass’

#38

Post by shadowgovt »

Oh, that's a fascinating question. My prediction is one of two things will happen:

1) His prediction will come true

2) The mods who set these subreddits private will discover that private is way more palatable, enjoyable, and easy to manage than public and will leave it there.

... at which point, either new subreddits come along to pick up the public (with the former subreddits slowly collapsing into an elite or old-guard) or Reddit will drift into irrelevance, replaced by some other public gathering location.

Re: Reddit CEO tells employees that subreddit blackout ‘will pass’

#39

Post by samwillis »

TheFreim wrote: post #9

If the blackout is only for two days then they're right, but if they continue indefinitely it could force a change (reddit is currently unusable since all but one sub I enjoy is gone, if it was gone indefinitely then reddit would be indefinitely out of the picture for me).

At some point, if they remain closed, Reddit will just take ownership of them, suspend the mods and reopen the reddits.

They will however need to do it carefully, probably after most others have folded and reopened, so as not to cause another blackout.

But ultimately it's their platform, they can do what they want. Maybe they will just have to start actually employing the mods, which may actually end up a net positive from this fiasco.

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