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Reddit’s blackout protest is set to continue indefinitely

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Re: Reddit’s blackout protest is set to continue indefinitely

#661

Post by dbbk »

chongli wrote: post #37

I was really skeptical of lemmy [1] when I first heard about it during the blackout. I joined yesterday and it completely changed my mind. Yes, it is going to face some growing pains (see the total user growth in the past few days) [2] in the coming weeks and months but it really has the potential to replace Reddit with a federated system of communities. One that won't be damaged by investors or executives attempting…

Dead on arrival. There are 6 separate "general" instances. Normal people will never use this.

Re: Reddit’s blackout protest is set to continue indefinitely

#662

Post by smolder »

FormerBandmate wrote: post #624
rakoo wrote: post #580

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> benefit from the product and gain an incentive > An infintessimal fraction of users care about philosophy or architecture [...] Users came for their cat pics. Give them their cat pics. Pitch them on the back end afterwards. I'm afraid you don't understand the concept of the fediverse. The philosophy is the point. Making reddit2 is completely useless. This is not a product, it's a vision of how we manage communicati…

This is a horrible way to get the mass market. It seems like a perfect way to recreate the issues with desktop Linux

There is no mass market solution to both the problems Reddit solves and the ones Lemmy solves. Anything like Reddit which is optimized for easy access and broad engagement will draw a lot of non-contributing users, a lot of spammers, trolls, etc., is unwieldy to run, and will need to suck eventually when it comes time to monetize the network effects. Anything like Lemmy, which can be self-supported and necessarily allows people to run and manage their own fiefdoms in ways that are manageable for them, means there is an added layer of complexity which inhibits easy access and broad engagement. To the extent Lemmy can be made easier to navigate, sign up for, or create communities with, it should be. No one should have to recompile a Lemmy kernel or anything, not that it's anything like that. Neither should anyone expect or even want it to be Reddit, which just deferred figuring out how to sustain itself during a prolonged giveaway of utility before its inevitable enshitification.

Re: Reddit’s blackout protest is set to continue indefinitely

#663

Post by throw16180339 »

cpncrunch wrote: post #374
brainfish wrote: post #317

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This comment contains one of the most-repeated pieces of misinformation from the whole blackout: moderation tools. Reddit has stated repeatedly that moderation tools will be exempted from the API changes. "We will ensure existing utilities, especially moderation tools, have free access to our API."[1] [1] https://www.reddit.com/r/modnews/comments/141oqn8/api_update...

Unfortunately it seems that most of the reddit users/subs participating in this "strike" aren't interested in the facts. I see /r/science says it is private due to accessibility changes and it links to a Verge article, but the Verge article actually says that accessibility apps are exempted.

Many of the facts aren't reported in the Verge article.

Last month Reddit cut off the Pushshift API (https://www.reddit.com/r/modnews/comments/134tjpe/reddit_dat...). It was widely used by moderation bots such as AssistantBOT. Pushshift will supposedly be restored (https://www.reddit.com/r/pushshift/comments/13w6j20/advancin...), but access must be approved by Reddit and is only open to mods with a Pushshift account; there are also additional usage restrictions. IMO it's an open question whether Pushshift or most of the services using it will ever be restored. Pushshift is now owned and managed by NCRI (Network Contagion Research Institute), which is based around selling the data to intelligence agencies (https://networkcontagion.us/technology/). Access for moderation tools isn't really part of their business model.

Accessibility apps are exempted only if they're free and noncommercial; they also can't access NSFW content. Many popular third-party apps that blind users rely on (https://www.reddit.com/r/Blind/comments/1447ibp/what_apps_me...) are commercial and will either be shutting down or have an uncertain future. It's unclear how many apps will make the transition; they weren't given anywhere near enough notice.

Reddit's CEO has publicly lied about discussions with Apollo's developer (https://www.reddit.com/r/apolloapp/comments/144f6xm/apollo_w...). Their credibility with developers is almost nonexistent. The Verge reporter may be taking their word for it, but few moderators and developers are.

The changes they've already made have led to many popular bots being shut down. (https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=36343447) lists a few of them. u/SafestBot, one of the affected bots, is widely used to ban spam and troll accounts. It's a moderator at 342+ subreddits. If brigading is a serious problem in your sub, then your life has gotten a lot harder.

The official mobile app is hot garbage and uniquely poorly suited to moderation. Third-party apps save much of the work and are much easier to use. Some subs such as r/traaaaaaannnnnnnnnns (393k users) have announced that they'll shut down because of this (https://www.reddit.com/r/traaaaaaannnnnnnnnns/comments/144tn...).

Re: Reddit’s blackout protest is set to continue indefinitely

#664

Post by okdood64 »

labster wrote: post #556
kibwen wrote: post #104

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> old.reddit.com and Adblock works perfectly fine on the phone old.reddit.com may not be long for this world. i.reddit.com and reddit.com/.compact were both removed earlier this year: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=35283379 (The irony now of that top comment, "99.5% of my usage is through the iOS client Apollo"...)

Right now, 100% of my usage is old.reddit.com and 0% of my usage is on the new design. These numbers won’t change if they remove old reddit — I’ll just stop using the site.

> I’ll just stop using the site.

I keep hearing this repeated by people who use the site. Honestly, no they won't. At least the vast majority of them. There's literally no viable replacement.

Re: Reddit’s blackout protest is set to continue indefinitely

#665

Post by dbbk »

cmiles74 wrote: post #15

IMHO, Reddit's charging such a high price for API access that it's as good as unattainable is more of a last straw then anything else. Reddit has been clear that they view the data as their sole property, when you think it through, why be a moderator for a for-profit company if you aren't being paid? I don't know why it took this long for moderators to quit.

Moderators of forums have rarely been paid, this is nothing new.

Re: Reddit’s blackout protest is set to continue indefinitely

#666

Post by dbbk »

vineyardmike wrote: post #519
goatlover wrote: post #456

Earlier quoted context omitted.

How will non-profit Reddit pay its costs? What makes you think doing things for the good of people is excluded by for profit businesses? They create all sorts of products and services that people want and need. Yes, there are abuses. Same with non profits. Because humans are in charge. The problem with doing things for the good of people in a general sense is that you still need to have a functioning economy where sc…

> What makes you think doing things for the good of people is excluded by for profit businesses? This entire thread is proof. The entire thread is platforms that people liked started to suck as soon as they decided to make a profit. Sure theoretically profitable businesses can be good for people, but I’m not holding my breath for an example. > The problem with doing things for the good of people in a general sense is…

But they do have to make a profit or they will cease to exist. Money is not some fictional number.

Re: Reddit’s blackout protest is set to continue indefinitely

#667

Post by dbbk »

roastedoolong wrote: post #498
goatlover wrote: post #456

Earlier quoted context omitted.

How will non-profit Reddit pay its costs? What makes you think doing things for the good of people is excluded by for profit businesses? They create all sorts of products and services that people want and need. Yes, there are abuses. Same with non profits. Because humans are in charge. The problem with doing things for the good of people in a general sense is that you still need to have a functioning economy where sc…

> How will non-profit Reddit pay its costs? hmm... if only there were... I don't know... some way to offer users to pay for a quality experience and subsidize that income with advertisements and reasonable API usage fees? no, that couldn't possibly work! I mean, look at Wikipedia... oh. right.

That's literally what Reddit does now and it's not enough

Re: Reddit’s blackout protest is set to continue indefinitely

#668

Post by bastardoperator »

chongli wrote: post #252
bastardoperator wrote: post #215

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Exactly this. Lemmy looks like too much work if I'm being honest and none of the communities look that enticing. The reason reddit is popular is because it's easily accessible to the majority of people. I can't see a path to mass adoption here without a centralized source. I don't want to hunt for data, I want data presented to me.

What do you mean by "too much work"? I joined both lemmy.world and lemmy.ca yesterday (just to see how federation worked) and it was very quick and seamless. No more difficult than joining Reddit. You don't need to join multiple servers either, just one.

I don't want to look for data and join things. I don't have to do that on reddit. Overall I would say even with blackouts, reddit is still more interesting.

Re: Reddit’s blackout protest is set to continue indefinitely

#669

Post by ddingus »

bick_nyers wrote: post #538
ddingus wrote: post #507

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You have a damaged feed path somehow. There is a PTFE tube in there that's supposed to help guide the filament and it is damaged. If you can't do a cold pull nothing will work because the shape of the filament will change inside the feed path and it will bind up. Some hot ends do not have the PTFE tube, but they have metal parts that must be mated together precisely in order for the polymer to flow through. If there…

The cold pull is with the PTFE tubing taken out but yeah, I didn't realize how cheap it was to replace/upgrade the hot end, I will just do that. Thanks for the tip!

Yeah. Totally worth it.

I would run it bog standard. Use the nozzle it ships with, or add a simple brass one and assemble it with care.

Once you have it working, it will probably work a long time.

I have a CR-10 machine mostly running PLA, HIPS and PETG. I never change anything.

The secret is warm up hot end, push filament through by hand, until flow is straight and clean. Then print.

On material change, I do it hot. Pull one, insert the other, push by hand until flow is good.

Re: Reddit’s blackout protest is set to continue indefinitely

#670

Post by carlosjobim »

generj wrote: post #464
carlosjobim wrote: post #250

Earlier quoted context omitted.

So that everybody can exploit the content. When you post comments and threads on a public message board, you are giving it away for free with the expectation that it will be available for the whole world to see. It has been like this since the beginning. Since Usenet, phpBB and everything in between up until now. Should librarians be allowed to close public libraries and make them an exclusive club because they work…

Librarians are allowed to strike, closing down public libraries.

That's a strike, fine. What about closing the library with all books inside and only allowing their friends in, like in my example? What about burning down the library?
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