hey everyone. if you want to post links or discuss the Reddit blackout today, please localize it to this thread in order to keep things tidy! Thanks!
It’s disappointing seeing people cave so quickly when under the slightest inconvenience. It doesn’t matter for me, though - I’m not going back. If anything, this has helped me realize the unhealthy relationship I had with Reddit and was a good way to break that.
To new and better things.
I started reading Reddit (and now Lemmy) through RSS feeds because I was exhausted from the constant scrolling. I think that’s really helped me cut back on my link-aggregator of choice. The RSS feeds here could use some TLC though – the feeds smoosh the title and url together and if there is any sort of post text, it’s not much to go on.
What RSS feed application are you using? I’m thinking of doing the same. Just pulling in everything from multiple sources into one interface
I’m probably going to delete my account or at least cut back drastically on my usage, but I’m currently the only active mod for a small fan sub for an old fantasy book series. I don’t really want to leave that sub unmoderated but I’ll have to find another user willing to take on mod duties before I feel alright abandoning Reddit altogether.
only active mod for a small fan sub
That attachment is what they (Reddit) are counting on. It’s your community, not Reddits; and they don’t care. But you do… while admirable in itself, its being used against you.
I don’t disagree with you, but I still feel a certain responsibility to that community. I’d like to start divesting myself of that responsibility, but it’ll take time if I don’t want to just abandon it.
As the only mod, would you be able to export the data to lemmy and inform the users that they can continue posting here? I have no idea, genuinely just interested.
I have no idea whether that would be possible, but I’m also not sure I would want to do it. It would be one thing to encourage folks to move but I don’t own that subreddit (I’m not even the founder or the head mod, just the only one that actively moderates) and I wouldn’t want to grab other folks’ posts and comments and put them elsewhere.
…an old fantasy book series…
(My ears prick up)
An old fantasy series? I’m big time into old fantasy series. May I ask what it was?
I wonder how much of this caving in was, because a lot of lame mods were worried about losing their past time and or control over large communities.
There are a lot of little Lukashenkos out there that will immediately cave to a bully as long as they’re allowed to remain in control.
I’m happy to stay on lemmy. Just like mastodon, it had a boy that will fade but then I think it will continue to grow.
Reddit’s always had inept management, Spez in particular can’t help but antagonise his users with a daft unforced error every couple of years. We don’t need to ‘win’, we don’t even need to actively do anything but exist. As long as nice places like this exist and Reddit does too Reddit’s inevitable cockups will provide a small but steady trickle of users.
I deleted my Reddit account on 6/12 and they just simply didn’t process it. Losers
https://github.com/andrewbanchich/shreddit
This should help!
Advertisers are starting to take notice, it seems. Gotta keep the blackout running longer to hit em in their pocketbooks - 2 days they can weather out, indefinite dark they cannot. It’s what I’ve been saying from the beginning, a protest with a clearly defined end date has no teeth.
I’ve heard about Reddit removing a mod from a popular subreddit, then turning the subreddit public (sorry, don’t have the reference). They can always stop the blackout by force. But once they do that, those mods will have definite incentive to start the communities in the fediverse.
I just posted this in response to a frenetic YouTube video that claimed that the Reddit protest “failed”:
Get serious. It was NEVER going to stop the IPO. But it has accomplished something even more important: it has decapitated Reddit. A lot of the most passionate and involved users are gone, and more of them have at least tried Fediverse alternatives like Lemmy and kbin. Have you checked those sites out? They’re FLOODED with Reddit refugees, and the communities there are booming! They’re active and vibrant, with great discussions and content.
What’s more, they have hope. The members there aren’t subject to some psychotic money-grubbing corporation; if any one server goes authoritarian, there’s nothing stopping the users there from just moving to another. They’ll have the same access and functionality. And frankly, the odds of a Fediverse server going corporate and having an IPO are infinitesimal. It simply wouldn’t be worth it, particularly since there’s no way they could stop other instances from defederating with them.
So the outcome of the blackout has been twofold: First, Reddit has lost some of it’s best. The quality of content there is diminished, and will continue to diminish as poor quality drives users away. And second, the Fediverse alternatives have been given a huge boost. Almost all users of Reddit are now aware of the ugly truths that underlie that service, and that there are alternatives out there.
That’s not failure. That’s the seeds of success.
And by the way, I think that’s one thing we can all do to help bring down Reddit: mention the great alternatives out there as much as possible to spread the word. The more Redditors who learn that they don’t have to be a product to be sold by the pound for the stockholder class, the quicker Reddit will fall!
I also bet there are people who haven’t already left that will abandon ship once the TPAs stop working. It’s not going to be fun getting stuck with their mediocre app, particularly since they seem to be testing the end of the mobile site.
This. For a lot of people Reddit isn’t reddit.com, it’s Apollo or Relay or Sync or Reddit Is Fun.
After the apps stop working, they won’t be able to keep using the thing they’re used to. They can’t just go back, they’ll have to switch to something different.
I stopped using Twitter when they pulled this API crap, and as a Boost user, I won’t use reddit when I can no longer use Boost.
Currently using Jerboa for beehaw and I’m liking it so far, and the dev seems really responsive to user requests. Excited for the communities to get some traction moving forward!
I imagine there’s a meaningful amount of users that only exist in the context of the third party apps, that will disappear after the apps lose support. I’m sure most of them are lurkers, but that’s still something.
I mostly lurk with a few comments a day on Reddit. My oldest account is like 6 years old and has 60k comment karma, so I’ll at least be bringing that here and away from there.
But, I am going to use it a bit more before the end of the month since I’m not paying for it and I’m not getting a new app, this is my reddit swan song I guess. I’ll also be nuking the old comments of course ;)
I am fascinated by how the experience of other people can be completely different from mine, alien even. We can look at the same situation and come up with exactly opposite conclusions. I keep trying to put myself in the shoes of the other, figure out how they think. The behavior of u/spez is abhorent to me, but here’s how I would imagine he thinks about the community list of demands:
<AH mode>
Bringing the API pricing down to the point ads/subscriptions could realistically cover the costs.
The costs are reasonable and down to earth! We’ve been extremely generous. Our prices are in line with industry standards. The app devs are greedy and do not want to pay. In fact they are so greedy they are choosing to shut down and go out of business rather than pay their fair share! Also some apps are ahem inefficient. Those devs could stay profitable if they just code their apps better.
Reddit gives the apps time to make whatever adjustments are necessary
The apps had plenty of time. We’ve been perfectly transparent. The API changes were announced months in advance. The first bills do not arrive until months from now in August, and are not due for another month after that. The apps have enough time if they are serious about working with us.
Rate limits would need to be per user+appkey, not just per key.
Rate limits are for the free tier. The paid tier is a flat fee per 1000 API calls without rate limit.
Commitment to adding features to the API; image uploads/chat/notifications.
We are always working on new and exciting features! We have so many mod tools in the pipeline. All the hottest features will appear in our native app first, which is where we can best ensure everything stays compatible. Have you tried using that?
Lack of communication. Why were disabled communities not contacted to gauge the impact of these API changes?
We are always in communication with our communities! We’ve been discussing these API changes for months, collecting community input, and interacting with our users in AMAs!
You say you’ve offered exemptions for “non-commercial” and “accessibility apps.” Despite r/blind’s best efforts, you have not stated how they are selected.
We communicate with developers on an app-by-app basis. We have already confirmed the inclusion of two accessibility apps! We support accessibility for blind people!
Parity in access to NSFW content
Cannot be done for lawyercat reasons.
Now that we have addressed all of the listed community concerns, we are looking forward to welcoming all of you back to reddit!
</AH mode>
P.S. the fact that u/spez specifically stated that “old.reddit.com isn’t going anywhere” confirms in my mind that old.reddit will be gone within 9 months. Screenshot this.
old.reddit.com isn’t going anywhere
“We are keeping it right here on our servers and it’s not going over the internet to your browser.”
Man, I read your word vomit like 4 times, I believe you are right about all of it.
I read all of the apps threads about why they’re quitting on the 30th, for Apolo which has already charged its users he would have to foot the costs the whole time until the next subscription re-up for many/most of his users, and we’re supposed to believe the reddit guys?
For others, even the ones that want to make it work with added subscriptions, the lack of full reddit access via the API makes one wonder, what’s the point of even trying?
Reddit has been an awful site for nearly 20 years, the only thing that made it usable was third party apps.
I’m not sure I’m going to miss it, I hated it before 3PA, and I’m willing to hate it again now.
The only thing I’m going to miss is world news updates and stuff that is here, the volume is basically muted in comparison.
Cannot be done for lawyercat reasons.
I can’t say for sure, but I suspect they are trying to push nsfw in-house for the sake of monetizing it. Nsfw drives quite a bit of traffic, and with the falling out of Imgur, Reddit itself has become the primary host. They just can’t say their intentions publicly because Reddit has a bit of problem with non-consensual material.
Right! I was trying to model u/spez as sincere, but with views so diametrically opposed to mine as to sound insane. “Lawyercats” was an actual reason he has cited previously. I agree that the much more likelier explanation is that reddit execs are lying out their ass and are simply deliberately killing of 3rd party apps to make their IPO look better somehow, and using the fuck-you pricing as a convenient excuse. The execs must have been drinking their own start-up cool-aid, having forgotten that the real value of reddit is not in them but in the community. u/spez keeps calling it HIS data that 3rd party apps are profiting off, when it is really OUR data. Or maybe they are aware, but are expecting that they can bend the community to their will regardless.
But wait. I have a NSFW subreddit, and reddit doesn’t allow you to upload pictures directly to reddit if you’re on an NSFW subreddit. Right? So how can it be the primary host?
Apparently it’s allowed via the mobile app.
https://techcrunch.com/2023/05/12/reddit-will-allow-users-to-upload-nsfw-images-from-desktop/
Still holding strong and staying here. Might as well get it over with though, as once RIF is dead, I wouldn’t be browsing reddit anyway.
Stayed off Reddit completely for the last 2 days but checked back in in a couple of the smaller subs I browse today. But I have found I am checking back in here on Lemmy more even now that all the Reddit subs I usually post in are back open. This really feels like a viable alternative to me.
I’ve also stayed off reddit so far, but doing so taught me something. I’m definitely addicted to scrolling reddit on my phone. The number of times I just opened reddit on reflex and then caught myself and killed the app was insane. Even if there’s a miracle and reddit changes their ways, this is something I should probably address.
I decided to jump before I was pushed and binned off Apollo the weekend before the strikes started. This place existing made that jump a lot easier I think!
I had the official Reddit app because there was one function that it could do that my 3P couldn’t. But I decided the hell with it and uninstalled it yesterday. I assume I’m not the only one.
And meanwhile, I can’t say that I’m holding strong. I still have no desire to go back to Reddit. No strength is required!
I put the Lemmy web app shortcut where my Rif app used to be on my phone, so my muscle memory from always opening up rif has me going to lemmy instead. I’ve barely been looking at reddit at all and really enjoying seeing these lemmy communities grow. Once rif is gone I don’t plan to use reddit at all (aside from the occasional specific Google search for “specific question reddit”) and I don’t think I’ll miss it.
