Jimmycrackcrack
I have a tendency to think this way when I see this kind of disappointing news, but I think it’s a good idea to resist the temptation. Assuming everyone that chooses this particular streaming service is an idiot because of something that for me is an issue but for them either doesn’t matter or more likely still, isn’t even on their radar, well I guess it just helps reinforce a distorted world view that assumes everyone is or should be like me and the people I talk to online.
Still though, I was definitely hoping this would bite them in the arse and it’s a shame to see them come out of this smelling like roses somehow.
How do those things work? When I first saw them come in to existence I was under the impression they were just front ends for navigating and playing media in your personal library and storage, like windows media centre used to be, but they seem to be something altogether a lot more capable and complicated. Where does the content come from? Is it streamed?
Aww poor dude, nearly had it all figured out.
Nah, they were just a company after all. The strongest feeling I get is that it’s just a bummer because I’ve grown to depend on the platform so much and now I’ve got to try and adapt.
At the same time, as this thing that was previously an interesting little curiosity on a corner of the web grew to be a big time suck and addiction, the dopamine hit returns and actually helpful interactions I was getting from Reddit were diminishing anyway so when there was finally a convenient push to make me try harder to either find an alternative or just ditch it, I was strangely grateful.
I do feel like I’m losing something that was very useful resource and which also filled a need, albeit one that it created in the first place, but at the end of the day, it’s just a forum. I can’t really feel betrayed or heartbroken by an entity that was only ever intended to make money and had no obligation to my approval.
I think you’re going to find a little bit of a sampling bias asking that question here.
My need that I want to fill is a bit unrealistic and unfair to expect but… everything.
What made Reddit slowly morph from just another interesting webpage for amusement to a place where I spend a lot of my time and rely upon for so many things was how it slowly came to intersect with everything.
It became a kind of a separate google when you didn’t get much joy from traditional web searching. It was a place to feel one belonged but at the same time a place for anonymity when I wanted it (at least to other Redditors anyway), a place for serious discussion and pointless shitposting seeing news as it unfolded but also stupid cat videos.
It was a placeholder for every niche you could think of so if you were trying out a new hobby, or watching a new show, or starting a new career, or trying new software there was always a sub for it.
Lemmy and other alternatives theoretically could do that, but, it’d be hard. Reddit couldn’t really do that because of a great design, it just naturally progressed that way when it had more and more people in one place. That centralisation was it’s flaw and it’s strength so it’s a difficult line for any would be successor to straddle. Ultimately though I think, if nothing ever does pull that off, Reddit ultimately created the need for Reddit and we were all fine before it and should be fine after.
