So because of the API change, i guess 3rd party apps will have to pay reddit? So now starting next month on the 12th, people will have to pay to use any 3rd party reddit app.
Also, on reddit there’s talk that a lot of subs will shut down because of this?
Can anyone enlighten me as to what’s going on?
We already have a thread about this. I tried my best to explain in this post:
And it’s not that people will have to pay to use third party apps. They are completely shutting down on June 30 because Reddit is charging them more than they can afford based on current rates (and forbidding them to run ads).
And, honestly, you’d get a lot more information if you go to Reddit. Check out the /r/modcoord subreddit for more info.
Various subs are having a blackout from the 12th of June, not July. This is protest action to demonstrate the user base’s displeasure with the policy.
Thank you man
Do you think it will work?
No, I don’t.
As well as cows protesting a meat packing company over conditions in their feed lot. Many Redditors don’t seem to grasp they’re the product, not the customer.
Interestingly, it’s not the reddit userbase doing the protesting. It’s the mods for each of the subreddits coordinating with each other.
A general “hey guys, don’t use reddit tomorrow” protest wouldn’t work, but many of the largest subreddits will be shutting down entirely, depriving Reddit of its product - the users.
And it is working. The app I use - RedReader - just announced that they won’t be getting charged under the new terms. More apps will likely follow.
Everything you could possibly want to know is here
https://www.reddit.com/r/reddit/comments/145bram/addressing_the_community_about_changes_to_our_api/
Is it going to work? It already is starting to work. I suspect there will be a somewhat reasonable compromise for third party apps but maybe not in time to avoid the “blackout” which means that most of the most popular and many of the smaller subreddits will not be usable for two days.
Here is a very good overview of the link I posted above. It’s much more readable.
https://www.reddit.com/r/ModCoord/comments/145bzus/ceo_spez_ama_overview/
Or longer. /r/dndmemes (over a million subscribers) is shutting down indefinitely. I’m sure others are as well.
You’re correct. Some of the very popular subs claim to be shutting down indefinitely. /r/videos is another one. I think an accommodation will be worked out pretty quickly based on what I am reading in a couple of private forums. For example third party apps that are used for accessibility for disabled people are already exempt.
My guess is that they will announce a thirty day reprieve to allow people to work things out. One of the major issues is that they announced the changes with a cut off date way too soon for people to react to and absorb the news.
I’ve used reddit a lot for the last ten years. I started a couple of very modest subs and took one over that only have several thousand members each. I’ll take them dark out of solidarity even though I’ve never used a third party app.
Worse comes to worse, reddit management can replace the mod team of any sub with stooges. I doubt it will come to that though.
I stand corrected then. I’m probably underestimating the level of use for some, and maybe misunderstanding the 3rd party apps. I’m a low-level, mildly curious reader* and little more. And don’t use anything other than the provided reddit app. Occasionally there’s a link to a video or pic, but that’s as sophisticated as I get. Like here, I prefer the printed word over any other medium.
My assumption that any media site that provides free content is selling eyeballs to advertisers remains mostly valid. But I’m probably unclear on what more sophisticated users are doing with these sites.
Thanks for the correction(s).
*u/Admiral_Cloudberg is the primary reason I visit.
Decent link:
https://old.reddit.com/r/ModCoord/comments/145l7wp/todays_ama_with_spez_did_nothing_to_alleviate/
Yea, he’s great.
It’s entirely valid and completely correct.
It’s just that moderators are regular users and not Reddit employees. Unless Reddit takes control of the large subreddits and forces them to remain open - something I could see them doing* - these blackouts are going to put real dents in the number of eyeballs who see advertisements.
Quite honestly, it’s completely understandable why Reddit doesn’t love its users dodging advertisements with third-party apps. But gosh, Reddit is a fabulous experience on a nice lean app like RedReader.
*something like “after careful consideration, we’ve decided that it’s important to protect both the right to protest our policies and the right to access content. We’re re-opening all subreddits with more than 5,000 active users. We encourage all redditors to choose for themselves whether or not to engage with our content.”
Very fucking true sir
Okay, so, like, I’ve been using Reddit for years, and it was because of this fiasco that I even knew there were third party apps. I’ve been just using a web browser all this time and not minding it. I think I understand how my experience may suffer regardless, but I’m kinda idly wondering what I’ll do on Monday. This issue doesn’t really feel like it touches me right now, but because only the ones who care will post about it, going there during the “blackout” feels weirdly like crossing a picket line. Yet I don’t know how much I (should) care…? Some seem even determined to purge their content on the way out, which would be a shame for multiple reasons, yet I could still probably spend the rest of my life reading what’s already there…?
Similarly, I’m torn about how I’d feel if it did go down. There are alternatives, sure, but my Reddit experience is tightly curated by me, so some of its obscure corners would take years to coalesce elsewhere. Plus, I know it’s got pretty nasty concentrations of right wing lunacy, so like Twitter, I’m sympathetic to the idea that it might be doing more harm than good…?
I dunno. But if they kill the old Reddit web style, then I’d almost definitely leave and not go back…
I also use old Reddit with a regular browser (Chrome on my PC, Safari on my iPhone and iPad). I don’t know if I’d stick around if they ditched old Reddit either but that’s not the issue.
The biggest issue is that is upsetting the users is that the Mod tools supposedly suck on regular reddit and there are great ones on the apps. Not having the apps would make moderating significantly more difficult on the extremely active subs.
Out of solidarity, I have make my three little subreddits (2.5k, 3k and 9k) private, not that anyone will notice. The first two I started from scratch and the last one is a formerly abandoned one that I took over. I’ll likely undo it on Thursday but a lot of them are going to stay private until changes are made.
I’m just one person, but I’ve stopped posting, am in the process of deleting my content, and have returned to the SDMB partially to give me an alternate destination than to visit Reddit all the time. But I don’t expect anybody over there to even notice I’m gone.
Social media platforms rise and fall. Reddit was the prime beneficiary of the mass exodus from Digg. Certainly nothing will happen overnight, but time will tell how the user base will trend long term.