Bye Bye Reddit

[1991 Canadian]

Reddit is a business. They need to make money. If api users are getting less ads, this is a move Reddit has to make.

We are in a downward monetization over user experience slide in the internet right now. We have been for while, but I’m not getting the same “wow, I can now stream HD videos” type tech improvements to offset the negative changes.

Sites like Reddit are getting worse. Outside of Calgarypuck, every site I go to is objectively worse than it was 5 10 years ago.

The problem now is these sites are monopolies in their niche. But there is no real reason to regulate or do anything about it. So what that reddit is forcing users onto their crappy app to see more ads? Reddit isn’t critical infrastructure or a daily necessity. But it is so big that is basically functions are a monopoly. Same Twitter. Same with Facebook. Same with with YouTube.

I don’t know what the solution is, it’s just frustrating knowing that the golden era of the internet is behind us.

[Ozy_Flame]

Originally Posted by 1991 Canadian

We are in a downward monetization over user experience slide in the internet right now. We have been for while, but I’m not getting the same “wow, I can now stream HD videos” type tech improvements to offset the negative changes.

Sites like Reddit are getting worse. Outside of Calgarypuck, every site I go to is objectively worse than it was 5 10 years ago.

Astute observation. I agree, there has been no marked or significant improvements to social media sites or the technology behind them. The UX hasn't really changed much, and really the area most of these sites should be tackling - content quality and disinformation - is still severely lacking.

I will give props to LinkedIn for things like Easy Apply and collaborative articles. But outside of that Musk and Zuck haven't made their platforms any better, and no other marquee social media site has emerged (yet) as a true alternative.

[edslunch]

Originally Posted by Ozy_Flame

Astute observation. I agree, there has been no marked or significant improvements to social media sites or the technology behind them.

The opposite in fact. Facebook and Instagram for example are unbearable now with so much unsolicited content and advertising. They are awful.

[topfiverecords]

These platforms need to turn a profit at some point. The kiddies are crying now because they can't get their Reddit the way they want it?

The fact reddit allowed others to make profit off their site by reskinning it through an app and charged nothing for it for so long seems strange. They should have started with very miniscule API charges and slowly raised it.

[Ozy_Flame]

Edslunch -

What are you talking about? I said there were no improvements. I think we're saying the same thing.

[Hemi-Cuda]

Well it looks like reddit would rather show a broken webpage image rather than an empty homepage. Kinda smart I guess, casual users will assume it's some kind of technical problem and won't be able to see the actual reason for the shutdown

[topfiverecords]

Originally Posted by edslunch

The opposite in fact. Facebook and Instagram for example are unbearable now with so much unsolicited content and advertising. They are awful.

Let's hope Facebook becomes so unbearable that it disappears into a vat of acid.

[CorsiHockeyLeague]

Originally Posted by Hemi-Cuda

Well it looks like reddit would rather show a broken webpage image rather than an empty homepage. Kinda smart I guess, casual users will assume it's some kind of technical problem and won't be able to see the actual reason for the shutdown

Except that kind of response might just result in the community going, "alright, we'll do it again next week and every week after until you just let it happen."

[DownInFlames]

Originally Posted by topfiverecords

These platforms need to turn a profit at some point. The kiddies are crying now because they can't get their Reddit the way they want it?

The fact reddit allowed others to make profit off their site by reskinning it through an app and charged nothing for it for so long seems strange. They should have started with very miniscule API charges and slowly raised it.

I'm surprised they weren't charging fees in the past. If the developers had to pay something reasonable this wouldn't be an issue, but springing huge fees on them is a dick move by Reddit.

[TorqueDog]

I'm a long time BaconReader iOS user as the official Reddit app for iOS and Android has always been hot garbage. If BaconReader shuts down, my usage of Reddit will drop like a rock, as the only way I'll use it will be through my PC browser ... which is the way I least often use Reddit in the first place.

[TheIronMaiden]

I catch myself using reddit less than ever. There are a few niche hobby subreddits that have good info, and a few meme pages I scroll once or twice a week. In general the quality of the content has not kept up with other media like youtube shorts.

[calgarygeologist]

Originally Posted by CorsiHockeyLeague

Except that kind of response might just result in the community going, "alright, we'll do it again next week and every week after until you just let it happen."

I don't know how Reddit works but do the community moderators have full autonomy or are there "super" moderators who can overrule the community moderators? I'm assuming that at some point the higher ups at Reddit can just boot out the current crop of moderators and open up the communities again and potentially go back to business as usual with new moderators.

[Yamer]

Originally Posted by Ozy_Flame

Edslunch -

What are you talking about? I said there were no improvements. I think we're saying the same thing.

I read that as them saying that not only are they not improving, but also - in fact - they are getting worse and worse to the point of zero usability.

[DownInFlames]

Originally Posted by calgarygeologist

I don't know how Reddit works but do the community moderators have full autonomy or are there "super" moderators who can overrule the community moderators? I'm assuming that at some point the higher ups at Reddit can just boot out the current crop of moderators and open up the communities again and potentially go back to business as usual with new moderators.

The admins can do that, and definitely will if it goes on long enough.

[CorsiHockeyLeague]

It just seems to make more sense to just let this happen and the next day things return to business as usual with everyone patting each other on the back for showing Reddit what's what. Maybe that day is tomorrow.

[KelVarnsen]

Originally Posted by 1991 Canadian

Reddit is a business. They need to make money. If api users are getting less ads, this is a move Reddit has to make.

We are in a downward monetization over user experience slide in the internet right now. We have been for while, but I’m not getting the same “wow, I can now stream HD videos” type tech improvements to offset the negative changes.

Sites like Reddit are getting worse. Outside of Calgarypuck, every site I go to is objectively worse than it was 5 10 years ago.

The problem now is these sites are monopolies in their niche. But there is no real reason to regulate or do anything about it. So what that reddit is forcing users onto their crappy app to see more ads? Reddit isn’t critical infrastructure or a daily necessity. But it is so big that is basically functions are a monopoly. Same Twitter. Same with Facebook. Same with with YouTube.

I don’t know what the solution is, it’s just frustrating knowing that the golden era of the internet is behind us.

Any good business should care about accessibility. The Reddit app sucks on that front.

[octothorp]

I think the real conversations will happen once the blackout is lifted. A lot of communities will likely have discussions about starting to build a presence on Kbin or other fediverse sites. As soon as communities start to build alternatives for themselves, then reddit's margin for pissing power-users and content-creators off becomes very thin.

[Blaster86]

Reddit will be fine until they ban the porn. Once you ban the porn, you lose the membership.

[Hack&Lube]

Originally Posted by DownInFlames

I'm surprised they weren't charging fees in the past. If the developers had to pay something reasonable this wouldn't be an issue, but springing huge fees on them is a dick move by Reddit.

API calls were free to encourage growth but Reddit is 17 years old now and unprofitable. Many commercial platforms charge for API calls but they have to strike a balance. The information out there this will shut down 90% of the apps misses the nuances that the charges are based on number of API calls which is pretty standard.

Certainly charge for API usage to big commercial entities that use Reddit for commercial and marketing purposes but you need to strike a balance for free or community based initiatives that simply aim to make the content more pleasant to access and consume and drives actual growth of real users rather than bots.

[Hack&Lube]

Many people say a critical mass exodus is unlikely but look at what happened to Tumbler Digg after they made their changes - that largely resulted in the birth of Reddit as we know it today.