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!

  • Anon2971@beehaw.orgEnglish
    40·
    2 years ago

    It’s disappointing to see some of the larger subreddits going public with a ‘what’s the point?’ tone. Most are staying private, but some aren’t. As if Reddit doesn’t exist solely because of its user generated content. If enough subs permanently shut down they’ll have to reconsider their API position.

    I decided to write a message to subreddits I’ve been lurking for years via messaging the mods saying how vitally important it is for subreddits to protest right now, at this critical time, before it’s too late. I’ve politely implored them to continue the protest saying how these API changes with have a long-lasting, permanent impact on Reddit as a platform for the worse.

    I’d suggest you guys come up with your own letter template and message the mods of those subreddits in polite form. It’d be great if we can convince these exceptions to go private again. I also understand some moderators may be afraid Reddit will just replace them with mods willing to reopen the sub, so I added a section saying it they’re treated like that, Reddit don’t deserve their time and maybe they should consider rebuilding elsewhere if that happens. Its their prime chance to stand up for the right thing right now for the future of Reddit.

    I used Reddark to determine which subreddits to contact. I’d say only contact hobbyist ones such as sports rather than more politically-inclined ones like Ukraine that have a fair reason to stay open. Also some subreddits have made poll posts asking their users if they should go private like Gaming and NotTheOnion, so please don’t message those ones.

    • jay@beehaw.orgEnglish
      24·
      2 years ago

      I agree with everything you’ve said and that it is disappointing. I do think there is merit in continuing to protest and send a message.

      However, I don’t think there’s anything that can move the Reddit leadership team back. Because even if they went back on this API issue, the continued process of the degradation of reddit as a service has been a long term thing. It seems to me that the Fidelity downgrade of their evaluation has pushed them even further down this path.

      I truly am done with them. Even if they come back from all this, what’s left there? Somebody else pointed out that over the year, generally interactions became more unfriendly on reddit, spam and changes to the algorithm increasingly pushed away from the platform we all loved.

      I see this situation and how it was so exacerbated by Spez and the leaderships absolute failure as a blessing. There’s a lot of alternative ways to spend time on the internet, to connect and learn. Beehaw has been really good to me the last couple days, I am excited for a future here and ready to not contribute toward the mess that reddit has become anymore.

      • sarsaparilyptus@beehaw.orgEnglish
        15·
        2 years ago

        It’s become increasingly clear that Steve and his cronies are desperately trying to get Reddit to its IPO with value intact so they can cash out and leave someone else holding the bag. As I’ve said elsewhere, I wouldn’t be surprised if he and others end up shorting Reddit.

        • The Cuuuuube@beehaw.orgEnglish
          1·
          2 years ago

          If he does, that’s insider trading and wildly illegal. Not saying he won’t, just that the ethical thing to do would be to treat Reddit as a Conman’s scheme and withdraw any value you’ve put into it sooner rather than later. Reduce the IPO value by not going back

      • Anon2971@beehaw.orgEnglish
        7·
        2 years ago

        I’m excited to see how these new platforms flourish too. Even if Reddit do eventually concede and they drop their API pricing, the writing is on the wall. They’ve shown how little they care about the community that uses their platform. I’ll likely be leaving Reddit permanently, but I want to know I’ve at least done everything in my power as a long-time user to protest their awful decisions.

    • GadgeteerZA@beehaw.orgEnglish
      22·
      2 years ago

      What the big subreddits don’t realise is, on Fediverse many of their subreddits have not yet been recreated. If they don’t do it, someone else will and then they come in as just contributors. So may be in their interests to actually establish a presence, and gauge how much take-up they get.

      • feetongrass@beehaw.orgEnglish
        7·
        2 years ago

        May be they already realize it, meaning, they saw all the popular communities already created here, and would much rather stay there as mods.

        • Bear83170@beehaw.orgEnglish
          2·
          2 years ago

          I think so too but I don’t see why they wouldn’t want to come on the fediverse nonetheless. They can participate but not as mods. Once they build a reputation on the fediverse then of course they could apply for mod.

    • GhostMagician@beehaw.orgEnglish
      6·
      2 years ago

      I was wondering if I should delete all or leave some of my posts, but seeing subs I subscribed to come back was what made me decide to just wipe everything. Can’t do anything about the mods or what other users do, so felt like deleting stuff was the one tiny bit of control I had over the situation. Which itself is nothing, but at least it’s something.

        • hadrian@beehaw.orgEnglish
          5·
          2 years ago

          Note that it might take a while though, so if anyone wants to get this done before the 30th (so you can use API-based tools to wipe comments), request it ASAP.

          I requested…maybe two weeks or so ago? And it only came through today. So get to it y’all

          • coldredlight@beehaw.orgMEnglish
            1·
            2 years ago

            I used Power Delete Suite to overwrite my comments and posts via API, it includes an option to export everything from your account to a CSV before it takes any destructive actions, and it’s super easy to use.

            • GhostMagician@beehaw.orgEnglish
              2·
              2 years ago

              It was cool seeing years of comments get wiped. I could see why some people would purge their history every year even before the reddit controversy. It’s cleansing in a way.

      • Anon2971@beehaw.orgEnglish
        3·
        2 years ago

        I’m planning to wait and see what happens on June 30th before I do that. Over the years I’ve made some educational posts on music production that I still occasionally get messages about, so I’ll be manually going through my content to decide what to preserve and what to delete. I’m glad I’m not someone who decided to post a lot over my many years of Redditing or I would be in for a long dig lol (if you’ll pardon the pun RIP Digg).