Is there any feedback of the current blackout? Feels like everything will be over soon and it's going on like before. : reddit

[–] [email protected] 37 points 2 years ago (7 children)

Feels like everything will be over soon and it's going on like before.

This is why scheduling it ahead of time to last for 48 hours was a monumentally stupid idea.
If workers form a union and they go on a strike, and they told the boss they're striking for 2 days, The boss can just wait it out and get back to whatever they were doing before after the strike.
This is essentially a content creators strike from Reddit, telling the admins that everything will be back to normal in 2 days gives them the opportunity to wait it out without having to cave to any of the demands.
I really enjoyed this community so far and watching it grow immensely over the past 24 hours or so, and it kind of feels depressing that most of the people are just going to leave and go back to Reddit tomorrow.

[–] [email protected] 22 points 2 years ago (2 children)

They’ll be back here again in 2-ish weeks when Apollo and RIF are done.

And when mlem and other apps start rolling out for Lemmy, we’ll start seeing shifts. Apps that have proper accessibility, a clean UI, lack advertising and don’t eat data. And they give you the same Reddit experience without Reddit’s predatory business strategy.

When the blackouts stop, a lot of users will be able to search for Reddit alternatives and will find Lemmy… through Reddit.

I mod a sub with 65K users or so, I plan to go dark indefinitely. Also considering Read-Only with a sticky redirecting here. I know I’m not the only mod.

The Digg > Reddit migration wasn’t overnight. It was fast, though.

[–] [email protected] 4 points 2 years ago (1 children)

Yea, I keep thinking this. Once there’s an app on Android and iOS, one that can explain the fediverse simply and is well designed, many of the Apollo, RIF, and Sync users will jump over.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 2 years ago (1 children)

The average user has poor tech literacy. I mean, the pandemic began over 3 years ago and still people have trouble managing Zoom. "How do I share a screen? Where is the calendar invite? Oh woops, I didn't realize I was unmuted!". These are otherwise smart people. That's why the best apps are super simple and idiot-proof.

I strongly believe that a good Lemmy does not need to explain the federation.
It should not use the word 'instance', 'server' or any of that jargon outside of advanced settings. All that'll do is scare away new users.

All the app needs to do is say, "Hey, you want to connect with communities sharing memes, news and fun stories? Well - download this app!". Let the app point them to a list of communities they might like and keep it at that.

The user doesn't need to know they're commenting on Beehaw or lemmy.world. All they need to know is they're chatting about a cute kitten or whatever.

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[–] someguy3 3 points 2 years ago (4 children)

I'm using "jerboa for Lemmy". Is that the best option? Feels very beta.

[–] bionicjoey 5 points 2 years ago (2 children)

I was using Jerboa before, but honestly I think just using the browser page for Lemmy is better. Load up your preferred instance in your phone's web browser and then in your browser options hit "add as app" or "add to home screen"

[–] someguy3 4 points 2 years ago (1 children)

Huh never saw that "install app" on Chrome before, just "add to home screen". Is this just like a shell that hides the address bar?

[–] bionicjoey 4 points 2 years ago (1 children)

Basically yes. Some websites are more designed for it than others and behave as what's called a "progressive web app". If you ever hear PWA, basically what that means is that it's a browser app pretending to be a desktop app.

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[–] [email protected] 4 points 2 years ago* (last edited 2 years ago)

Please keep in mind that Reddit was around for almost 10 years before an App was created.
I'm sure the developers of Jerboa are working hard for a full & stable release, especially before Reddit's 3rd Party Kill Date of 6/30/23

The best option for Android will likely be Tildes App by the 'Reddit is Fun' developer. Source. While Tildes is not Lemmy, it does Federate with it and you'll be able to access Lemmy.ml communities.

Swipe to Vote app applied for TestFlight approval today for a beta test. I'm not sure if this will be iOS only or have an Android counterpart.

I'm using the beta for mlem on iOS - but there is no Android version.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 2 years ago

This is it for Android. And it's basically all betas right now, this is all very new and development takes time.

[–] RagingNerdoholic 2 points 2 years ago

That's because it's actually still alpha ;)

Definitely plenty of kinks to work out. Give it time, it's still very new.

[–] [email protected] 13 points 2 years ago (1 children)

I think another major miscalculation is there was no alternatives agreed on by consensus. For example, if they had said to everyone "go to Lemmy", "go to discord" etc. Now there's no alternative to a lot of subreddits, people will just wait it out and go back to the subreddits when they go back, or if they're indefinitely suspended they'll just make new subreddits.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 2 years ago

I second this, and it has been bugging me since people started talking about the blackout. I think the big issue is that the people organizing the 48hr blackout are the mods. These are the people that have invested the most into reddit, and they dont want to give up that investment into their subreddits. They don't want to leave reddit, and giving people an agreed upon alternative would be permanently fracturing their little fiefdom. They want to make a statement, and then for things to go back to the way they were, hoping that their tiny act of defiance makes a difference. The migration has to be led by users, but the issue of fractured lemmy communities is going to be hard to navigate unless lemmy introduces a way for communities to link together.

[–] [email protected] 9 points 2 years ago

It's only a bad idea if you think you could win concessions with an indefinite strike.

Reddit might get a bunch of subs back tomorrow, but the admin were always going to reopen the good names via reddit request anyway.

And the mods and users aren't likely to go back to happily posting and working for free on a platform that's turned. Communities will be planning organized migrations, and a lot of people here who came because of the strike will discover they like it better here actually.

[–] jamon 9 points 2 years ago (1 children)

While I don't think this was anyone's plan, I think setting it for two days was brilliant by accident. It was short enough (and long enough) that spez dismissed it and pissed people off even more.

It would have been much harder to rally subs to turn off permanently immediately. By doing this, you ease everyone into the idea that this is an indefinite blackout.

The next step will be Reddit admins forcibly taking control of subs that stay blacked out too long for their liking, which will drive even more momentum to stand up to them.

I think this was actually just about the only way for them to completely fuck Reddit over. At this point, spez will need to be fired and the changes rolled back or Reddit has zero chance of a meaningful recovery.

[–] Gestrid 6 points 2 years ago

Not to mention this will likely damage their attempt at an IPO later this year. Advertisers and potential stock owners won't want to deal with a company who can't "control" its users. It's too volatile. Stockholders want their revenue to always increase, but even potential for something like this after Reddit potentially goes public would cause Reddit's stock to go down.

[–] [email protected] 7 points 2 years ago

Maybe I am being pessimistic, but asking volunteer reddit mods to drop tools for more than 48h during such an interesting time for the platform is feeling about as realistic as asking your alcoholic uncle to stay sober at a wedding reception with an open bar. Can they really stay away?

[–] [email protected] 6 points 2 years ago

Yeah, that was a really dumb idea. The subreddits closing indefinitely like r/videos are probably not gonna be enough to make Reddit cave. I wonder if they can even cave though. Maybe believing spez is a dumb idea but if Reddit really isn’t profitable they might need the money from ads and selling data since they are going public

[–] [email protected] 6 points 2 years ago

The 2 day window might at least show that there's a definite interest to join a protest from a wide array of the community. I see it as a warning, meaning if the changes aren't being reversed, there's going to be a lot more communities going dark forever then there is now.

[–] [email protected] 25 points 2 years ago* (last edited 2 years ago) (5 children)

They're currently gathering subreddits for an indefinite blackout: https://old.reddit.com/r/ModCoord/comments/148ks6u/indefinite_blackout_next_steps_polling_your/

[–] bionicjoey 6 points 2 years ago (1 children)

I really appreciate how reasonable (IMO) the demands are in the stickied comment in that thread.

Honestly it would be a good business move to accept those terms exactly as presented in that stickied comment. Nothing unreasonable is being suggested there.

[–] bradv 4 points 2 years ago (1 children)

Those comments though, wow. There are a whole lot of people who don't understand anything about this and blame the mods and app developers. And we're all over here on Lemmy instead of correcting them.

[–] bionicjoey 6 points 2 years ago

That's the problem with leaving out of protest. The predominant voices on Reddit will be the ones who don't leave. It will become the popular opinion that Reddit is in the right. We can't control that. We just have to know that we are doing what's right for us and move on to better things

[–] [email protected] 5 points 2 years ago* (last edited 2 years ago)

Thank you for linking this. Glad to see so many subs continuing indefinitely.

Did you see the comment about r/adviceanimals and r/Tumblr have been forced public by Reddit?

Edit: Anecdotal comment states r/Tumblr had all of its mods leave and was forced public.

[–] [email protected] 4 points 2 years ago

It's amazing what subreddits exist that I had no idea about. I don't know if humanity will ever recover from this loss.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 2 years ago (1 children)

In which Reddit will eject the mods and turn them back on

[–] [email protected] 5 points 2 years ago (1 children)

Eject the current mods, is kinda going nuclear. It will damage the trust Redditors have in a subreddit. However, should Reddit do that, then I would imagine they will do that on a larger subreddit and a consequence of that, that news will spread like wildfire. That in turn will, most likely, cause moderator walkouts.

I know current Reddit management is acting like they are stupid. That doesn't mean that they are stupid.

But that's just my 2cts.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 2 years ago (1 children)

Apparently they've already done it. Can't remember the sub, but they kicked a mod, made it public for a couple hours, then switched it back off. I'm assuming it'll be one of the 48 hour ones instead of the permanent ones now.

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[–] [email protected] 21 points 2 years ago* (last edited 2 years ago) (1 children)

I feel reddit corp still dgaf and when the majority of subreddits are back then the blackouts will be but a memory..

For me personally - I gaf, so I deleted my 12YO reddit account, wiped my comments and now going to be a lemmy & mastodon main.

I think that the fediverse will continue to grow nicely, especially as existing reddit apps start to point to lemmy as a backend. Also places like tildes.net will grow nicely too with things like the fact the reddit is fun app dev has stated he's building an app for it.

They'll no doubt survive, but Reddit really fucked their monopoly with how this was handled.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 2 years ago (2 children)

How can one get an invite for tiĺdes.net ?

[–] [email protected] 4 points 2 years ago* (last edited 2 years ago)

I went there and noticed I already had an account - apparently I tried it in 2018 and completely forgot about it. Based on the date, it was a reaction to spez's "valuable discussion" comment.

[–] [email protected] 4 points 2 years ago (1 children)

I have 5 invites, I want to save one for my bro but if you, or any other peeps want one - PM me :)

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[–] corsicanguppy 15 points 2 years ago (2 children)

I'm considering the blackout to be like massive natural disasters: most leave, some stay behind, some people come back periodically but it's never the same.

[–] [email protected] 6 points 2 years ago (2 children)

I think the biggest impact is if we all delete our accounts, comments and content. Leaving half of Reddit threads filled with [removed] comments and dead Links.

[–] modifier 5 points 2 years ago (1 children)

After my first full day of Lemmy and Mastodon, I'm just about ready to delete my reddit account.

[–] Cryst 2 points 2 years ago (1 children)

Problem I'm finding is not enough content on lemmy.

[–] modifier 4 points 2 years ago

Yes but that's essentially a chicken and egg thing.

I want more content too, but for more content we need more users, but we need content to draw in users.

So, I can only control myself, but my plan is to:

Post more than I did on reddit. Post, not comment. Not even OC, just linking articles, ask topics, etc
vote more liberally than I would have on reddit. Not indiscriminately, but less stingy. Certainly if I'm responding to you I should be up voting you, in the original spirit of the up vote button

[–] circuscritic 2 points 2 years ago

Yes, I have multiple accounts, some of which are over a decade old. I am getting ready to delete all my old accounts in the next day or so, but I will keep one of my newer accounts as a backup incase they back down.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 2 years ago (1 children)

Reddit is still a useful resource for me (most of my googling is with "reddit" appended to get actual answers vs. clickbait for ads). But for casual browsing I'm making a conscious effort to stick to Lemmy/Kbin as much as I can. And it'll only get easier with time as more quality content comes on the platform!

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[–] [email protected] 13 points 2 years ago (3 children)

Even after the blackout, it can't be like before. Many will not use the official app. Many have already deleted their accounts. Reddit might survive, but sith the new Api and ads model, it will be soulless...

[–] Wack0wizard 2 points 2 years ago

People will make their way over here when they realize what reddit has become and are looking to scratch that itch - which lemmy does for me so far.

If I can't use reddit is fun then I'm not gonna use reddit because I don't want to see ads and their app sucks.

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[–] [email protected] 11 points 2 years ago (1 children)

I just saw this, highlighting my own

"In an internal memo sent Monday afternoon to Reddit staff, CEO Steve Huffman addressed the recent blowback directed at the company, telling employees to block out the “noise” and that the ongoing blackout of thousands of subreddits will eventually pass."

https://www.theverge.com/2023/6/13/23759559/reddit-internal-memo-api-pricing-changes-steve-huffman

[–] [email protected] 14 points 2 years ago (2 children)

It's so nice of Stevie boy to refer to his userbase as "noise". Proof of how little he values the people who use his corner of the internet. Hopefully this wording of his will show how little he thinks of everyone.

[–] lazylion_ca 5 points 2 years ago (1 children)

Zuk called his users "dumb fucks" and Facebook is still as popular as ever.

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[–] [email protected] 4 points 2 years ago* (last edited 2 years ago) (1 children)

Good point, I do wonder what % of userbase are in support of these protest and what % don't care? Seems like ~100k has joined these fediverse alternatives out of reddit's 50,000,000 daily active users 0.2% if my tired maths hasn't failed me.

Not that I want the same userbase as reddit, far from it...

My 50pence is that what reddit has fucked up is their monopoly on where these communities reside.

[–] someguy3 6 points 2 years ago (1 children)

What really matters is the mods and users that submit quality content. A million lurkers don't really contribute.

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[–] carbonprop 11 points 2 years ago (1 children)

The Reddit blackout got me to delete my 12 1/2 year old account. Then I jumped into Lemmy to give it a try and I really like the potential. Spez has made a bad error in judgement basically to fill his wallet. The platform was built by a community and should be owned by that same community.

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[–] [email protected] 10 points 2 years ago

Pretty much. Reddit is too big, and even these big subs going dark is only a drop in the bucket for what reddit is at this point. There's too much traffic on too many small subs, not even talking about all the porn subs still bustling with activity. The only thing people can do is move somewhere else and not get sucked back in.

[–] [email protected] 10 points 2 years ago* (last edited 2 years ago) (4 children)

Most everyone who left will return. Some thousands of users will actually leave Reddit permanently—but they will be replaced by users who have never used a third-party app, don't care about privacy or accessibility or anything but memes and boobs and endless scrolling.

I wish them no ill will, but I no longer wish to be in their company.

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[–] RagingNerdoholic 2 points 2 years ago

Just checked and a bunch of the defaults are front-paging the same modpost about reddit killing third party apps. So it's still ongoing in some capacity.