So, how do we think this ends? : reddit

this post was submitted on 13 Jun 2023

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So, how do we think this ends? (beehaw.org)

submitted 2 years ago by [email protected] to c/[email protected]

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It can go one of a few ways.

Apart from the few subs that remain offline, it'll basically be back to normal. Those that do remain offline indefinitely just get forcibly reopened or recreated by admins, especially huge subreddits like /r/videos. Smaller ones just get redicted to /r/topicnew or some other creative name.
A lot of subreddits and more importantly moderators and users leave the site permanently. In order for this to happen however, there'd have to be a consensus alternative, which there isn't ATM. Otherwise, these communities are pretty much lost forever unless the mods put a message to go to X alternative service in the "subreddit is private" banner. Tbh, I don't think people are gonna stomach losing years of their lives in an instant so they'll just re create subreddits unless the mods provide an alternative.

No matter what though, they're not backing down on the effective removal of the API (still leaving the sneaky clause "you can pay us if you want but it'll be a king's ransom" for AI, even though they can just trawl the web manually lol). They'll probably announce some crappy customization features to hoodwink those who don't know what an API is and lie to them and say it's "API v2" or whatever.

I just honestly don't know how it's going to shake out and I'm scared im going to lose these communities. I don't give a single solitary fuck about Reddit the company anymore, and I never did really. I just hope all of the subreddits find a new home and don't just shrug their shoulders and say "welp, guess that's it guys".

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[–] [email protected] 5 points 2 years ago

I don't think there has to be a consensus alternative. People are finding different spaces. For some it's this, for others it's raddle or Tildes...

I think part of the problem with reddit is it got too big. It might be a good thing if things become less centralized.

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

It's going to end with a relatively small reddit exodus with most returning to reddit in a few weeks. People are lazy, and will concede to the API changes just like they all did with Twitter. Remember when Musk took over and made all those dramatic changes heavily monetizing the platform? Everyone was crying how Twitter will die and that they were all quitting. Well guess what? Almost all of them went back to Twitter anyway and now use the official app just like Musk wanted. Reddit will be no different sadly.

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

I've been off Twitter and on mastodon for a long time now so take this with a grain of salt.

November changed mastodon forever. It's 5-10x more active with a much broader userbase. Sure it's gotten quieter than it was in December, but it went from 'weird nerd twitter' to 'small social media'.

The events of this month have brought lemmy from 'alpha demo of activitypub groups' to 'weird nerd reddit'

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

Reddit is different from Twitter. You stay in Twitter for famous accounts, not for the communities like Reddit. If enough of people (especially mods and power users) actually move to another place, Reddit will slowly die. The community-based approach of the fediverses I think works well with immigrants Redditors

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

I think that those who are most passionate about this situation, and are sticking to their morals, tend to be are more active group and the power users who are actually the backbone of reddit. On reddit, I post a lot, I comment and discuss a lot, and I participate in a ton of communities. I offer a lot of expertise in the niches I am in. I am not going back without a 3rd party app compromise. I think many like me feel the same way. Those who just consume on reddit will probably return.

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

We already tried to move to Voat in 2015 and it... didn't turn out very well...

I think if the Apollo dev actually releases an Apollo-based app for Lemmy then we might get a chance.

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

I think a lot of people (myself included) were put off voat due the right wing politics and seemingly toxic nature of the site.

With regards to Lemmy - I'm not a communist by any stretch of the imagination but I'm definitely more left leaning and liberal, and the community aspect here is decent so far.

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

Yes the first and only time I opened that site there was a cartoon image of a jewish stereotype rubbing his hands together upvoted on the front page.

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

Voat was always going to be a cesspool because of the actual reason they were migrating in the first place. A bunch of hate subs got banned and the kind of people who would be upset enough to boycott that are shit heads so it was inevitable.

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

How do I think this ends? I think it won't matter to their bottom line. Although I am happy with the participation thusfar, Reddit benefits not only from the current use, but the redirecrion from every Google search toward Reddit. Unless moderators deleted the content before they leave (idk if even possible), the impact is but a blink in a profit report. And the CEO will use their stability as a personal reinforcement.

That said, good riddance, I don't want those willing to stay to be a part of communities I'm in anyway. So far the new life here on Lemmy seems to be very cooperative and positive-- I hope this is maintained.

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

How do I think this ends? I think it won’t matter to their bottom line

I'm curious how Digg's bottom-line ended up. Reddit thinks they're too big to fail, and maybe that's true. But Twitter's too big to fail, and just keeps "succeeding with less money".

With Digg, it was all about APIs as well. People don't remember that. There's a reason the big fights are over APIs. And it's not just about money (I'd pay for gold to use a third party client with no ads, maybe even more). Reddit's not just looking to monetize third-party-app users, they're trying to change the entire face of reddit to be more vendor-focused and less redditor-focused. It might not look dramatically different on 7/1 (or it might; Digg changed pretty quick). Reddit keeps talking about how much AI uses the APIs, but I think they really mean "how much we want to sell the APIs for AI". Maybe that's better than Digg because maybe we (the product) don't feel it as obviously.

But let's be honest, the next step regardless of whether reddit becomes a Copilot source feed, is that the same AI is hooked up to the APIs to create content and monetize reddit even more for companies.

It's not about the third party tools being killed by this, it's about all the clients they think they can get to pay these new prices.

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

The communities you love are made of people, and people will go to someplace better. When googleplus ended, it was a mess in the initial migration. But soon people agreed to stick to better places, and the communities survived. Reddit is just a venue that used to be nice to hang out with friends and now is turning into a shopping center. It's annoying to change venues, but real friends will stick togheter.

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

Reddit was never going to just shut down overnight, but it's more or less done for me (barring some sudden change with the API stuff, but even then I'd make an effort to use it less). I'll keep my account around and might occasionally go to it to look up specific things or visit more niche communities that don't have much of a presence here or on other alternatives yet, but I'm done with just generally browsing reddit or providing any content for them. I'm enjoying it here and hope the boost in activity allows for continued growth and filling out of communities for more specific topics.

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

I don't think that Reddit is going down, but i have seen users that post regularly on Reddit closing down their accounts and joining Lemmy, this will snowball into more joining Lemmy because the quality of post will eventually go down on Reddit and go up on Lemmy, this is just speculations and have a really lose base.

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

Reddit will probably go through with its plan to charge third party apps large amounts of money for API access. (75%)

The Reddit blackout protest might cause changes to their upcoming API update. (42%)

Reddit will probably not IPO in 2023. (34%)

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

I unfortunately think 1 is the most likely, at least for now. A one-time disruption won't be enough to sink Reddit. What could permanently change things is the sustained build-up of viable alternatives over time. So I guess you can look at the blackout stuff not as the end for Reddit, but maybe the canary in the coal mine for a gradual descent.

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

I can actually see plenty of people and communities permanently migrating over to Lemmy instances. Some are actually creating their very own federated Lemmy instances.

So now, for those who created their own instances, there will be no more censoring and imposing from a higher organization.

I don't see why to not use Fediverse, Mastodon apps are great already, and Lemmy apps are getting updated and improved as we speak.

Yes, the web front-end still needs work, and yes, Lemmy still lacks in some features, but that is being worked on as we speak, and I believe that some of the users migrating over, are devs, that will actually help to improve Lemmy, which is Open Source. So, if there's a feature you'd like Lemmy to have, just open a Pull Request!

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

Here's my take, I grabbed it from my reddit comment, it's slightly out of context so excuse that:

I do think reddit will continue to function, but its communities and services will undoubtedly begin to change following July 1st as users begin to shift to different platforms like Lemmy, Kbin, and Squabbles.

And don't think that as reddit aims for quarterly growth, they won't try to pull more shit on their users. It's only a matter of time before reddit is an amalgamation of Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter.

RPAN probably failed because either nobody wanted to use their first party app, or were using old.reddit.com. RPAN was their first attempt at reddit trying to "catch the waves" of services like YouTube Shorts, TikTok, and Instagram Reels. The most recent r/place was the second attempt at getting people to use their mobile app.

Expect reddit to keep adding "trend catching" features over the next year or so while you're confined to reddit.com without RES, and reddits mobile app. Unfortunately, reddit will eventually it will be a shell of what reddit once was, and the users that choose to stay will be the ones willing to put up with their shit.

So yes, of course the point is to make money! Though it will almost always be poorly reflected on its users, and they'll go any length to make sure they're doing just enough to keep you here but not enough for you to want to leave. Users will make their decision to stay or leave over the coming months as you see this "enshiftification".

Here's a good article on this, it's very interesting:

https://www.wired.com/story/tiktok-platforms-cory-doctorow/

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

Meanwhile, as the subs are down there are people attempting to replicate them here.

So if you like Dadjokes, hop over to DadJokes

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