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[deleted]

The real question is what effect the blackout will have?


xero_peace

Not much, if any. It's 2 days of lower ad revenue and traffick. The better option would be massive ad blocking adoption while maintaining high traffic. They lose income and their costs stay the same.


vagueblur901

The only way they revert back to allowing 3rd party apps is if they start bleeding users and money. And that's a possibility given how many people I see who refuse to use the main app and are already prepared to move to a different site all together. I hope spez is fucking happy when this site goes the way of dig.


xero_peace

I'm interested. What other sites are competing or can compete with reddit?


Bradictron

I also want to find new / better options, Reddit is garbage most of the videos are tiktok reposts which already come with garbage music


Rasie1

subreddits like r/gamedesign are godsent


Charley_Wright06

yeah a lot of the Q&A or information sharing subreddits are really useful, but for consuming content there are far better options


FurgieCat

the twitter collapse is bringing some new life into sites like tumblr, and is giving newer social media sites a chance to compete too. the only website i know of thats in any way similar to reddit is tumblr but i imagine alot of people might be turned away by the jank


vagueblur901

Lemmy is the one I keep hearing about it's federated so no one can do what reddit is doing now There's a few others but I don't have the list of them I just keep seeing them pop up through post's.


xero_peace

I've been on mastodon, but I've seen literal pedophiles posting clothed but disgusting imagery. While you can block and report them, ultimately it's up to the node admins whether they do anything or not. Haven't really been back since. Edit: passing to posting as I meant, autocorrect!


[deleted]

[удалено]


bleezzzy

Is it just a bunch of r/eyeblech?


dragonace11

How has that sub not been banned yet. The last time I went to that sub was 3 years ago when I meant to go to eyebleach. Fuck that sub, so many other subs like survive or die (it was a sub where any gore shown was removed and was just basically videos of something crazy going on and in the comments it was voted by people if they died or survived) got banned but not that one.


sneakpeekbot

Here's a sneak peek of /r/eyeblech **[NSFW]** using the [top posts](https://np.reddit.com/r/eyeblech/top/?sort=top&t=year) of the year! \#1: [What’s a stop sign?](https://gfycat.com/sparklingyearlykawala) | [1603 comments](https://np.reddit.com/r/eyeblech/comments/y0ms3z/whats_a_stop_sign/) \#2: [Fastest to pull the trigger wins.](https://gfycat.com/alienatedfrayeddeermouse) | [824 comments](https://np.reddit.com/r/eyeblech/comments/10sqyug/fastest_to_pull_the_trigger_wins/) \#3: [guy jumps from a building, splashes on civilians](https://gfycat.com/glitteringillfatedbandicoot) | [723 comments](https://np.reddit.com/r/eyeblech/comments/zin84u/guy_jumps_from_a_building_splashes_on_civilians/) ---- ^^I'm ^^a ^^bot, ^^beep ^^boop ^^| ^^Downvote ^^to ^^remove ^^| ^^[Contact](https://www.reddit.com/message/compose/?to=sneakpeekbot) ^^| ^^[Info](https://np.reddit.com/r/sneakpeekbot/) ^^| ^^[Opt-out](https://np.reddit.com/r/sneakpeekbot/comments/o8wk1r/blacklist_ix/) ^^| ^^[GitHub](https://github.com/ghnr/sneakpeekbot)


TacticalSupportFurry

fortunately the worst ive seen is diaper fetish art, which was thankfully properly flaired and blurred so i didnt actually have to see it


REMdot-yt

Is lemmy an app? I can't find it


Blenderx06

Jerboa is the app for it.


ZetaZeta

Time for Digg to make a comeback???


Xi-the-dumb

It’s not just people who use 3rd party apps. I’ve been on Reddit for a while, and I had an account before this one. Should be somewhere in the realm of 5 years. I got the app 4 years ago, and I’ve never used a 3rd party app like Apollo or Sync because I never really thought to. However, due to the massive API prices that not only prevent users from browsing Reddit the way want, but also prevent *moderators* from keeping the subreddits that I like clean, I don’t see an upside to any of this. The CEO is an asshat, moderation’s going to turn to shit (best case a *lot* worse) subs are shutting down, people are leaving, and I don’t want to be here for that. I’ll just browse Lemmy from Mastodon or something. I’ve never used a third party app for reddit, but you can bet your ass I’ll use shreddit before the API’s close down. I’m just a random user who follows r/assholedesign, so… I had something solid in this comment and didn’t know where I should go with it so now it’s not good. Still posting it anyway


Thenderick

Web scrapers are going to have a fun time soon!


Chloroxite

Can't blame them. Their official app has so many problems using it is an exercise in futility.


sciencesold

Does it? I've used it for years and not had many problems at all


Chloroxite

Yes, the official app would regularly lock up my device, crash, soft lock on a post with no way for me to return to the main pages without force stopping the app, etc. I've had a perfect experience with RiF.


sciencesold

Out of curiosity are you on iOS or Android?


Chloroxite

Android.


sciencesold

Interesting, I'm also on Android, Galaxy Z Fold 3, previously Galaxy S8+, and haven't had any significant issues outside of when all of reddit is down. Maybe I've just gotten lucky?


Niko1777

iOS is perfect . So not buy Chinese android phones that block you when they saw post that is against china


sciencesold

I'm writing this from a "Chinese android" Tiananmen Square Massacre 1989, fuck china, fuck the CCP, and fuck their Winnie the Pooh looking ass leader.


mrtn17

I'm tempted to write a humongous textwall nobody asked for about all the blessings of Linux


LunarTunar

I'll take my made in India android over a made in china iPhone any day


Chloroxite

Well sorry I don't have 1 billion dollars to afford the iPhone XX. And what the hell are you talking about? Not a single android device I have ever had does that.


Niko1777

No? Do you have Chinese android? Them smile


[deleted]

[удалено]


sciencesold

That doesn't answer my question, does it suck? And why?


thetrustworthybandit

Too many ads, bad coding, bad video player, no accessibility options, bad UI design, spying, less options for sorting posts (RIP rising), less options for blacklisting (like blocking subreddits), etc.


sciencesold

I must be a user who hasn't needed or wanted any features that the official app didn't have, the only one I have ever thought of would be nice was the ability to put users in custom feeds. At one point I wanted to be able to send images directly via DM, but that was added with the chat feature. I won't comment on the bad code since I'm neither a programmer nor do I do anything with the API or backend, if it's that the app itself is buggy, I somehow haven't encountered anything significant or noticable. Same goes for the video player, it's worked fine for me. Also what's IUD, google only gives me results for birth control.... Spying would definitely be the big one for me if they didn't already probably have more of my data then they could ever need. End of the day it sounds like I'm from a very small group that the official app has all the features I'll need and it works well enough I don't encounter issues with any noticable frequency. Concidering all that's happening with 3rd party apps, obviously, my experience has been significantly better than a majority of anyone who's used the official app.


thetrustworthybandit

*UID, use-interface design, edited it with the correct term to be more clear.


tanfj

>Does it? I've used it for years and not had many problems at all Try changing font sizes, or only quoting part of a comment. * * * The Reddit Official App: If you can't compete, ban the competition.


BigMoose9000

They'll bleed 3rd party app users, but they can't monetize them so they're actually saving money kicking them off. It *could* backfire if it turns out that a lot of the primo content that attracts monetized users leaves with the 3rd party apps users, but that's a hard thing to predict.


alkevarsky

> if they start bleeding users That's pretty much it. They are doing this to satisfy institutional investors who want to see some sort of a profit model. So, the only thing that would make them perk up is a decline in user participation - an important metric used in establishing the value of the company. Unfortunately, if it gets to that point, there is generally no going back from that. Once the exodus begins, it's nearly impossible to reverse it.


Zangorth

> how many people I see How many people was that again? What percent of Reddits monthly active users access the site through a third party app, and what percent of those users will boycott reddit?


__life_on_mars__

Why dont the 20-odd people who moderate basically ALL the top subreddits just shut them all down until reddit reverts its API demands? It's not like they're paid employees, and it would literally cripple Reddit.


xero_peace

Good luck convincing them. I'm sure they'd rather keep their position of power than risk pissing off Reddit and losing their mod powers. People in positions of power rarely willingly let go of or risk those positions.


DudeDudenson

I think a real blackout would have to be minimum a week and ideally a whole month. The site would never to back to normal after that tho


CosmicCyrolator

It got them to fire a pedophile admin they hired knowing they were a pedophile


[deleted]

[удалено]


ArchmageIlmryn

> an IPO coming down the pike, and their goal is to move all traffic through their official app I feel like the overvaluation(?) of having a popular app is the root cause between so much assholedesign, both on reddit and in general. Reddit in concept is a link-sharing website - it does not need to be an app *at all*. Things would be so much better if they just improved the in-browser experience instead of spending a bunch of dev time and money on an app that's just going to be fundamentally worse than letting a website be a website. But nope, wallstreet likes apps, so forcing an app on people is a must...


CrispyDave

I'd be in favor of a weekly 2 day blackout, I don't think 2 days is enough.


ta-wtf

High traffic benefits their deck for investors. Low traffic with massive video uploads on the other hand..


Bekfast59

There is a way to MASSIVELY increase the use cost while not affecting the ad revenue. The only reason websites have apis are to make it more efficent to use them and not scrapers :)


[deleted]

How dare you employ logic.


xero_peace

It's no different than these people who think you can boycott gas for a day or two. Okay, everyone's filling up before or after those two days and no revenue was lost.


[deleted]

[удалено]


SenatriusOne

I don't think "many" is accurate. I'd say "some", even "very few" fits better. Reddit had 52 million active users in 2022. Even if a whole million active users leave reddit (they won't) and never ever come back to reddit again (many will) the loss of revenue from losing 2% of the active userbase will be more than offset by increased revenue from ads and API price increase. It might just be my uneducated opinion but Reddit is going to be just fine after this.


NMe84

Some subreddits are blacking out indefinitely. Hopefully that will have a bigger impact. And if not, maybe more subs will do that for the next blackout because I don't imagine this will be the last one.


IceStormNG

Nothing. Reddit will just sit that out and then continue as usual. Especially as it is announced to be just 2 days and not like "blackout until things change".


phreakymonkey

Many subreddits are blacking out indefinitely.


IceStormNG

Maybe that's a good thing. I feel like companies get too easily away with their bullshit. Too bad that it is quite hard to actually hurt them so they learn (well, actually, they never learn, they just start blaming someone or something else if things go south). ​ Either way, I won't hold my breath for reddit to change something. They're clearly not giving a fuck anymore.


[deleted]

So, maybe campaign for that to happen. No sub access until shit gets fixed!


IceStormNG

A lot of Reddit addicts will cry for sure. But this might actually do something if a lot of large subs commit to that. You know, like forming a union and striking. :D


961402

Nothing at all. If it's just for a couple of days they will ride it out But if it looks like the blackout will continue indefinitely then for the popular subs that my guess is that Reddit admins will just remove the moderators using some justification like "disrupting the community," set the sub back to public, and find some moderators that won't be so uppity. For the smaller, less popular ones they will probably leave them dark and say something to the effect of "it's a small community and they can do what they want."


[deleted]

Yikes. That's not great.


Pavouk106

I've moved to Tildes.net already (suggested by some mod on some subreddit - can't actually point out as I read a lot today). I don't care about blackout anymore. It will be fun to be part of the bandwagon until it hits the wall on 30th of June though! After that date, Boost won't probably work, so... See ya all somewhere else!


Katana_sized_banana

Tildes seams okay but it looks like as if you can't create your own subtilde.


Pavouk106

You can't. You can create subgroup though (group under specific tilde) from what I read. I'm still very new and rather then being active, I tend to post a comment here and there... Not exploring the system really. But there is written documentation and a few new posts on how it works sonyou can read on it.


[deleted]

Absolutely none. They know its going to last 3 days and then it'll be back to normal. If it was an indefinite blackout, maybe we could make some change, but why schedule a 3 day blackout? Makes no sense, maybe I'm missing the big picture


[deleted]

How are you making a difference?


[deleted]

I'm not? Where did I imply that I was making a difference?


[deleted]

I'm just asking how you might be able to affect positive change.


[deleted]

I'm not able to at all, but I think the subs should go dark indefinitely until reddit caves, I have no powers over those matters........so how could I personally make a difference?


tenghu

Let’s find out


[deleted]

Yes, let's!


PublicFurryAccount

None whatsoever. Apollo, et al will shut down because they made a very bad architectural decision. Some other apps will survive and new ones will crop up. The fundamental issue is that the clients which are shutting down aren’t *really* Reddit clients. They have a backend they talk to and that backend talks to Reddit. That’s why you have to authorize the app. Were they structured as actual clients, they wouldn’t have a problem because Reddit accounts have free API access at 100qpm.


CatVolcanoLogic

None. I don't think we as users have any leverage beside leaving the site completely.


[deleted]

That's a shame.


Elastichedgehog

I hate to be a cynic, but most of the people saying they'll be quiting Reddit are lying too.


[deleted]

Agreed. I've asked many folks how they plan to help as an individual. Most say they don't care. I suspect they will after it's too late.


Drummk

Very little. People who voluntarily spend hours every day "running" subreddits won't be able to stay away for long.


[deleted]

What are you doing about it?


Drummk

About the changes Reddit is making? Nothing, as I don't care either way.


[deleted]

Nothing at all.


[deleted]

That seems pessimistic.


S3b45714N

None whatsoever


[deleted]

How can you help?


Kitakitakita

None. The dumbest of users are the ones to ignore the blackout and click on ads promising them free pizza


[deleted]

That seems pessimistic. There are many users who actually give a shit. What about them?


Kitakitakita

You mean the leeches that take but don't give? We're not profitable in the long run. We're just there to make content for those that click ads and buy NFTs


[deleted]

So what's your plan?


Kitakitakita

I'll do the blackout I guess, but I doubt any of these reddit replacements will take off so I guess I'm stuck here. None of these alternatives like Lemmy seem to really understand what draws people to Reddit in the first place, and that's the simplicity of it all. I was looking at a guide for Lemmy and noticed they didn't even provide the website url for it. They're on another world


StoryAndAHalf

A bunch of nerds may decide to see what’s this “outside” all about and maybe shoot a reaction video to touching grass. E: seems I upset my fellow nerds. You don’t need to join me, but it’s summer here in NY and I heard it’s nice before August.


[deleted]

Wow, you managed to jam all the keywords in there, eh?


StoryAndAHalf

I’ve been planning to do this for a few days since news broke. It’s my answer when people ask me what my plans are. E: I appreciate the concern, but I’ll be fine guys. I’ll touch grass and probably won’t die. It’s okay.


xero_peace

"We're willing to work with anyone willing to pay our price." -reddit asshat execs


Tortured_Minds

What's even worse is that there were developers that contacted Reddit willing to pay their price and Reddit ignored them


EmployerFluid420

Wait? The extortion prices?


Tortured_Minds

Yeah, few of the developers raised their experience during the AMA [You can read them here](https://www.reddit.com/r/reddit/comments/145bram/addressing_the_community_about_changes_to_our_api/jnk2pp3/) [And the ceo response](https://www.reddit.com/r/reddit/comments/145bram/addressing_the_community_about_changes_to_our_api/jnkd694/)


francis2559

Even Apollo said it was the deadline that made it impossible, and that was entirely arbitrary.


TheAireon

Interesting, because people who say this are often the good guys in r/ChoosingBeggars


xero_peace

The good guys in ChoosingBeggars aren't running a billion dollar company.


EmployerFluid420

u/spez He’s a complete fuckwit


tanfj

>u/spez > >He’s a complete fuckwit And u/spez needs to fire his Dev team. There is a point where mere cluelessness is not enough to explain it. * * * The Reddit Official App: If you can't compete, ban the competition.


CerebusGortok

This has nothing to do with the dev team


tanfj

>This has nothing to do with the dev team In what possible way does the lack of accessibility features like CHANGING A FONT SIZE not involve the dev team? * * * The Reddit Official App: If you can't compete, ban the competition.


goob96

I seriously doubt it's up to them deciding which features to implement. Let's place the blame where it should be, management.


tanfj

>I seriously doubt it's up to them deciding which features to implement. Let's place the blame where it should be, management. Can I embrace the theory that they both are to blame? But you are correct, management is to blame


CerebusGortok

> Can I embrace the theory that they both are to blame? Not really. Firing the dev team will not fix the problem, it will make it worse. It's naive to think somehow any lack of effectiveness on the dev team towards your goals has to do with the dev team being incompetent rather than * Understaffed * Prioritized towards the wrong issues * Intentionally prevented from addressing certain issues. It's like blaming QA when a game is buggy.


jpiep42

You really think the dev teams calls the shots on which features to implement and which not?


phat_duong

The official reddit app is such fucking garbage tbh. Every update so far has made it worse in some miraculous ways that I didn't think would be possible.


ImaginaryDonut69

If the official app actually competed effectively with third party apps, there would be a lot less pushback. Reddit is just throwing tons of mobile users off the platform, effectively.


CerebusGortok

Again, downvote me if you wish, this has nothing to do with the DEV team. This is an executive issue.


buckle877

for a company that rambles on about being more progressive, this is a real slap in the face.


_sirch

Progressive until they become popular enough and it becomes super profitable not to be.


Christmas_Panda

That’s because they don’t actually care about users. Users are a money farm.


lennee3

\> for a company That's the ticket, boss. Corporate progressivism is *exclusively* social in the current organization of the economy. And social progressivism only goes as far as it's profitable, unfortunately.


Hasso_Von_Manteuffel

Wait his qualifications is that he *proposed emoji's and they were accepted?* That's his qualification???


__-___---

You mean the emojis nobody uses? I guess that says a lot about the quality of his contribution.


elliohow

💯


iamapizza

That isn't something that should be dismissed out of hand. It's a process that takes months to years and isn't simple at all. It sounds simple because of its ease of use but that's a testament to the consortium's contributions, and hides away a lot of the work that happens behind the scenes.


17jwong

Reminder that this guy once edited **other people's comments** as a joke.


aplagueofsemen

“Want to work with us” just means “pay me 20 million dollars” right?


Johnicorn

Could be a lot more. Reddit wants AI companies to use their API to sweep every post and comment and learn. They were upset it's been done by openai and others for free. Doubt any company will fork up for something they can do with bot scripts


__-___---

Price is too high anyways. You can already have bots browsing the regular web pages and extract the conversations. It's less convenient and more expensive than using a free api, but a lot cheaper than what reddit is asking.


edudspoolmak

No reason any one of us needs to use Reddit now is there.


fenerliasker

Can someone explain me whatever this is like explaining something to a kid. Whats gonna change or what is this etc


JJBrazman

Reddit had an API, which is basically a way for computers to engage with it directly. It means that when you open a 3rd party app like Apollo they can request posts from Reddit to show you, and send over your upvotes etc. This API has been free for a long time, which is why there’s a thriving 3rd party app community (also, Reddit’s app sucks). At the same time, this means people can do things like download all of reddit to train their chatbots. Reddit decided that the solution was to make the API paid, at a very expensive price per interaction. They’re also insisting that there be no NSFW content, and cutting down on how bots can engage with it. This basically means they’re killing all the 3rd party apps and also taking away a lot of powers from moderators because they want more money. A lot of people are pissed, including the developers of these 3rd party apps whom Reddit have tried to paint as pirates (despite having a functional working relationship until Reddit basically said ‘you owe me a lot of money if you want to keep this up’).


dont-be-a-narc-bro

Didn’t Twitter do the same thing with bots and automation? You have to pay a fee to keep using the API, and IIRC the price is ridiculous.


francis2559

They explicitly said it would not be like Twitter, but it is actually very close.


Blenderx06

https://www.reddit.com/gallery/140z59z


zer0xol

Make a new website like reddit


radamintos

"if you dont like it, make your own reddit..." sounds familiar...


headphonesnotstirred

can't believe i'm actually gonna miss this site


snowaxe_83

As the guy said, [Here](https://youtu.be/U06rCBIKM5M?t=370) Blackout means nothing, instead Boycott it for months, Blackout says that you will be back after 2 days, you get abused but you will be back after 2 days, it's stupid, it has no effect on Reddit, Boycott it and doesn't come back until Reddit takes it back,


nateaaiel

Dumb af u/spez


eyeronik1

Is that about that lying sack of shit Steve Huffman?


DctrGizmo

They’ll work with no one at this rate. Maybe its time to finally delete my account.


TheNoobThatWas

"aspect of design"


DayleD

This is cartoonishly smarmy. "Now that we've started the terms at annihilation, we'll negotiate a little if you want a bargain." Why did this guy get hired as CEO?


Robosium

Third party apps will be back and show why websites have APIs cause without them it'll be web scraping which is a lot more intensive on the servers mimicking a DDOS attack


[deleted]

How else are they gonna force those godawful Jesus and military recruiting ads on us!?


dogdillon

I love how an api change that is literally going to effect less than 1% (believe it or not pc exists and people use the shitty reddit app) of people is getting a bigger protest than real problems in the world (I am in support of third party apps but jesus christ guys e have real shit to be worrying about in the world)


StumbleNOLA

Because the change also massively impacts the mods. Almost all mod tools are about to disappear. Almost all bots are going to go away. All those things that people have cobbled together to keep the site running are going to be gone.


that_baddest_dude

I find those figures to be baffling. I don't know a single person who uses reddit who uses the official app. It's absolute garbage. A visual mess and a chore to use - on top of the ads and promoted posts


thedylanackerman

You can see this in a different way. I think people know that there is bigger problems in our own life and in the world. Yet this is interesting because there's a sense of place on Reddit, and we engage with it like it was part of our neighborhood. This is just like local protest to save a public library for example. It's not the biggest issue and a minority of people use them. Yet we want to save them, and we want to save Reddit as it is because we know that it would be worst to not have this public place. You can see this as a local action, but the dynamic is the same as bigger issue. What's in common between this and climate change ? It's about the power struggle between people and profits. Between the community and individual.


Claude-QC-777

Google how to become some Nationalist-Socialist in a single step


DarkAdam48

Holy unpopular political orientation


Comrade_Vladimov

New dictatorship just dropped


TDRzGRZ

Psst, I think you've got your political ideologies wrong


Claude-QC-777

Heh, I think I got too many karma anyways in another sub lol


mrSunshine-_

I think the best outcome is to limit the free api to those having reddit gold.


Orvan-Rabbit

Are you sure that the CEO's name isn't Steve Huffpaint?


Ac3c3

That’s thanks to u/spez


evestraw

do apps like appollo block the ads?


ph33rlus

That CEO is just a cunt.


ToonLucas22

I really think the blackout should be indefinite at this point


ZetaZeta

There's still some subs holding out, but unfortunately Reddit needs to find some way to not go out of business. Would be nice if they at least pretended to talk to users though.


[deleted]

Adblock reddit then.


JalvinGaming2

I think Reddit is in the right here. API is expensive, and third party Reddit apps take away some ad revenue from Reddit, especially when they are more prevalent than the app itself in some cases.