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Please Reddit, just let us use a web browser to access your web site. Users shouldn’t be forced so aggressively into using an ‘app’ - whether the official one

Please Reddit, just let us use a web browser to access your web site. Users shouldn’t be forced so aggressively into using an ‘app’ - whether the official one or a 3rd-party app - when mobile web browsers are so very capable.

azemetre 3y ago
Ever since learning the phrase "enshittification" [1] from Cory Doctorow it becomes more apparent when it happens around you. I wonder if there is a "fediverse" for something like forums? I can never get into mastodon because it's not like forums and conversations between people are quite hard if you don't follow them. [1] https://www.wired.com/story/tiktok-platforms-cory-doctorow/ https://www.wired.com/story/tiktok-platforms-cory-doctorow/
- 7v3x3n3sem9vv 3y ago
  check out Lemmy https://join-lemmy.org/ https://join-lemmy.org/
  - nullindividual 3y ago
    Last I checked the main instance became a haven for US domestic terrorists and like-minded ilk.
    - sudosysgen 3y ago
      Perhaps, however the tech works. The point of the fediverse is you can choose who to federate with.
    - jrflowers 3y ago
      [flagged]
- proto_lambda 3y ago
  Something like that could probably be built on top of the matrix protocol, I'm not aware of anything concrete though.
  - toomuchtodo 3y ago
    https://www.discourse.org/ https://www.discourse.org/ with a discovery mechanism? Would be cool to get Keybase out of Zoom to use for pki identity across various communities. Seems like all the primitives are there, just a lot of grind to do it. Users->Discovery Mechanism->Topics->Threads with all of the trimmings.
    - rapnie 3y ago
      3 different forum softwares are working on ActivityPub support: Discourse (via The Pavilion), Flarum, and nodeBB.
      - azemetre 3y ago
        That's cool, will definitely be checking back on it from time to time.
- avdlinde 3y ago
  Unfortunately that wired website seems to be following the enshittification protocol.
  - azemetre 3y ago
    Sorry you aren't able to read it, he also talks about it here as well: https://doctorow.medium.com/twiddler-1b5c9690cce6 https://doctorow.medium.com/twiddler-1b5c9690cce6 Oddly enough I can't find it actually on his blog.
- omnibrain 3y ago
  > I wonder if there is a "fediverse" for something like forums? I can never get into mastodon because it's not like forums and conversations between people are quite hard if you don't follow them. Usenet. But it fell out of fashion around the turn of the millenium.
- dabluecaboose 3y ago
  >I wonder if there is a "fediverse" for something like forums? Closest thing I can think of is the .win communities which are very reddit-like in interface, but unfortunately mostly uh.... radical. Reddit itself was open-source until 2018. I wonder if someone could easily spin up a docker container that allows one to self-host a local instance (e.g. one subreddit)
- pembrook 3y ago
  > Ever since learning the phrase "enshittification" [1] from Cory Doctorow it becomes more apparent when it happens around you. This is just the natural lifecycle of all things involving humans. Why people want the same stuff to remain dominant forever is baffling to me. I can imagine nothing worse. Reddit dying off to leave space for something new and fresh is a good thing. Social media sites do seem to go through the cycle even faster though--probably because they're essentially digital nightclubs. We all know of that one hip club that everybody waited in line for in our 20s, and then suddenly the drinks get too expensive and the crowd gets older and uncool...and then suddenly there's no line out front anymore. And there's a new spot in town where the young people cluster. Before Reddit there was Digg. After Reddit, I'm confident there will be something else.
  - azemetre 3y ago
    I highly disagree. There are many aspects of human life that don't devolve into the enshittification lifecycle. Public parks are one, eating with friends another, debating with people about various topics. It's more about the business side than the human side, the social need will always be there but the business aspect taints it. At least the modern corpo "let's IPO and become billionaires, fuck the people, and chase endless growth" taint it more so.
- m463 3y ago
  enshittification might be more like the ship of theseus. The original reddit was started by an interesting group of people with different ideas and ideals than who is there now. The people making up reddit might have been replaced with completely different people - with different motivations, behaviors, and expectations. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ship_of_Theseus https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ship_of_Theseus
  - azemetre 3y ago
    Not in my view. Enshittification is more about the business cycle of sucking everything dry for the pursuit of money. Users be damned. At least that's how I read it, ship of theseus is more of an interesting thought experiment but not exactly related.
PNewling 3y ago
Have you tried using the 'old' reddit? Replacing 'www.' with 'old.' will move you over to the old style of reddit and will keep you there when clicking through links. https://old.reddit.com/r/all/ https://old.reddit.com/r/all/
- blowski 3y ago
  They’ve got rid of the alternative mobile UI (I.reddit.com). And a lot of links from old.reddit.com redirect to the main site.
  - tangus 3y ago
    Try this: https://old.reddit.com/r/all/.i https://old.reddit.com/r/all/.i Unfortunately it doesn't keep across links.
    - kioleanu 3y ago
      Teddit.net is what you're looking for. It can get slow, but there are a lot of instances and you can also self host
      - blowski 3y ago
        I’ve taken the other approach - I rarely visit Reddit now.
- m348e912 3y ago
  old.reddit.com and Apollo are the only things that makes reddit usable. I suspect that there are plans to do away with old.reddit.com at some point. Maybe that will be reddit's Digg exodus moment. I read a thread on reddit about the api fees where commenters called out HN as the next site to move to. Hopefully not.
  - bakugo 3y ago
    > reddit's Digg exodus moment People keep bringing this up and I feel like there's a fundamental misunderstanding going on. The internet of 2010 is not the internet of today, not even close. The average reddit user of today isn't going to stop using reddit due to problems like this because they just don't care, at all. They don't care about the new web design being a massive downgrade over the old one because they're used to every website looking like that, they have no complaints, many of them probably don't even know the old design still exists. They don't care that the app sucks and is full of ads because, again, most official apps for most websites are like that, it's the new normal. They just want to scroll through funny meme videos on their phone for a while and don't think about it beyond that, the age of the average user having standards is long, long gone.

azemetre 3y ago

Ever since learning the phrase "enshittification" [1] from Cory Doctorow it becomes more apparent when it happens around you. I wonder if there is a "fediverse" for something like forums? I can never get into mastodon because it's not like forums and conversations between people are quite hard if you don't follow them. [1] https://www.wired.com/story/tiktok-platforms-cory-doctorow/ https://www.wired.com/story/tiktok-platforms-cory-doctorow/

7v3x3n3sem9vv 3y ago
check out Lemmy https://join-lemmy.org/ https://join-lemmy.org/
- nullindividual 3y ago
  Last I checked the main instance became a haven for US domestic terrorists and like-minded ilk.
  - sudosysgen 3y ago
    Perhaps, however the tech works. The point of the fediverse is you can choose who to federate with.
  - jrflowers 3y ago
    [flagged]
proto_lambda 3y ago
Something like that could probably be built on top of the matrix protocol, I'm not aware of anything concrete though.
- toomuchtodo 3y ago
  https://www.discourse.org/ https://www.discourse.org/ with a discovery mechanism? Would be cool to get Keybase out of Zoom to use for pki identity across various communities. Seems like all the primitives are there, just a lot of grind to do it. Users->Discovery Mechanism->Topics->Threads with all of the trimmings.
  - rapnie 3y ago
    3 different forum softwares are working on ActivityPub support: Discourse (via The Pavilion), Flarum, and nodeBB.
    - azemetre 3y ago
      That's cool, will definitely be checking back on it from time to time.
avdlinde 3y ago
Unfortunately that wired website seems to be following the enshittification protocol.
- azemetre 3y ago
  Sorry you aren't able to read it, he also talks about it here as well: https://doctorow.medium.com/twiddler-1b5c9690cce6 https://doctorow.medium.com/twiddler-1b5c9690cce6 Oddly enough I can't find it actually on his blog.
omnibrain 3y ago
> I wonder if there is a "fediverse" for something like forums? I can never get into mastodon because it's not like forums and conversations between people are quite hard if you don't follow them. Usenet. But it fell out of fashion around the turn of the millenium.
dabluecaboose 3y ago
>I wonder if there is a "fediverse" for something like forums? Closest thing I can think of is the .win communities which are very reddit-like in interface, but unfortunately mostly uh.... radical. Reddit itself was open-source until 2018. I wonder if someone could easily spin up a docker container that allows one to self-host a local instance (e.g. one subreddit)
pembrook 3y ago
> Ever since learning the phrase "enshittification" [1] from Cory Doctorow it becomes more apparent when it happens around you. This is just the natural lifecycle of all things involving humans. Why people want the same stuff to remain dominant forever is baffling to me. I can imagine nothing worse. Reddit dying off to leave space for something new and fresh is a good thing. Social media sites do seem to go through the cycle even faster though--probably because they're essentially digital nightclubs. We all know of that one hip club that everybody waited in line for in our 20s, and then suddenly the drinks get too expensive and the crowd gets older and uncool...and then suddenly there's no line out front anymore. And there's a new spot in town where the young people cluster. Before Reddit there was Digg. After Reddit, I'm confident there will be something else.
- azemetre 3y ago
  I highly disagree. There are many aspects of human life that don't devolve into the enshittification lifecycle. Public parks are one, eating with friends another, debating with people about various topics. It's more about the business side than the human side, the social need will always be there but the business aspect taints it. At least the modern corpo "let's IPO and become billionaires, fuck the people, and chase endless growth" taint it more so.
m463 3y ago
enshittification might be more like the ship of theseus. The original reddit was started by an interesting group of people with different ideas and ideals than who is there now. The people making up reddit might have been replaced with completely different people - with different motivations, behaviors, and expectations. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ship_of_Theseus https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ship_of_Theseus
- azemetre 3y ago
  Not in my view. Enshittification is more about the business cycle of sucking everything dry for the pursuit of money. Users be damned. At least that's how I read it, ship of theseus is more of an interesting thought experiment but not exactly related.

PNewling 3y ago

Have you tried using the 'old' reddit? Replacing 'www.' with 'old.' will move you over to the old style of reddit and will keep you there when clicking through links. https://old.reddit.com/r/all/ https://old.reddit.com/r/all/

blowski 3y ago
They’ve got rid of the alternative mobile UI (I.reddit.com). And a lot of links from old.reddit.com redirect to the main site.
- tangus 3y ago
  Try this: https://old.reddit.com/r/all/.i https://old.reddit.com/r/all/.i Unfortunately it doesn't keep across links.
  - kioleanu 3y ago
    Teddit.net is what you're looking for. It can get slow, but there are a lot of instances and you can also self host
    - blowski 3y ago
      I’ve taken the other approach - I rarely visit Reddit now.
m348e912 3y ago
old.reddit.com and Apollo are the only things that makes reddit usable. I suspect that there are plans to do away with old.reddit.com at some point. Maybe that will be reddit's Digg exodus moment. I read a thread on reddit about the api fees where commenters called out HN as the next site to move to. Hopefully not.
- bakugo 3y ago
  > reddit's Digg exodus moment People keep bringing this up and I feel like there's a fundamental misunderstanding going on. The internet of 2010 is not the internet of today, not even close. The average reddit user of today isn't going to stop using reddit due to problems like this because they just don't care, at all. They don't care about the new web design being a massive downgrade over the old one because they're used to every website looking like that, they have no complaints, many of them probably don't even know the old design still exists. They don't care that the app sucks and is full of ads because, again, most official apps for most websites are like that, it's the new normal. They just want to scroll through funny meme videos on their phone for a while and don't think about it beyond that, the age of the average user having standards is long, long gone.