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I'm trying to understand various activist goals regarding Reddit. Is it some combination of the following? (a) Burn down Reddit, as vengeance for their behavi

I'm trying to understand various activist goals regarding Reddit. Is it some combination of the following? (a) Burn down Reddit, as vengeance for their behavior in recent years. (b) Burn down Reddit, to lay the groundwork for a more user-friendly alternative. (c) Temporarily apply pressure on Reddit, especially regarding their planned IPO, as a rebuke so they become more user-friendly. (d) some thing else, and/or some combination of the above

pid_0 3y ago
[dead]
the_pwner224 3y ago
For deleting posts/comments: Reddit exists because we give it content. We're the ones bringing value to Reddit. Like any social media, it wouldn't exist without us, the users. Reddit also provides a valuable service as being the host. Reddit is entitled to make some profit off of that. We contribute content to Reddit for free. Reddit acts as a good host, connects us users together, and makes some money for their work. But they've been growing increasingly user hostile and greedy. I'm not going to give you free content if you're super hostile to me and other users. Hosting Reddit isn't that expensive, afaik they were already making a profit back when you could buy gold to fund server time? But if you're going all in on ads and maximizing profit, at the cost of my user experience... either you give me a cut of that, or I'm going to leave and take my content away with me. I don't want you maliciously profiting off of my content which I spent my time creating.
- lb4r 3y ago
  Isn't it all because of their plans to charge for their API?
  - the_pwner224 3y ago
    That's just the latest thing they've done, the straw that broke the camel's back. They started down the path of enshittification a long time ago. With the new website and new mobile apps.
    - JKCalhoun 3y ago
      Agree it's probably been building. For me, perhaps others, I've been waiting for a good excuse to GTFO because I know it's been circling the drain (comments-wise if in no other way) and that I've had an unhealthy addiction to it.
    - lb4r 3y ago
      Interesting. I've personally found those changes very annoying as well (I've never used the mobile app though), but I never even observed a glimpse of some sort of public lust for boycott after those changes. From my perspective, this doesn't seem like a straw, but rather a rock, that broke the camel's back.
    - splatcollision 3y ago
      Upvote for correct use of "enshittification"
      - slingnow 3y ago
        Unfortunately as people move away from Reddit, invariably some number of them will end up here and we'll end up flooded with even more useless Reddit comments like this.
        Macha 3y ago
        However, the person you're replying to has an account from about 5% into the lifespan of this site, so can hardly be accused of being a recent reddit migrant.
navigate8310 3y ago
I believe it is primarily (a) which automatically leads to (b). While (c) is a part of (a) itself.
brk 3y ago
I think in general there is a lot of anger or frustration around the fact that Reddit's primary trove of value is content that has been created, posted, and moderated for free by their community. Despite this, Reddit trends more and more user hostile every year, with rules, redesigns, and other limitations that often come across as attempting to punish or hinder the very group that is the core of their value. While I doubt the majority of the user base takes issue with Reddit wanting to be profitable, the potential IPO is coming across very much as a rug pull of sorts to those users.
rjbwork 3y ago
Mostly, C. Then if it doesn't work, primarily A and secondarily B.
commandlinefan 3y ago
> lay the groundwork for a more user-friendly alternative I personally want the Reddit of 10 years ago back... while accepting that this is fundamentally impossible. Reddit was originally mostly uncensored, unfiltered discussions between actual human beings and this is something that I view as a Fundamental Good, but that a majority of people view as evil and dangerous. Until a large majority of people actually believe that others saying what they're actually thinking and allowing anybody who wants to listen to do so, Reddit or anything like it can never work.
- nvr219 3y ago
  The parts of Reddit where I hang out seem pretty uncensored and unfiltered… And I’ve been on Reddit for 11 years. It doesn’t feel like it’s gotten worse anyway.
  - pydry 3y ago
    As soon as a popularity threshold gets reached you start getting lazy corporate memes (I think I saw coke vs mentos with ludicrously high number of upvotes in a programming subreddit recently), power hungry abusive mods and comments sections that look suspiciously like a marketing agency bought a reddit vote machine gun. There are some exceptions which are run by some seriously underrated mods, but for some reason the exceptions seem to be protesting the loudest. If I were advance publications I'd be looking for somebody to fire.
jackdawipper 3y ago
[flagged]
omoikane 3y ago
I think it's more about vengeance. If it were not for vengeance, it seems healthier to just quietly move on and completely forget about the thing they hate. By deleting data and being vocal it, they are hoping to find like minded users to amplify damage. Maybe it's schadenfreude.
iLoveOncall 3y ago
(e) People spearheading this initiative are terminally online Reddit addicts that finally feel like they can achieve something in their life by "sticking it to the man", without realizing that they can't survive without "the man".
- moshun 3y ago
  Are you clumsily implying that people can’t live without Reddit? I’m internet old enough to remember Digg & MySpace thinking the same thing.
404mm 3y ago
I can share my angle. While I’m sad about how it went down, it was Reddit’s decision and they don’t owe me anything. I am one of the people who are just not compatible with their official app. I have tried in the past, it’s just not a pleasing experience, with ads or without. The bottom line, this is the end of me being active on Reddit. I get 30 minutes of life back every day and I’ll spend it somewhere else. So Shreddit is really just a cleanup after leaving the platform. I doubt any of my comments could be helpful to anyone in the future.

pid_0 3y ago

[dead]

the_pwner224 3y ago

For deleting posts/comments: Reddit exists because we give it content. We're the ones bringing value to Reddit. Like any social media, it wouldn't exist without us, the users. Reddit also provides a valuable service as being the host. Reddit is entitled to make some profit off of that. We contribute content to Reddit for free. Reddit acts as a good host, connects us users together, and makes some money for their work. But they've been growing increasingly user hostile and greedy. I'm not going to give you free content if you're super hostile to me and other users. Hosting Reddit isn't that expensive, afaik they were already making a profit back when you could buy gold to fund server time? But if you're going all in on ads and maximizing profit, at the cost of my user experience... either you give me a cut of that, or I'm going to leave and take my content away with me. I don't want you maliciously profiting off of my content which I spent my time creating.

lb4r 3y ago
Isn't it all because of their plans to charge for their API?
- the_pwner224 3y ago
  That's just the latest thing they've done, the straw that broke the camel's back. They started down the path of enshittification a long time ago. With the new website and new mobile apps.
  - JKCalhoun 3y ago
    Agree it's probably been building. For me, perhaps others, I've been waiting for a good excuse to GTFO because I know it's been circling the drain (comments-wise if in no other way) and that I've had an unhealthy addiction to it.
  - lb4r 3y ago
    Interesting. I've personally found those changes very annoying as well (I've never used the mobile app though), but I never even observed a glimpse of some sort of public lust for boycott after those changes. From my perspective, this doesn't seem like a straw, but rather a rock, that broke the camel's back.
  - splatcollision 3y ago
    Upvote for correct use of "enshittification"
    - slingnow 3y ago
      Unfortunately as people move away from Reddit, invariably some number of them will end up here and we'll end up flooded with even more useless Reddit comments like this.
      - Macha 3y ago
        However, the person you're replying to has an account from about 5% into the lifespan of this site, so can hardly be accused of being a recent reddit migrant.

navigate8310 3y ago

I believe it is primarily (a) which automatically leads to (b). While (c) is a part of (a) itself.

brk 3y ago

I think in general there is a lot of anger or frustration around the fact that Reddit's primary trove of value is content that has been created, posted, and moderated for free by their community. Despite this, Reddit trends more and more user hostile every year, with rules, redesigns, and other limitations that often come across as attempting to punish or hinder the very group that is the core of their value. While I doubt the majority of the user base takes issue with Reddit wanting to be profitable, the potential IPO is coming across very much as a rug pull of sorts to those users.

rjbwork 3y ago

Mostly, C. Then if it doesn't work, primarily A and secondarily B.

commandlinefan 3y ago

> lay the groundwork for a more user-friendly alternative I personally want the Reddit of 10 years ago back... while accepting that this is fundamentally impossible. Reddit was originally mostly uncensored, unfiltered discussions between actual human beings and this is something that I view as a Fundamental Good, but that a majority of people view as evil and dangerous. Until a large majority of people actually believe that others saying what they're actually thinking and allowing anybody who wants to listen to do so, Reddit or anything like it can never work.

nvr219 3y ago
The parts of Reddit where I hang out seem pretty uncensored and unfiltered… And I’ve been on Reddit for 11 years. It doesn’t feel like it’s gotten worse anyway.
- pydry 3y ago
  As soon as a popularity threshold gets reached you start getting lazy corporate memes (I think I saw coke vs mentos with ludicrously high number of upvotes in a programming subreddit recently), power hungry abusive mods and comments sections that look suspiciously like a marketing agency bought a reddit vote machine gun. There are some exceptions which are run by some seriously underrated mods, but for some reason the exceptions seem to be protesting the loudest. If I were advance publications I'd be looking for somebody to fire.

jackdawipper 3y ago

[flagged]

omoikane 3y ago

I think it's more about vengeance. If it were not for vengeance, it seems healthier to just quietly move on and completely forget about the thing they hate. By deleting data and being vocal it, they are hoping to find like minded users to amplify damage. Maybe it's schadenfreude.

iLoveOncall 3y ago

(e) People spearheading this initiative are terminally online Reddit addicts that finally feel like they can achieve something in their life by "sticking it to the man", without realizing that they can't survive without "the man".

moshun 3y ago
Are you clumsily implying that people can’t live without Reddit? I’m internet old enough to remember Digg & MySpace thinking the same thing.

404mm 3y ago

I can share my angle. While I’m sad about how it went down, it was Reddit’s decision and they don’t owe me anything. I am one of the people who are just not compatible with their official app. I have tried in the past, it’s just not a pleasing experience, with ads or without. The bottom line, this is the end of me being active on Reddit. I get 30 minutes of life back every day and I’ll spend it somewhere else. So Shreddit is really just a cleanup after leaving the platform. I doubt any of my comments could be helpful to anyone in the future.