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There were times like this in the past (the changes when Pao became CEO and later the censorship through quarantining of multiple subreddits came to my mind, bu

There were times like this in the past (the changes when Pao became CEO and later the censorship through quarantining of multiple subreddits came to my mind, but there were others). I think the main reason there was no exodus similar to Digg's is not due to good policy on Reddit's side (it became increasingly worse over time) but the lack of a competitor that could quickly scale to receive a migration without going dark. The number of users migrating from Digg to Reddit and the number of users today is quite different, but if there is a better platform that could stand this migration, Reddit could be dead in a matter of hours.

Gustomaximus 3y ago
I think this lack of competitor is the key. When. people talk about Digg dying, that was during the Reddit vs Digg period. Now it's Reddit vs what? Many people love a drama so will beef this event up, but I suspect they will be back to usual soon enough. At the same time I feel Reddit should respond to this with something positive for general goodwill as there is value in that for the day there is an alternative. While never going to actually happen, I'd find it funny if people flooded to communities.win, the forum Trump supporters setup when they were pushed off Reddit. Would be great irony.
- worrycue 3y ago
  > Now it's Reddit vs what? For tech news, you are looking at it. For everything else there is YouTube + comment section, stack exchange, Discord channels, … People don’t necessarily need a “clone” replacement. Edit: OK. What exactly is so offensive about this post? People use Reddit in different ways. Those others site may be perfectly good substitutes for them. If you want a “feed” you can comment on, YouTube can do that. You want questions answered, Stack Exchange. If you only visit small specialised tightly moderated subreddits, Discord channels will probably work just fine. Reddit is a means to an end. There are others ways to communicate on the internet.
  - dgb23 3y ago
    There’s a niche of medium lived discussions that are paced slowly and contextualized that the model of hn and reddit serve. The examples you gave don’t seem to fit.
    - worrycue 3y ago
      People use Reddit in different ways. I suspect for many, those examples are perfectly good substitutes.
- jlmorton 3y ago
  > Now it's Reddit vs what? Nothing is an option. Separately from the API drama, I’ve been questioning whether Reddit is a net benefit in my life. Everyone can draw their own conclusion to that question, and I won’t try to convince anyone. However, for myself, if I’m forced to use the official desktop or mobile app, I’m definitely not going to use Reddit at all, alternative or not.
Apocryphon 3y ago
I would joke that 9gag is the natural Reddit competitor, but I also want to point out that somehow 9gag is a YC startup.
- littlestymaar 3y ago
  9gag is a competitor for the “shitposting” part of Reddit, but not for the serious part.
  - Apocryphon 3y ago
    And I can’t believe it’s YC! https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=4313644 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=4313644
- deleted 3y ago
  [deleted]
libraryatnight 3y ago
Anecdotal feeling alert: I think some people won't need an alternate. I am just letting reddit go. I don't get enough value from it to care of it exists anymore. I let Twitter go after the free speech absolutists super sensitive filter flagged me for saying I hope Microsoft burns for what a nightmare they've made their os (trying to help a non savvy user use a local account), I did the automated appeal assuming context would clear the time honored practice of telling businesses to go to hell, when it didn't I just let it go. I'm not deleting that tweet just to participate in that trash hole. Reddit was a convenient insomniac doom scroll. It can go.
- brodo 3y ago
  Using less social media is probably a good idea in general. Plus HN and lobsters can replace the technical reddit communities.
  - littlestymaar 3y ago
    HN is way too generalist to even replace /r/programming (I'd say that only ~25% of the main page is technical stuff), not even talking about subreddits dedicated to specific technologies.
- Gareth321 3y ago
  This is a good take. I’m getting nothing out of Reddit. It’s time to touch some grass.
- dgb23 3y ago
  I never used Reddit the way you describe. I use it as a forum for niche interests and it’s decent for that. Similar to php based forums but it’s one login and plenty of participants.
  - TheOtherHobbes 3y ago
    Tech can go elsewhere. The niche interests can't. At least not as easily. The obvious competitor for those is still Facebook, but FB's algo is actively hostile to the long-list-of-active-forums UX that makes Reddit work so well.
rsynnott 3y ago
There absolutely have been exoduses from reddit before, and many of the resulting sites still exist. However, in general, these were driven by Reddit banning some sort of abhorrent content, so they were kinda self-limiting; few normal people would want to use a reddit clone that was 90% populated with the denizens of r/fatpeoplehate or the upskirt people or whatever other sort of horrible weirdos were impacted by reddit's bans. This is really pretty different, in that it impacts the average user (or at least the average power user) so might potentially lead to more reasonable breakaway communities.

Gustomaximus 3y ago

I think this lack of competitor is the key. When. people talk about Digg dying, that was during the Reddit vs Digg period. Now it's Reddit vs what? Many people love a drama so will beef this event up, but I suspect they will be back to usual soon enough. At the same time I feel Reddit should respond to this with something positive for general goodwill as there is value in that for the day there is an alternative. While never going to actually happen, I'd find it funny if people flooded to communities.win, the forum Trump supporters setup when they were pushed off Reddit. Would be great irony.

worrycue 3y ago
> Now it's Reddit vs what? For tech news, you are looking at it. For everything else there is YouTube + comment section, stack exchange, Discord channels, … People don’t necessarily need a “clone” replacement. Edit: OK. What exactly is so offensive about this post? People use Reddit in different ways. Those others site may be perfectly good substitutes for them. If you want a “feed” you can comment on, YouTube can do that. You want questions answered, Stack Exchange. If you only visit small specialised tightly moderated subreddits, Discord channels will probably work just fine. Reddit is a means to an end. There are others ways to communicate on the internet.
- dgb23 3y ago
  There’s a niche of medium lived discussions that are paced slowly and contextualized that the model of hn and reddit serve. The examples you gave don’t seem to fit.
  - worrycue 3y ago
    People use Reddit in different ways. I suspect for many, those examples are perfectly good substitutes.
jlmorton 3y ago
> Now it's Reddit vs what? Nothing is an option. Separately from the API drama, I’ve been questioning whether Reddit is a net benefit in my life. Everyone can draw their own conclusion to that question, and I won’t try to convince anyone. However, for myself, if I’m forced to use the official desktop or mobile app, I’m definitely not going to use Reddit at all, alternative or not.

Apocryphon 3y ago

I would joke that 9gag is the natural Reddit competitor, but I also want to point out that somehow 9gag is a YC startup.

littlestymaar 3y ago
9gag is a competitor for the “shitposting” part of Reddit, but not for the serious part.
- Apocryphon 3y ago
  And I can’t believe it’s YC! https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=4313644 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=4313644
deleted 3y ago
[deleted]

libraryatnight 3y ago

Anecdotal feeling alert: I think some people won't need an alternate. I am just letting reddit go. I don't get enough value from it to care of it exists anymore. I let Twitter go after the free speech absolutists super sensitive filter flagged me for saying I hope Microsoft burns for what a nightmare they've made their os (trying to help a non savvy user use a local account), I did the automated appeal assuming context would clear the time honored practice of telling businesses to go to hell, when it didn't I just let it go. I'm not deleting that tweet just to participate in that trash hole. Reddit was a convenient insomniac doom scroll. It can go.

brodo 3y ago
Using less social media is probably a good idea in general. Plus HN and lobsters can replace the technical reddit communities.
- littlestymaar 3y ago
  HN is way too generalist to even replace /r/programming (I'd say that only ~25% of the main page is technical stuff), not even talking about subreddits dedicated to specific technologies.
Gareth321 3y ago
This is a good take. I’m getting nothing out of Reddit. It’s time to touch some grass.
dgb23 3y ago
I never used Reddit the way you describe. I use it as a forum for niche interests and it’s decent for that. Similar to php based forums but it’s one login and plenty of participants.
- TheOtherHobbes 3y ago
  Tech can go elsewhere. The niche interests can't. At least not as easily. The obvious competitor for those is still Facebook, but FB's algo is actively hostile to the long-list-of-active-forums UX that makes Reddit work so well.

rsynnott 3y ago

There absolutely have been exoduses from reddit before, and many of the resulting sites still exist. However, in general, these were driven by Reddit banning some sort of abhorrent content, so they were kinda self-limiting; few normal people would want to use a reddit clone that was 90% populated with the denizens of r/fatpeoplehate or the upskirt people or whatever other sort of horrible weirdos were impacted by reddit's bans. This is really pretty different, in that it impacts the average user (or at least the average power user) so might potentially lead to more reasonable breakaway communities.