5 ms·

Honestly, good. Protest is fine and good, but what exactly are we protesting for here? The rights of a minority of users to freeride on a platform that gave the

by jfasi 3y ago

Honestly, good. Protest is fine and good, but what exactly are we protesting for here? The rights of a minority of users to freeride on a platform that gave them ten years of free API access? The right of third party app developers to make practically 100% margin on apps whose backend Reddit pays for? The initial announcement and AMA were ham-fisted, to be sure, but at this point these protests are getting ridiculous. Tens of millions of people are prevented from enjoying their communities because a quixotic crusade of a literal handful of moderators? These people rule their little online fiefdoms with an iron fist, and the entire internet suffers. If I were in charge of Reddit I'd replace them, too.

TheMode 3y ago
And if they didn't do anything you'd have said that these mods are too proud to move away from power for a few days and absolutely cannot listen to their community.
tomr75 3y ago
they are protesting the high/unreasonable API price out of nowhere
- jfasi 3y ago
  And that's their right. Many subs announced they would protest for 48 hours to prove a point, at which point they returned. But a moderator who continues to keep their sub private indefinitely is not protesting a decision, they are defacing their subreddits and harming their members. Removing such a moderator is the appropriate thing to do.
  - flangola7 3y ago
    Incorrect, it is a legitimate protest. Many have pointed out that Reddit could just wait out 48 hours, so indefinite blackout is a more logical move.
    - jfasi 3y ago
      An indefinite blackout is not a protest, it's extortion. It's saying "if I can't enjoy this subreddit the way I want to, no one can."
      - wvenable 3y ago
        Aren't all protests essentially extortion? We will sit here until you give into demands. We won't work until you give into our demands. We will crowd the streets until you give into our demands. All that matters is who the community supports.
        riku_iki 3y ago
        > We will crowd the streets until you give into our demands. its more like blocking highways indefinitely.
        flangola7 3y ago
        And? Reddit can reverse course and have the highway back at any moment.
        rightbyte 3y ago
        Blocking an abstract highway where it takes 2 seconds to build a new one right by it at zero cost. Reddit's original deal was hands off community as a service. I guess the mods are putting that to the test?
        riku_iki 3y ago
        no, lots of info locked in specific subreddit, you can't recover it at zero cost. Maybe reddit will provide such function.
      - flangola7 3y ago
        >It's saying "if I can't enjoy this subreddit the way I want to, no one can." Who has said that users shouldn't be allowed to use the new app? I haven't seen even a single instance of that. The problem is that Reddit - the centralized entity with power - is forcing that to be the only option. Reddit could be reasonable and continue to permit both. Until they decide to be reasonable the protests will continue. If Reddit gets butthurt and wants to call organized collective action "extortion" they can, but their childish whining isn't impressing anyone who has two brain cells to rub together.
- guywithahat 3y ago
  You could make the argument that it's a reasonable API price compared to other social media sites. What I really wish is they made a distinction between people signing into Apollo to use the app and Apollo making API calls, although I suppose they're probably trying to push people onto their app to improve ad revenue
ehnto 3y ago
Reddit is just where a community posted up. Reddit is free-riding off the efforts of the community, it is a lopsided arrangement. Reddit is not a challenging software platform to replicate, there are already platforms ready to be migrated to. They are biting the hand that feeds them, and if the community decides to leave Reddit has no value proposition anymore. They think they are the community, but they are just where the community lives for now.
- jfasi 3y ago
  If the community decides to leave, it won't be because of API pricing, it'll be because the content and spaces they used to enjoy were taken offline because of a minority of moderators.
  - goda90 3y ago
    There are lots of users that are unhappy with Reddit for this. I've stopped using it this week.
    - GeorgeTirebiter 3y ago
      I looked at one reddit: r/science. That is blockaded now. A 'private community'. This is (was) an aggregator of SCIENCE news and information. How does blocking the flow of potentially life-saving information help "the cause"? Reddit is dead to me, too. This is beyond sad.
      - fzeroracer 3y ago
        The good news is that you could go create your own subreddit. Right now. Go create r/Science2. Go do it and mod it yourself, then link it here.
      - bee_rider 3y ago
        Sounds like one more point for the protesters, nice!
    - 3y ago

by jfasi 3y ago

TheMode 3y ago

And if they didn't do anything you'd have said that these mods are too proud to move away from power for a few days and absolutely cannot listen to their community.

tomr75 3y ago

they are protesting the high/unreasonable API price out of nowhere

jfasi 3y ago
And that's their right. Many subs announced they would protest for 48 hours to prove a point, at which point they returned. But a moderator who continues to keep their sub private indefinitely is not protesting a decision, they are defacing their subreddits and harming their members. Removing such a moderator is the appropriate thing to do.
- flangola7 3y ago
  Incorrect, it is a legitimate protest. Many have pointed out that Reddit could just wait out 48 hours, so indefinite blackout is a more logical move.
  - jfasi 3y ago
    An indefinite blackout is not a protest, it's extortion. It's saying "if I can't enjoy this subreddit the way I want to, no one can."
    - wvenable 3y ago
      Aren't all protests essentially extortion? We will sit here until you give into demands. We won't work until you give into our demands. We will crowd the streets until you give into our demands. All that matters is who the community supports.
      - riku_iki 3y ago
        > We will crowd the streets until you give into our demands. its more like blocking highways indefinitely.
        flangola7 3y ago
        And? Reddit can reverse course and have the highway back at any moment.
        rightbyte 3y ago
        Blocking an abstract highway where it takes 2 seconds to build a new one right by it at zero cost. Reddit's original deal was hands off community as a service. I guess the mods are putting that to the test?
        riku_iki 3y ago
        no, lots of info locked in specific subreddit, you can't recover it at zero cost. Maybe reddit will provide such function.
    - flangola7 3y ago
      >It's saying "if I can't enjoy this subreddit the way I want to, no one can." Who has said that users shouldn't be allowed to use the new app? I haven't seen even a single instance of that. The problem is that Reddit - the centralized entity with power - is forcing that to be the only option. Reddit could be reasonable and continue to permit both. Until they decide to be reasonable the protests will continue. If Reddit gets butthurt and wants to call organized collective action "extortion" they can, but their childish whining isn't impressing anyone who has two brain cells to rub together.
guywithahat 3y ago
You could make the argument that it's a reasonable API price compared to other social media sites. What I really wish is they made a distinction between people signing into Apollo to use the app and Apollo making API calls, although I suppose they're probably trying to push people onto their app to improve ad revenue

ehnto 3y ago

Reddit is just where a community posted up. Reddit is free-riding off the efforts of the community, it is a lopsided arrangement. Reddit is not a challenging software platform to replicate, there are already platforms ready to be migrated to. They are biting the hand that feeds them, and if the community decides to leave Reddit has no value proposition anymore. They think they are the community, but they are just where the community lives for now.

jfasi 3y ago
If the community decides to leave, it won't be because of API pricing, it'll be because the content and spaces they used to enjoy were taken offline because of a minority of moderators.
- goda90 3y ago
  There are lots of users that are unhappy with Reddit for this. I've stopped using it this week.
  - GeorgeTirebiter 3y ago
    I looked at one reddit: r/science. That is blockaded now. A 'private community'. This is (was) an aggregator of SCIENCE news and information. How does blocking the flow of potentially life-saving information help "the cause"? Reddit is dead to me, too. This is beyond sad.
    - fzeroracer 3y ago
      The good news is that you could go create your own subreddit. Right now. Go create r/Science2. Go do it and mod it yourself, then link it here.
    - bee_rider 3y ago
      Sounds like one more point for the protesters, nice!
  - 3y ago