Reddify’s Post

Anyone else following the situation over at Reddit? I don't use that website much, but what's happening there is fascinating (and avoidable) The short version of you aren't aware, is that Reddit is made up of Sub-reddits, each a forum where people discuss whatever topic that subreddit is focused on. If you can think of a topic, odds are there is at least one subreddit based on it. Each of these is a community run by moderators, who are unpaid. The CEO announced some changes to Reddit and many mods disagreed with the move and effectively paused their group. Meaning they've turned off parts of Reddit. At the heart of the issue is that the CEO made a decision without having buy in from the key stake holders. He's made a move that is well within his rights to do, but it seems he made little to no effort to make a case for that move. And that there is the difference between a leader and a person in charge. A leader makes a compelling case and get people excited about what's going happen. A leader gets everyone on the same page, working towards the same goal. A person in charge just tells people what to do. The former is a lot of work but the latter is an outdated approach that is working less and less. Having worked for both types, I understand why one works and why one is failing. #reddit #community #work #leader

As I observe more about the feud between Reddit and its users, it only serves to reinforce an axiom (perhaps even a logical tautology?) I heard years ago, when Social Media first came on the scene: "When the product (or platform) is free, YOU ARE the product." The truth of this statement manifests itself in all kinds of different ways, so be aware. But I think this quote from a Reddit moderator illustrates one of the most frequent ways it applies: "While we're obviously aware that Reddit is a for-profit company, the recent weeks have made it very clear that Reddit is not a website that allows people to host communities for its members, but rather a company that allows people to maintain communities for them and for their profit." At the risk of sounding trite, my response to this moderator would be... "duh." Remember-- when the product (or platform) is free, YOU ARE the product. Conduct yourself accordingly. #caveatusor

Unlocking the Power of Reddit: Building Communities Around Shared Interests In a digital landscape flooded with social media platforms, Reddit stands out as a beacon of genuine connection through shared passions. While Facebook primarily revolves around updates from friends and family, Reddit fosters communities built on common interests. The secret to success on Reddit lies in understanding its unique culture and language. Drawing from my own experiences, it's evident that Redditors crave content that resonates deeply with their interests and sparks meaningful conversations. So, to truly rock Reddit, it's essential to speak their language and tap into the vibrant communities that make the platform thrive. 🚀 #Reddit #CommunityBuilding #SharedInterests

Six months ago, Reddit faced a revolution as thousands of communities protested corporate policy changes, plunging the platform into darkness. What followed was a transformative journey, still unfolding today. This mass protest stemmed from Reddit's decision to charge for API access, disrupting the work of vital content moderators. The unprecedented blackout sparked online labor, community, and corporate responsibility debates. CEO Steve Huffman acknowledged the need for Reddit to be a self-sustaining business, yet tensions between moderators and the company deepened. As the platform grappled with these challenges, third-party browsing platforms folded, impacting accessibility. Reddit responded with an accessibility audit and committed to enhancing compliance with web accessibility guidelines by 2024. While traffic remained consistent, users report shifts in content quality, and critics argue that corporate interests are curbing public scrutiny. Once hailed as "one of the last good social media sites," Reddit now faces questions about its direction. The protest may not have altered Reddit's core, but it prompted essential discussions about user loyalty, online labor, and the delicate balance between corporate interests and community values. As Reddit navigates this evolution, users eagerly anticipate the next chapter in the story of the 'front page of the internet.' 🌐🔍 #RedditEvolution #UserUprising #TechNews 🚀📱

Some people may have noticed strange happenings on the site Reddit. Many of the large communities have become locked and restricted. What happened? Reddit has decided to go full greed. Reddit is a site built by the moderators. These are people that manage the communities, support the users, and moderate the content. They try to mitigate the damage from trolls (where trolls are not welcome) and are constantly working to fight against bots, hate speech, and other disruptive things that can damage the communities. They do this for FREE. In exchange for this work they expect a few things: 1. This is a community and MUST remain open and accessible 2. They will have all the tools they need to do the job 3. Reddit will remain, while for profit, also for the community that they (the mods) and the billion or so users have built over the last two decades. Reddit has decided they will no longer be that company. They have restricted access to their free API to the point that the mods (and many users, including myself) have decided to protest. I have always felt Reddit was a net positive in a world where that is hard. The communities where (in general) better and more welcoming than most other social networks. I learned a lot, stayed informed, and could have amazing conversations with incredible experts from all over the world. In exchange I paid for premium, volunteered my time, and helped people in the communities I participated in over and over. In the decade I’ve been on Reddit I’ve contributed (wrote) well over a million words. I did so under the impression we were all building a community. One that had to make money, but one where ultimate profits should come after protecting what was built. I’m sad to say that is no longer true. I hope Reddit walks back it’s proposed changes, otherwise I look forward to helping create whatever is next. #reddit #greedisbad

Reddit is down today. Both in spirit through the dark protesting subreddits (8000+, 2.7B combined user count as of writing, and climbing) and technically as live subs' users bombard them and intermittently break Reddit, Inc.'s servers. Christian Selig and the other third-party developers are unambiguously the good guys here, the Tony Starks to Reddit CEO Steve Huffman (aka Spez) Obadiah Stane. Or maybe Justin Hammer, time will tell. The whole new API pricing policy, the way it was rolled out, and the absolute cluster of a comms strategy around it are a master class in how not to communicate with users and value add volunteers (VOLUNTEERS!) as a platform. As a passionate moderator of the Top 1% subreddit and an ardent long-time Apollo app user, I'm dreading the long-term direction this management indicates, both technically, and business-wise. With Reddit's upcoming (LONG rumoured!) IPO, Spez's intractability here may backfire. Potential investors may well be put off by such instability and disrespect for community needs and demands. If your company is planning on IPOing and its entire value for users is driven by well-moderated and spam-free UGC, this is a nightmare, and advertisers should also take note at reach and content quality too. This is an indicator of the users generating content demanding a sort of compensation for being the product. In the balance between monetization and community trust, Reddit seems to be leaning heavily toward the former. Let's hope they don't topple over. #community #reddit #RedditBlackout #TechEthics #UserRights #CommunityFirst #IPOWatch #MarvelMetaphors

Reddit vs Developer community Reddit blackout for the next 2 days - you might already know that 1000s of big subreddits are going dark/inactive/private in protest against Reddit API pricing changes. And you can feel the impact, Reddit looks like an empty space within less than 24 hours of the protest. Who is right or wrong can be a debatable discussion for another day, but what's not debatable is - "Poor handling of the situation by the Reddit founder u/spez and Reddit community team". While it is so typical of Reddit (**coughs** and many redditors) to be controversial, this event is much more than just a controversy. Definitely not the one where you can say - any publicity is good publicity. This is bad, for Reddit. It was only about Reddit pricing change until u/spez held the AMA (which sort of reminded me of recent Bajaj Finance MD - Sanjiv Bajaj's video, only worse). This example will be taught in developer advocacy and community management 101 - "Listen to your community" #developer #community #management #reddit #blackout #bajajfinance #sanjivbajaj

#reddit has been more and more hostile to moderators. We take our time every day to create and keep a community that we enjoy being in, and that we wish to see succeed and Reddit answers back by removing the tools that we use and giving us half-baked copies (their Official app, which after 7 YEARS of being in production, still isn't useable for moderation. Reddit forgets that we are volunteers. If anything, I'm the one paying Reddit in my time and #mentalhealth haha. And now, Reddit is making it so that users are able to VOTE OUT moderators. Because that's how every ONLINE community ever has made it. By a poll. That poll totally isn't able to be rigged or manipulated by trolls, right? Always - "Any Poll's a Goal". Interestingly enough, admins won't be able to be voted out. Funny how that works. That is all for my rant. #community

Reddit, Inc. is cooking their Golden Goose. At face, Reddit's 3rd Party App changes only impact a small minority of users, but those users are dramatically over-represented amongst the moderators who give millions of daily hours of free labor to the site. Moderators are losing access to crucial tools, compounding longstanding frictions and complaints of neglect by Reddit leadership. Thousands of subreddit moderators have changed their communities to be restricted or private, posting messages such as the one pictured below directing millions of users to competitor platforms such as Discord. Replacing the striking moderators is a non-starter. It would be impossible to do at this scale, in addition to shattering community trust+principles established over a decade. The subreddits protesting represent the site's most valuable content and recognizable subreddit domains such as r/science, r/music, r/funny, r/gaming, and r/aww. User metrics will nosedive today; it's hard to see how this doesn't force Reddit management to the bargaining table.

Have you adapted your mission recently? Erica C. shared her experience working at Reddit and defining the values for various communities. Setting expectations made Reddit less toxic and a genuine place of value for the internet. "Start broad and clean it up as you have to, it doesn't have to be perfect, but you need to set some expectations." Ruthie shared how they handle solicitation within their community, along with ensuring folk who are part of the community are there for the right reasons. At Steadfast Collective we've worked with communities that have changed their focus (mission). This doesn't mean throwing everything out but tweaking and measuring, and tweaking the platform. Often the changes are minor but have a significant positive impact on the community. We see this in business too, missions become more specific or change entirely, to suit the needs of the customer, team or owners. The important bit here is communication, like any relationship.