Robert Turner’s Post

Like #Wikipedia, #Reddit is one of the wonders of the online world. Its founders once described it as “the front page of the internet”, which is perhaps a bit hyperbolic but not entirely wide of the mark. It is, after all, the 11th most visited website in the world (and the sixth most visited in the #US). Many of my friends, colleagues, acquaintances and contacts use it every day, and for some it is their favourite online site. If this comes as a surprise to you, then here’s what you need to know. Reddit is basically a bulletin board on steroids. It’s a news-aggregation, content and discussion website. Users (“Redditors”) post text, links, images and videos on the site which are then voted up or down by other users. Posts are organised by subject into user-created boards called “communities” or “subreddits”. Content is moderated partly by employees of Reddit (the company), but more importantly also by community-specific moderators, who are not Reddit employees. Reddit worked reasonably well on desktop and laptop computers, but was clumsy for mobile users, which led to the development of apps which made using the site easier. The most popular of these for Apple devices is Christian Selig’s Apollo, which interacts with the Reddit site via a free #API (application programming interface) provided by Reddit. But as of 30 June, Apollo will be no more. Why? Because Steve Huffman, Reddit’s #CEO, has decided that access to the API will no longer be free and Selig estimates that under the proposed new charging regime it would cost him $20m (£16m) a year to operate his app. “Going from a free API for eight years to suddenly incurring massive costs is not something I can feasibly make work with only 30 days,” he said. “That’s a lot of users to migrate, plans to create, things to test, and to get through app review, and it’s just not economically feasible. It’s much cheaper for me to simply shut down.” Many other Redditors were similarly discombobulated by Huffman’s decision to impose charges and so many of Reddit’s biggest communities (subreddits) went “dark” or began blocking new posts on 12 June as a protest against the proposed pricing changes. This included subreddits that had between 20 and 40 million users each. So this is a real shitstorm – and one that, for a change, does not involve Elon Musk or Mark Zuckerberg. Huffman seems determined to ride it out, largely because he doesn’t have many options. On the financial side, despite its huge scale and online prominence, Reddit is still not profitable and it looks as though it will go for an #IPO later this year – and nothing depresses a share price like the absence of a credible path to profitability. “Expansive access to data has impact and costs involved,” says a company statement. “We spend multimillions of dollars on hosting fees and Reddit needs to be fairly paid to continue supporting high-usage third-party apps.” #data #community #change #programming #founders #content

Reddit suffers a major outage after thousands of subreddits temporarily shut down It's been quite a day for Reddit. Thousands of communities have temporarily closed shop to protest changes the company is making to its API, which is impacting several third-party apps. On top of that, the platform suffered a "major outage" across its desktop and mobile websites, as well as the mobile apps. "We're aware of problems loading content and are working to resolve the issues as quickly as possible," read a message on the Reddit status page as of 10:58AM ET. By 11:30AM, the site was loading again. "A significant number of subreddits shifting to private caused some expected stability issues, and we’ve been working on resolving the anticipated issue," Reddit told Engadget in a statement. A bot was tracking all of the subreddits that were going private as part of the protests. As you might expect, the bot was out of commission while Reddit was down, but it's up and running again.Subscribe to the Engadget Deals NewsletterGreat deals on consumer electronics delivered straight to your inbox, curated by Engadget’s editorial team. See latestPlease enter a valid email addressPlease select a newsletterBy subscribing, you are agreeing to Engadget's Terms and Privacy Policy. Reddit said in April...

Reddit CEO doubles down on API changes - https://lnkd.in/g4Wsy65v - ( New Post Shared by www.shipwr3ck.com ) - Many Redditors are still up in arms about Reddit's recent API changes, but CEO Steve Huffman isn't backing down. That's the gist (and, frankly, nearly all of the substance) of Huffman's interview with The Verge, published on Friday. A little context: Numerous Reddit communities are currently turned private, in protest of the platform's new API pricing structure, which threatens to kill many popular, third-party Reddit apps. These "blackouts" can happen as Reddit provides a platform for forum-like chats, but moderators on the platform have a fair degree of autonomy, including the power to set a subreddit to private, which makes it inaccessible to most users. Huffman tried to iron things out in an AMA (ask me anything) session on Reddit, but it only made things worse. Now, in his interview with The Verge, the CEO once again explained his position on the matter. SEE ALSO: Here's what the internet might look like without Reddit According to Huffman, continuing to provide free API access to every third party developer is out of the question, as some developers are making "millions" on their apps while costing Reddit "about $10 million in pure infrastructure costs." The CEO also says the company has made a deal with the developers building accessibility apps, and certain other "critical" apps, naming only Pushshift. But others, including the popular Reddit app Apollo, will have to start paying for access. Munch of the interview revolves around the timing of these changes and the short notice given to developers to adapt (Reddit announced the changes in April, right around the time when Twitter did a similar thing with its API). According to Huffman, the changes were a long time coming, and were internally discussed as far back as 2015. Ultimately, the CEO said Reddit decided it doesn't want to keep covering costs while third party apps profit from their data. "We did it when we did it. We could do it a year from now and we’d probably have the same conversation. We could do it five years ago, we'd be having the same conversation," said Huffman. As for the protests by Reddit's users, Huffman claimed they're already dying down — having already downplayed their impact. "We don’t have problems with protests. I think it’s important. That’s part of the democracy. It’s part of the democratic part of Reddit. But the users are not in support of it now. It’s like a protest in a city that goes on too long, and the rest of the citizens of the city would like to go about their lives," he said. Featured Video For You Alternative Social Networks to Replace Twitter, Facebook, and More Huffman acknowledged that a part of Reddit's community won't be fully satisfied with how things

Reddit is removing years of chats and messages https://ift.tt/8yZzqwL If you have fond memories of chatting with Reddit friends, you might want to check your archives. Reddit has confirmed userreports that it's removing all chats and messages from before 2023. As the social site explained in June, it's moving to a new chat architecture and believes pulling older messages will enable a 'smooth and quick transition' to the new architecture. The change took effect June 30th, but many users only noticed days later. There may be a way to recover some of those messages, Mashablesays. You can request account data from Reddit through an online form, and the archive might include conversations from before 2023. While it won't be as easy to revisit a priceless chat, it won't necessarily be gone forever. Users still aren't thrilled, however. While Reddit disclosed the cutoff in a changelog, it didn't notify community members directly. That left some to discover the company's plans only after their message logs disappeared, preventing them from backing up their histories on their own terms. The move also comes as Reddit is facing a broader backlash. Numerous subreddits conducted a days-long blackout to protest new policies that made it impractical for third-party apps like Apollo to remain active. Since then, users and moderators have taken various actions (such as focusing subreddits on John Oliver photos) to fight back. More recently, Reddit said it would phase out the existing coin system used to recognize exceptional contributors. You can no longer buy new coins, and all awards and coins will go away after September 12th. The existing approach leads to 'clutter' and provides content that some don't believe is all that valuable, Reddit says. While there will be a replacement system, it's expected to be simpler and more direct. That may not thrill longtime fans used to Reddit's sometimes very specific awards and medals. This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://ift.tt/8yZzqwL via Engadget is a web magazine with obsessive daily coverage of everything new in gadgets and consumer electronics https://ift.tt/R7wuEzS July 14, 2023 at 07:45PM

“The potential loss of these services due to the pricing change would significantly impact our ability to moderate efficiently!..." Today, Reddit, Inc. is completely dark. The online forum has gone offline in a site-wide protest against plans to charge for API access - the technology that allows developers to access its data. The "reddark" blackouts are a concerted effort by tens of thousands of Reddit moderators and millions of users in protest of Reddit's recently disclosed API pricing. According to the planned fees, some third-party developers will pay upwards of $2 million each month to run their Reddit apps. In response to the changes, over 8,000 participating applications and subreddits have gone down or switched to read-only status, with app developers warning that Reddit, Inc.'s new API access pricing would make their products unsustainable. Discover the API charges that were originally proposed, and the impacts this could have on Reddit, Inc.. #reddit #API #forum

Reddit CEO doubles down on attack on Apollo developer in drama-filled AMA - https://lnkd.in/ggyN_6HP - ( New Post Shared by www.shipwr3ck.com ) - Reddit’s unpopular decision to revise its API pricing in a move that’s forcing third-party apps out of business has taken a weird turn. In an AMA hosted today by Reddit co-founder and CEO Steve Huffman, aka u/spez on the internet forum site, the exec doubled down on accusations against the developer behind the well-liked third-party app Apollo, which the company had previously accused of operating inefficiency and not being a good “API” user. Despite community backlash — which includes a site-wide protest from thousands of communities known as subreddits — Huffman’s AMA confirmed the company has no plans to revise its coming API changes. What’s more, Huffman continued his accusations against Apollo, calling out the developer, Christian Selig’s, “behavior and communications” as being “all over the place” and saying he couldn’t see Reddit working with the developer further. Selig had been among the first to highlight that Reddit’s new API pricing would effectively make it impossible to continue to operate the Apollo app. He explained that, under the new terms, it would cost him $20 million per year to do so — money the app doesn’t make. This week, Selig announced the app’s last day would be June 30, ahead of the July 1 implementation of the new API pricing. Popular third-party Reddit app Apollo is shutting down as a result of Reddit’s new API pricing Other third-party apps are also closing down, including Sync, RIF, and Reddplant, to name a few. But Huffman seemingly has an ax to grind with Selig in particular, first accusing the developer of extortion, per Selig’s extensive post on the situation between himself and Reddit. According to Selig’s interpretation of the situation, he raised the question as to why Reddit was choosing to change its API terms to put third-party apps out of business, rather than just buying them out, as the company did with Alien Blue (an older Reddit client that it acquired in 2014.) He said that if Apollo was costing Reddit $20 million per year, Reddit should cut him a check to put an end to the app. The remark doesn’t sound like a serious ask from his telling. If fact, he clarified on the call, “…this is mostly a joke.” If anything, it comes across as a means of trying to understand why the company would make a move that’s sure to generate ill will among its wider community. (As it has.) A Reddit representative on a call with Selig, however, first seemingly interpreted his comment as a “threat,” Selig said. But on the call, they cleared up the misunderstanding and the contact apologized. Selig came with receipts — he recorded the call (which is legal where he’s based in Canada.) But in a subsequent call with moderators, Huffman referred to this

I am not surprised by Reddit's actions. Why should Reddit budge at all? Reddit is owned by Advance Publications Inc. That is a private company. Private companies want to make money. As a goal #1. Private companies are not here to make some "greater good" (not as #1 goal in vast majority of cases). Private companies are not here to "bring communities togethers" (not as a goal #1 in vast majority of cases). "greater good" and "bringing communities together" MAY or MAY NOT be the side effects. Often they are, other they are not. This is the reality. All people using Reddit as their platform FULLY DEPEND on anything Reddit (or Advance Publications) decides. No one is forced to use Reddit if they do not like it. Don't like Reddit's actions? Move some place else. It really is that simple. #simplelife

Hundreds of subreddits plan to go dark indefinitely after Reddit CEO’s internal memo - https://lnkd.in/gr5rhwis - ( New Post Shared by www.shipwr3ck.com ) - More than 300 subreddits, including popular ones like r/aww, r/music r/videos, and r/futurology, plan to go dark indefinitely after a large protest against Reddit’s API changes ends on June 14. This means users won’t be able to access these communities during this blackout. This step was announced after The Verge reported that in an internal memo, Reddit CEO Steve Huffman said “Like all blowups on Reddit, this one will pass as well”. Huffman said in the memo that the blackout hasn’t caused any significant impact on the company’s revenue. Over the last few days, (June 12-14) thousands of subreddits have gone dark to protest API changes by the platform that will potentially shut down many third-party apps. Because of these subreddits going dark, the site briefly faced an outage on June 12. A post on Twitter suggested that this blackout impacted a large portion of Reddit’s activity. However, as Huffman suggested in the memo, a lot of the subreddits will be active again on Wednesday. Developers have also spun up a tracker site that tells users what subreddits are dark, restricted, or public. Reddit mods are planning a blackout tomorrow. While it is only around 5K subreddits, turns out a *large* portion of Reddit will go dark.https://t.co/HMhgEeO5l1 pic.twitter.com/PdDxj9SNYr — Joao Neto (@joao_p_n) June 11, 2023 Several subreddits are extending the blackout to June 20, with the readiness to extend it indefinitely. Reddit first announced that it is going to charge for its API in April. Earlier this month, Christian Selig, the developer behind popular third-party client Apollo said that in a call with Reddit, he learned about unaffordable API pricing. But as the company didn’t budge on its stance, he decided to shut down the Apollo on June 30. Other popular apps like Reddit Is Fun, Sync for Reddit, and ReddPlanet also shut down. In an AMA with users, Huffman strongly backed the new API pricing and even took jabs at Apollo and Selig. He said that, unlike some third-party apps, Reddit is not profitable and the company will  “continue to be profit-driven until profits arrive.” Reddit’s approach to making a lot more money is not surprising, given the company is reportedly planning to public this year. To cut costs, the social media platform laid off 5% of its staff last week and slowed down its hiring plans. If you want to talk more about the ongoing Reddit blackout, you can contact the reporter at [email protected] Hundreds of subreddits plan to go dark indefinitely after Reddit CEO’s internal memo by Ivan Mehta originally published on TechCrunch - <div><p>More than 300 subreddits, including popular ones like r/aww, r/music r/videos, and r/futurology, plan to go dark indefinitely after a la

Reddit said their piece. Reddit Mods said their piece. And there was no common ground. Comply or die. Some app providers that provided their apps for free would rather die. Largely because paying is non-viable. They are providing a free service - but if they made their money from the app - Reddit wants a piece of that. If they didn't, Reddit wants a piece of their wallet. Except that they didn't choose death - Reddit shut them off. Now, I am not that torn up about Reddit because it was marginally more toxic than Twitter, populated by people who liked to use their relatively superior knowledge as pulpit to insult others. But things evolve, a freemium has to turn a profit - somehow. That's why Reddit had to figure a PTP so it figured to tax SOMEONE. And if there is a shortfall, then it will start to tax EVERYONE. The old Reddit is dead. That model was useful but unsustainable for a profit making entity. The new model .... is yet to be understood because charging people for the same thing they used to get for free, resulting in people and services exiting means that they get less but actually have to pay (more). It is like the Third Reich claiming to be the successor for the Second Reich, boasting a thousand year reign only to fall within 12.