Reddit CEO says everything is fine
Amidst the ongoing blackouts and protests on Reddit, CEO Mike Huffman has spoken up to reassure the company's employees.
The decision to charge for Reddit's API sparked a lot of anger, leading Huffman to address the concerns and say that the site-wide blackout happening on many subreddits will eventually come to an end. Reddit is a popular platform known for its various pop culture and gaming communities, and users' strong criticism has left some employees worried.
CEO has spoken about ongoing Reddit protests
In April, Reddit made a choice to start charging for its API, which had been free until then. This decision upset many users, especially those who use third-party apps that rely on the API. People were not happy with Reddit's move, and it led to moderators and users of thousands of subreddits participating in a blackout to protest against the company's decision.
This is one of the biggest organized protests in Reddit's history, with over eight thousand subreddits joining the blackout.
As a response, CEO Mike Huffman sent a memo to Reddit employees, obtained by The Verge, addressing the blackout and explaining that despite the protests, work should continue as usual. Huffman reassured employees that the protests haven't caused significant harm to the company's revenue and said, "like all blowups on Reddit, this one will pass as well".
He also advised employees to avoid wearing company-branded gear in public. While some subreddits are expected to end the blackout by Wednesday, there's no guarantee, and Huffman's memo suggests that employees should focus on their work and try to ignore the situation.
It is still uncertain
Huffman's memo may sound confident, but it's hard to say how long these blackouts and protests will last. Charging for Reddit's API has hurt various third-party apps, like Apollo for Reddit. Even if some subreddits stop their blackout soon, there will likely be others that continue to protest for as long as they can.
Reddit is a place where people share their art and ideas, and it's interesting to see the community come together like this to make their voices heard. Only time will tell how this situation ultimately affects the company.
Read also: Best Reddit alternatives to look for after the blackout protests
Advertisement
There are alternatives and I have started testing this last week. I have liked Reddit but when they do something stupid like this that affects us the users we will revolt. The best way to mess up their IPO is leaving for a new platform. It might take some time to find the ideal but that will happen…
Yes it’s all fine, amazing fine. So fine that Reddit will reach the Peace Nobel Prize 2023.
Whether it is the head of government (e.g. Boris (Kloris) Johnson), even actors like Bill Cosby, or the head of a company. What they all have in common is that they lie to you. The average person lies seven times a day, but corporate fodder is a whole different class and goes over the top.
Never forget that it’s always about the owner’s wallet (or owners like shareholders).
Anno 2023, being charitable no longer seems possible.
I have seen some subs move to Lemmy and they seem to be a lot better for it considering they are free from some of the restrictions that Reddit put in place some years ago.
At the very least subs should create a backup on Lemmy or wherever else they see fit to see how it goes whilst they protest and maybe leave a hint on their reddit sub where to find them which would also allow them to keep the sub down for longer too.
This canary will sing another tune in 10 days.
Its likely volunteers will orchestrate a more durable rebellion that sabotages reddit’s operations without crossing into ‘remove all moderators and man their subreddits with our yes-men’ territory.
Some said theyd go private one full day every week, but its not as damaging as it could be. There’s also talk of unpredictably setting subreddits private for say one hour everyday, to prevent alternative subreddits from taking their place, with potentially many more participants than during the 48h blackout since its a far more reasonable.
Only issue with all this is that reddit could agressively leverage the amp cache to bypass visibility changes without needing to change the moderators. Advertisers that continue promoting on reddit could also get pressured into denouncing reddit’s actions or ceasing to pay it like what happened with twitter.
I for one hope that Reddit flops and becomes the new Myspace/Digg, replaced by more decentralization, and especially less of the Internet under the control of American corporations.
Apart from subs going dark, it would be cool if all the moderators just refused to do their job at the same time. Because of course, it’s not really their job; they don’t get paid to moderate; and we do not owe these companies anything. Especially when they are trying to lock down and heavily censor the Internet like cable TV.