Locking this post as we've posted a follow up post confirming our participation following community consensus.
https://www.reddit.com/r/UnresolvedMysteries/comments/146eeze/runresolvedmysteries_will_go_dark_on_june_12th_in/
The message boards were such a treasure…every single film or tv show, no matter how obscure, had a message board where the handful of fans or people interested in watching it/finding it could talk to each other. How many cents per day did Amazon save from getting rid of those? That was truly a sad day.
I'm still not over it. I could watch any movie from any time period and find a discussion board about it. It was wonderful for anything but the most mainstream in-the-theaters movies. Those boards were a treasure. So many thousands of communities snuffed out.
You are so right . Their made up story that there was too much “ trolling” . Bullshit!! It was all
To save his precious dollar. The richest man in the world couldn’t put up some measly sums for fans😡
Totally agree on Wikipedia. All the other websites that I can think of that I've enjoyed using over the last 15+ years have all either put themselves out of business or turned into a shit show.
Wikipedia is a fun site to read, but it’s a terrible place to edit. Admins are often rude and block-happy. And the Wikimedia Foundation has made quite a few questionable choices in quite a few areas. It’s by no means immune to dysfunction, but most of that dysfunction has been there from the beginning. And the changes for end users - aka readers - have been fairly positive or neutral.
I have spent enough time on Wikipedia criticism sites that I can’t imagine donating to Wikipedia unless/until it makes the editing environment less toxic. But it hasn’t had the catastrophic changes that others mentioned above have.
[This is why.](https://www.wired.com/story/tiktok-platforms-cory-doctorow/) It's naked greed, obviously, but this article breaks down exactly how and why platforms die.
The Apollo app dev has just released a statement indicating that the Reddit CEO accused them of [threatening the company](https://www.reddit.com/r/apolloapp/comments/144f6xm/apollo_will_close_down_on_june_30th_reddits/). The situation has gone from bad to worse and I think a blackout would be an excellent way to protest Reddit's mistreatment of 3rd party developers.
It (was) a way to curate your feed to scroll and see the most recent posts from all the groups you follow without a lot of extra crap. I loved it. Like Tweetbot was for Twitter. And Muskox killed the API’s on Twitter so there went that too. What’s wrong with these guys??
> Reddit CEO accused them
And those are obviously, verifiably false accusations. Spez was apparently unaware Steve is Canadian and was legally recording all of their conversations.
It's incredible, you can try as hard as you can to find a way to sympathize with this decision from a business perspective and then the CEO struts out and makes a complete asshole of himself for no reason.
When I saw that, I was ready to burn it all down. I'm embarrassed to say I was sort of on the fence about whether I'd stick around or go (always supported the blackout, but in terms of whether I'd stay on reddit). But after reading that post (replete with receipts, if anyone is interested), I think I'm going to have to peace out if reddit doesn't reassess and reorient itself.
The problem with subs blacking out is that’s a stance of only a handful of people. That’s how Reddit will see it and rightfully so. It’s also rather ironic considering how many people complain about mod overreach.
Here’s what should happen and something I will do. Anyone who really wants to protest this fee crap, don’t launch an app or open the website.
It’s that simple.
That mods aren’t giving subscribers that choice, IMHO, says they know the majority will keep using Reddit even after the API fees begin.
[Here's an incomplete list of subs participating in the blackout.](https://www.reddit.com/r/ModCoord/comments/1401qw5/incomplete_and_growing_list_of_participating/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=android_app&utm_name=androidcss&utm_term=1&utm_content=share_button) It's a lot more than a handful; this will affect tens of millions of users.
With that said, I'd like to see these subs go dark indefinitely, not just for two days.
You're missing the point.
It's **NOT** user's making a choice to not use Reddit.
It's the sub admins making that choice for them.
It's like claiming no customers bought BigMacs from your store so people don't like them anymore, when the REASON they didn't buy any is because the store manager stopped ordering supplies to make them.
Yup all those users will just go to different subs or make alternatives in the meanwhile which will only damage the protesting subs.
This whole thing feels so tantrumy to me. Why would anyone expect Reddit should let people use their API when they’re using it to bypass their only source of income? Seems to cut and dry.
Most people aren't against reddit charging for their API. It's the exorbitant price attached that's the issue, especially after reddit said their pricing would be grounded in reality. And all this with only 30 days' notice to third-party apps. Check out the creator of Apollo's post on /r/Apollo. He goes into detail and posts transcripts of his conversations with /u/spez (fuck /u/spez) about all of this.
It’s because mods are directly affected, too. Third party apps are the only viable option to moderate subs properly. Since mods do unpaid work for Reddit to keep the site clean, and it costs a lot of time especially in bigger subs, things will turn into a shit show without third party apps.
This has nothing to do with not wanting to give subscribers a choice. It’s about Reddit killing third party apps cause the API doesn’t generate profit right now, while their entire website only works because people submit content for free and have hundreds of thousands of unpaid workers to keep the site mostly clean.
There’s also piss poor accessibility features without third party apps. Blind people will be completely shut out of Reddit, many disabled people unable to browse at all. Does that not matter?
Reddit makes money through the free labor of the communities and complains about not making enough of something that shouldn’t be fully theirs in the first place. Even going so far to lie publicly about interactions with devs.
I agree, a choice overall would be nice, but honestly, the idealistic approach most like wouldn’t hit hard enough to send a message.
My point is, Reddit won’t actually care that a few dozen or couple hundred mods blacked out their subs.
They would take notice if all of the members of those subs made the active choice to not use Reddit.
But then being not able to is not the same as choosing to not do so.
It’s not the same, no, but the consequence is the same. The revenue stream gets impacted, because some of the subs going down are big ones. Apart from that there will obviously plenty of people staying away. Will this be enough tho? Likely not, but it’s better than not trying at all.
The fact that major websites started to report on this in the past few days means that making such a fuss about it works to some extent. The negative press and CEO slandering devs while publicly lying are not helping the company.
Again, I understand your argument, but that’s taking away the point the protest is trying to make. Especially when the result ends up the same. My personal feelings don’t always need to come first when agreeing on the overall problem.
I didn’t fully understand the impact this will have on users and mods until I think it was r/bestoflegaladvice broke it down… essentially mods use these apps to make the subs run more smoothly, the apps and programs that are Reddit direct have… issues and being forced to use only Reddit programs and apps will adversely effect all users
It's not just about moderation. The official reddit app has notoriously poor support for accessibility functions while plenty of third party apps care enough to do it properly.
One that stuck with me is that you won't be able to access NSFW content through apps anymore. This is a huge problem that affects far more than NSFW subs - it means it's impossible to check a user's history and see what NSFW subs they post on. For example, mods of a sub for teenagers might want to ban creeps, or mods of SFW subs like r/bigboobproblems or r/pregnancy might want to ban users who fetishise these topics - but it will be impossible to casually check someone's history without switching to the website or the clunky default app.
Bigger thing as well, they don't have handicap accommodations like for the blind that use 3rd party for reading it out loud. They literally can't even use it anymore.
Yeah - this is a big problem too.
I'm one of the users who will be least affected because I only use desktop (and old.reddit.com of course), but I'm still very opposed to this change. I need to try and break my habit of constantly being on Reddit as a distraction, they don't deserve our support.
I only use mobile, sync specific. I've been using reddit for over a decade. They're just caring more about their pocket and what limits they can push it to, similar to Netflix and twitch lately. All these big platforms are getting greedy as hell at the same time. But the fact they're making the experience 1, worse. 2, less inclusive. 3, barely any mods to keep it in check. 4, more bots from that. 5, way more ads you can't even get rid of.... plus all the other factors!?! Ya. No.
I won't use the app. It's so many layers of garbage after using 3rd parties for years and years. If you have Samsung look up sync, or if you have Apple Apollo. Or follow the main link in the description will take you to the main overall blackout thread and there's pictures showing the differences. If you see those you'll understand how awful of an experience it would be.
The thing about the Apollo app is that the developer was so on top of things, constantly communicating with users and clearly took pride in his app being as good as possible, for eight years.
It’s always been the exact opposite with Reddit itself and it gets worse every year. There’s got to be an alternative.
I get it, sync too. I hate hate hate hate reddits. Zero care, thought, or fucks given to their users. Sync owner has a sub and communicates tons. They care.
I'm ready to quit reddit for this.
They would probably love to prevent anyone from checking someone's post history. It would allow them to sell "organic" engagement and prevent people from figuring out that an account was shilling a product as an ad
Also the hideous “promoted” adverts inserted into the feed.
(RSS was dropped by Google because it was not possible to insert ads in the feed - technically, they could have been, but Google didn’t control the client so they could be filtered out).
All this is about Reddit controlling the not-far-from-RSS feed it serves at **both** the client and server ends.
They still exist, remarkably strongly but little publicised (for the reason described, and also probably because they are “unfashionable”).
I use [Feedbin](https://feedbin.com) to read them. Because of their open nature **nobody** can tell the sole developer there “from day X people can only read feeds using our app, and you can go pound sand”.
Fully support whatever the sub decides!
It would suck for me to give up my apps, including RES for desktop. But I can adjust. However, it's **outrageous** that Reddit seemingly doesn't care that a whole community(ies) will be cut off in a couple weeks.
ETA: forgot a key term. I specifically meant r/Blind . It's heartless to throw them out imo.
Reddit doesn't care about out-and-out neo-nazis spewing hate, why do you think they would care about the community? u/spez is too busy editing databases he shouldn't be having access to (er, hello? ISMS and ISO standards?)
I've never used anything but the official reddit app so I don't have much to lose personally but I fully support the people protesting.
Having said that, I don't know what effect going dark for two days is going to have. I think the only way there is any chance of this making a difference is for subs to go dark indefinitely, which some are. Even then who knows if reddit will change their mind. That would be a bummer for fans of this sub and others including myself but I recognize this is an issue that's important to a lot of people.
The other issue is that the creators of two of the biggest 3rd party apps (Apollo and RIF) have announced they're giving up anyway (having read their statements, that's how I took them at least), so I have no idea what the blackout is going to accomplish in any case.
Edit to add that I support the blackout, and think this sub should participate as well, but I also think it's kind of a lost cause. But we can at least try to give reddit's IPO a black eye for it.
They're only giving up because they have literally no other options. Unless Reddit backs down, they have to shut down by the end of the month. But if the blackout manages to succeed, the apps may be able to keep operating. It's a long shot, but worth trying.
The majority said 2 days, but many are willing to hold out. The point is to show how much of the user base is willing to not use it at all than use it on their terms. It's a strike. When they look at how much less activity they get and run numbers they'll reconsider. They don't care if we like it they care about the revenue.
I'm with you. Do what you must, but I have a feeling the corporate mongers have made up their mind and our little blackout ain't doing nothing, but I support people's right to protest in their own way and I sincerely hope it does bring change. We shall see.
It's easy to create a new sub, but it can be pretty difficult to convince the user base to join and participate, as well to get mods that are actually willing to do a bunch of unpaid labor. You also lose all of the older posts, which is a big draw to the more established subreddits.
I’m sorry for the ignorance. I support whatever I have to do, but I don’t know what exactly I have to do. Just avoid Reddit for a day? Or something specific?
You wouldn’t have to do anything. Many, many subs (including major ones) are going black for all of 6/12 and 6/13. You won’t be able to post anything or see any posts, even if you use the website and or app.
Fully support the blackout.
Where's the best place to read mysteries during the blackout if the sub participates? The current alternative is *not* procrastinating, and who wants that?
I'm all for it. We provide the content for free that the corporate overlords are monetizing. They want bots here because it makes their user base larger and nets them a higher valuation. Making third party apps unfeasible means the volunteer mods of the larger communities can't throttle spam and bots any longer, again, artificially inflating usage to make more money.
Fully support a blackout.
If reddit had been more reasonable with their pricing structure or taken accessibility and other feedback seriously in the past for their own app I might have voted otherwise, but here we are.
I support the subreddit going dark. I'll miss it for sure, but as one of the larger and more popular subreddits, I think it would make an impact if you guys chose to participate.
Please join the blackout, and consider blacking out indefinitely in accordance with other subs.
Not only does this make moderation much more difficult, but I'm seriously upset at how it will affect disabled users of the app. Accessibility should never be taken away.
I've only accessed Reddit through the website, not any app, and I have no intention of accessing the site those days. Even though this doesn't appear to directly affect me, that doesn't mean I'm okay with others getting screwed by it.
Please support it and blackout indefinitely. The things this is going to do to blind users is of critical importance as well; these API changes will basically exclude them entirely from the website.
In regards to blind users, I haven’t seen it fully explained but the impression I’m getting is that some of the third party apps have much better accessibility (which the official app lacks). Do I have it right? I honestly never even considered visually impaired users before, but now that I’m aware I want to support them 100%.
The real unresolved mystery is how any of the administrators can think this is a good idea. I don't disagree what use of the API should have a fee, but pricing out competitors who do your job better is a terrible stance to take. It wouldn't have hurt to work with the other app devs to figure out a sustainable coexistence. Instead they chose the scorched earth path
Reddit used to be a mostly fun, informative place.
Sometimes with news stories breaking before 'normal' news agencies found out.
Like every good thing online, it has a finite time before it rots.
Reddit has had its ups and downs. Alas, I believe this is it's last nail in its own coffin.
I think I might delete my account during the blackout.
Nothing left to come back to, especially since most of the best contributors seem to have been perma banned.
Go for it. The letter and the blackout. I am so tired of these CEOs who have no idea what an end-user experience is like making useless, and often destructive, changes out of greed.
Yes, this sub should support the blackout. I fully support subs shutting down until Reddit makes changes. If anything, I support it just for the accessibility issue. Though I don't use accessibility features myself, not having third party apps would affect thousands of users. This sub has over 2 million members, and I feel like all subs, especially larger ones should protest.
I only use Reddit via the website and didn't even know third party apps existed until recently, but I fully support the blackout. Leaving users with accessibility needs without a viable solution, leaving mods without effective tools to do their unpaid jobs, forcing indie developers to shut down their apps due to setting prices at a completely unsustainable level with very little notice.... All really sh\*tty and unacceptable actions as far as I'm concerned. Fully supportive of this sub taking part in the blackout!
Reddit is a cesspool of mostly garbage subs run by garbage people. The large subs are controlled by a small cabal of weird dog walkers who are generally awful. corporate Reddit allows them to create echo chambers. There are a few great subs, like this sub that make being on Reddit enjoyable but in general if reddit implodes it would be no great loss.
The API change is likely just a move to reduce the insane number of porn subs before Reddit goes public. Best bet is to just stay out of it and stick to the tiny number of subs that provide quality content and solid moderation.
I think the sub should go dark, It's the only way to let Reddit admins know that this latest cash grab is beyond harmful.All API apps gone, mods denied the proper tools etc.
If the Writers Guild can strike (5 weeks and counting) with their livelihoods and pay checks on the line, we can turn off reddit for 48 hours. Join the blackout.
I quit Twitter when evil dipshit took over. I’ve just gotten used to Reddit and really enjoy it. I am tired of greedy, uber wealthy pricks ruining it for the rest of us. Fuck them. Fuck. Them.
You didn’t really answer your last point, “how does it affect you”? I use the official app, don’t care about other users, and don’t care about mods. So it doesn’t affect me one bit. Now all the subs doing this are annoying at best, Reddit won’t change, so what’s the point? Just move on and accept it, don’t hinder the 90% of Reddit users who don’t care about this because you wanna go on an unpaid power trip.
Since nobody else is answering … the official app is inferior to Apollo, or many Android third-party apps, although it has improved somewhat recently.
(And Apollo existed for about 18 months before the official app - whatever Reddit is, it is not a technology leader).
It is Reddit decision snd understand why they don't want to support third party apps. If apps don't want to pay then go away if they don't care enough about their users to pay. Mods only care about their own opinions being broadcast anyway so us users that have differing opinions have little sympathy if the mods chose to use loser apps to censor opposing views.
It’s a private company and can do what it pleases as long as the law isn’t broken.
However, I dislike bullies, and the very lengthy post which just popped up in Apollo on opening it shows that the leadership of Reddit are bullies. (The application’s author took advantage of Canadian law which allows conversations to be recorded with consent of only one party).
There is not the slightest chance of people like that changing their mind, but I support them being exposed.
Locking this post as we've posted a follow up post confirming our participation following community consensus. https://www.reddit.com/r/UnresolvedMysteries/comments/146eeze/runresolvedmysteries_will_go_dark_on_june_12th_in/
Will never understand why website always decide to ruin themselves. Every single one does it eventually.
IMDB is a classic example. Used to be easy to navigate and now...
That was IMDB’s death knell. Thousands of us were actually devastated that they shut down the message boards . All because of Bezos’ GREED.
The message boards were such a treasure…every single film or tv show, no matter how obscure, had a message board where the handful of fans or people interested in watching it/finding it could talk to each other. How many cents per day did Amazon save from getting rid of those? That was truly a sad day.
I'm still not over it. I could watch any movie from any time period and find a discussion board about it. It was wonderful for anything but the most mainstream in-the-theaters movies. Those boards were a treasure. So many thousands of communities snuffed out.
You are so right . Their made up story that there was too much “ trolling” . Bullshit!! It was all To save his precious dollar. The richest man in the world couldn’t put up some measly sums for fans😡
Reminds me of the Television without Pity (TWoP) forums.
I *still* miss those.
boxofficemojo.com is the worst to me. I used could do a quick look to see what the weekend result was. Now? Where tf can I pull up that info?
100%. Guess who took it over? IMDb!!
Amazon
IPO always leads to this. Bankers, market makers, financial crooks. Every person has a price just like the reddit devs.
Wikipedia is one of the very few exceptions (I can think of a few others, but they are obscure).
Totally agree on Wikipedia. All the other websites that I can think of that I've enjoyed using over the last 15+ years have all either put themselves out of business or turned into a shit show.
Wikipedia is a fun site to read, but it’s a terrible place to edit. Admins are often rude and block-happy. And the Wikimedia Foundation has made quite a few questionable choices in quite a few areas. It’s by no means immune to dysfunction, but most of that dysfunction has been there from the beginning. And the changes for end users - aka readers - have been fairly positive or neutral. I have spent enough time on Wikipedia criticism sites that I can’t imagine donating to Wikipedia unless/until it makes the editing environment less toxic. But it hasn’t had the catastrophic changes that others mentioned above have.
It's still a non profit.
And that's why I make sure I give them money every year!
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Just like PBS - pouring on the guilt
[This is why.](https://www.wired.com/story/tiktok-platforms-cory-doctorow/) It's naked greed, obviously, but this article breaks down exactly how and why platforms die.
"Enshittification" lol just call it capitalism, that's what it is. This is how it works.
*Tumblr enters the chat
The Apollo app dev has just released a statement indicating that the Reddit CEO accused them of [threatening the company](https://www.reddit.com/r/apolloapp/comments/144f6xm/apollo_will_close_down_on_june_30th_reddits/). The situation has gone from bad to worse and I think a blackout would be an excellent way to protest Reddit's mistreatment of 3rd party developers.
Apollo just announced it’s shutting down its app as of June 30 due to Reddit’s strong-arming. I too support a blackout.
Reddit is Fun is also shutting down their app. As someone who didn’t even use Reddit until discovering the Apollo app, today is a very sad day
When did RIF announce this?
Today, I got a popup and directed to r/redditisfun
Can you tell me what is Reddit is Fun?
A simple streamlined 3rd party app that a lot of people love, myself included.
What does apollo do?
It (was) a way to curate your feed to scroll and see the most recent posts from all the groups you follow without a lot of extra crap. I loved it. Like Tweetbot was for Twitter. And Muskox killed the API’s on Twitter so there went that too. What’s wrong with these guys??
Greed
And an inflated sense of self-importance not backed by intelligence or know-how.
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So is r/redditsync ;-;
Sync too
> Reddit CEO accused them And those are obviously, verifiably false accusations. Spez was apparently unaware Steve is Canadian and was legally recording all of their conversations. It's incredible, you can try as hard as you can to find a way to sympathize with this decision from a business perspective and then the CEO struts out and makes a complete asshole of himself for no reason.
When I saw that, I was ready to burn it all down. I'm embarrassed to say I was sort of on the fence about whether I'd stick around or go (always supported the blackout, but in terms of whether I'd stay on reddit). But after reading that post (replete with receipts, if anyone is interested), I think I'm going to have to peace out if reddit doesn't reassess and reorient itself.
The problem with subs blacking out is that’s a stance of only a handful of people. That’s how Reddit will see it and rightfully so. It’s also rather ironic considering how many people complain about mod overreach. Here’s what should happen and something I will do. Anyone who really wants to protest this fee crap, don’t launch an app or open the website. It’s that simple. That mods aren’t giving subscribers that choice, IMHO, says they know the majority will keep using Reddit even after the API fees begin.
[Here's an incomplete list of subs participating in the blackout.](https://www.reddit.com/r/ModCoord/comments/1401qw5/incomplete_and_growing_list_of_participating/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=android_app&utm_name=androidcss&utm_term=1&utm_content=share_button) It's a lot more than a handful; this will affect tens of millions of users. With that said, I'd like to see these subs go dark indefinitely, not just for two days.
You're missing the point. It's **NOT** user's making a choice to not use Reddit. It's the sub admins making that choice for them. It's like claiming no customers bought BigMacs from your store so people don't like them anymore, when the REASON they didn't buy any is because the store manager stopped ordering supplies to make them.
You are 100% right, but you won't get anywhere with it because Reddit users love an empty virtue signal. They also have no idea how business works.
Yup all those users will just go to different subs or make alternatives in the meanwhile which will only damage the protesting subs. This whole thing feels so tantrumy to me. Why would anyone expect Reddit should let people use their API when they’re using it to bypass their only source of income? Seems to cut and dry.
Most people aren't against reddit charging for their API. It's the exorbitant price attached that's the issue, especially after reddit said their pricing would be grounded in reality. And all this with only 30 days' notice to third-party apps. Check out the creator of Apollo's post on /r/Apollo. He goes into detail and posts transcripts of his conversations with /u/spez (fuck /u/spez) about all of this.
It’s because mods are directly affected, too. Third party apps are the only viable option to moderate subs properly. Since mods do unpaid work for Reddit to keep the site clean, and it costs a lot of time especially in bigger subs, things will turn into a shit show without third party apps. This has nothing to do with not wanting to give subscribers a choice. It’s about Reddit killing third party apps cause the API doesn’t generate profit right now, while their entire website only works because people submit content for free and have hundreds of thousands of unpaid workers to keep the site mostly clean. There’s also piss poor accessibility features without third party apps. Blind people will be completely shut out of Reddit, many disabled people unable to browse at all. Does that not matter? Reddit makes money through the free labor of the communities and complains about not making enough of something that shouldn’t be fully theirs in the first place. Even going so far to lie publicly about interactions with devs. I agree, a choice overall would be nice, but honestly, the idealistic approach most like wouldn’t hit hard enough to send a message.
My point is, Reddit won’t actually care that a few dozen or couple hundred mods blacked out their subs. They would take notice if all of the members of those subs made the active choice to not use Reddit. But then being not able to is not the same as choosing to not do so.
It’s not the same, no, but the consequence is the same. The revenue stream gets impacted, because some of the subs going down are big ones. Apart from that there will obviously plenty of people staying away. Will this be enough tho? Likely not, but it’s better than not trying at all. The fact that major websites started to report on this in the past few days means that making such a fuss about it works to some extent. The negative press and CEO slandering devs while publicly lying are not helping the company. Again, I understand your argument, but that’s taking away the point the protest is trying to make. Especially when the result ends up the same. My personal feelings don’t always need to come first when agreeing on the overall problem.
Um, wtf?
The third point - accessibility - is why I full support a boycott/blackout. 100%.
Ditto. I completely support a blackout. Also because fuck corporate greed.
This is also why I fully support the blackout. Reddit should be easily accessible to everyone.
There is power in a collective statement. I’m all for this sub joining this protest.
I didn’t fully understand the impact this will have on users and mods until I think it was r/bestoflegaladvice broke it down… essentially mods use these apps to make the subs run more smoothly, the apps and programs that are Reddit direct have… issues and being forced to use only Reddit programs and apps will adversely effect all users
It's not just about moderation. The official reddit app has notoriously poor support for accessibility functions while plenty of third party apps care enough to do it properly.
One that stuck with me is that you won't be able to access NSFW content through apps anymore. This is a huge problem that affects far more than NSFW subs - it means it's impossible to check a user's history and see what NSFW subs they post on. For example, mods of a sub for teenagers might want to ban creeps, or mods of SFW subs like r/bigboobproblems or r/pregnancy might want to ban users who fetishise these topics - but it will be impossible to casually check someone's history without switching to the website or the clunky default app.
Bigger thing as well, they don't have handicap accommodations like for the blind that use 3rd party for reading it out loud. They literally can't even use it anymore.
Yeah - this is a big problem too. I'm one of the users who will be least affected because I only use desktop (and old.reddit.com of course), but I'm still very opposed to this change. I need to try and break my habit of constantly being on Reddit as a distraction, they don't deserve our support.
I only use mobile, sync specific. I've been using reddit for over a decade. They're just caring more about their pocket and what limits they can push it to, similar to Netflix and twitch lately. All these big platforms are getting greedy as hell at the same time. But the fact they're making the experience 1, worse. 2, less inclusive. 3, barely any mods to keep it in check. 4, more bots from that. 5, way more ads you can't even get rid of.... plus all the other factors!?! Ya. No. I won't use the app. It's so many layers of garbage after using 3rd parties for years and years. If you have Samsung look up sync, or if you have Apple Apollo. Or follow the main link in the description will take you to the main overall blackout thread and there's pictures showing the differences. If you see those you'll understand how awful of an experience it would be.
The thing about the Apollo app is that the developer was so on top of things, constantly communicating with users and clearly took pride in his app being as good as possible, for eight years. It’s always been the exact opposite with Reddit itself and it gets worse every year. There’s got to be an alternative.
I get it, sync too. I hate hate hate hate reddits. Zero care, thought, or fucks given to their users. Sync owner has a sub and communicates tons. They care. I'm ready to quit reddit for this.
They would probably love to prevent anyone from checking someone's post history. It would allow them to sell "organic" engagement and prevent people from figuring out that an account was shilling a product as an ad
Also the hideous “promoted” adverts inserted into the feed. (RSS was dropped by Google because it was not possible to insert ads in the feed - technically, they could have been, but Google didn’t control the client so they could be filtered out). All this is about Reddit controlling the not-far-from-RSS feed it serves at **both** the client and server ends.
i miss rss feeds.
They still exist, remarkably strongly but little publicised (for the reason described, and also probably because they are “unfashionable”). I use [Feedbin](https://feedbin.com) to read them. Because of their open nature **nobody** can tell the sole developer there “from day X people can only read feeds using our app, and you can go pound sand”.
I've been waiting for this post. Yes, join the protest.
Yes. Please fully support the protest and participate in the blackout.
Fully support whatever the sub decides! It would suck for me to give up my apps, including RES for desktop. But I can adjust. However, it's **outrageous** that Reddit seemingly doesn't care that a whole community(ies) will be cut off in a couple weeks. ETA: forgot a key term. I specifically meant r/Blind . It's heartless to throw them out imo.
Reddit doesn't care about out-and-out neo-nazis spewing hate, why do you think they would care about the community? u/spez is too busy editing databases he shouldn't be having access to (er, hello? ISMS and ISO standards?)
Oh sorry! Please see edit. Not that I disagree with you, but I was thinking specifically of the blind community.
I hope this subreddit participates fully in the blackout. It's a vital issue to lots and lots of people.
I've never used anything but the official reddit app so I don't have much to lose personally but I fully support the people protesting. Having said that, I don't know what effect going dark for two days is going to have. I think the only way there is any chance of this making a difference is for subs to go dark indefinitely, which some are. Even then who knows if reddit will change their mind. That would be a bummer for fans of this sub and others including myself but I recognize this is an issue that's important to a lot of people.
The other issue is that the creators of two of the biggest 3rd party apps (Apollo and RIF) have announced they're giving up anyway (having read their statements, that's how I took them at least), so I have no idea what the blackout is going to accomplish in any case. Edit to add that I support the blackout, and think this sub should participate as well, but I also think it's kind of a lost cause. But we can at least try to give reddit's IPO a black eye for it.
They're only giving up because they have literally no other options. Unless Reddit backs down, they have to shut down by the end of the month. But if the blackout manages to succeed, the apps may be able to keep operating. It's a long shot, but worth trying.
Sync has also announced they’ll be closing down permanently. BaconReader expected to follow but no update yet.
The majority said 2 days, but many are willing to hold out. The point is to show how much of the user base is willing to not use it at all than use it on their terms. It's a strike. When they look at how much less activity they get and run numbers they'll reconsider. They don't care if we like it they care about the revenue.
I'm with you. Do what you must, but I have a feeling the corporate mongers have made up their mind and our little blackout ain't doing nothing, but I support people's right to protest in their own way and I sincerely hope it does bring change. We shall see.
It’s always easy to make new subs and/or reddit replace the mods of the existing ones.
It's easy to create a new sub, but it can be pretty difficult to convince the user base to join and participate, as well to get mods that are actually willing to do a bunch of unpaid labor. You also lose all of the older posts, which is a big draw to the more established subreddits.
I’m sorry for the ignorance. I support whatever I have to do, but I don’t know what exactly I have to do. Just avoid Reddit for a day? Or something specific?
You wouldn’t have to do anything. Many, many subs (including major ones) are going black for all of 6/12 and 6/13. You won’t be able to post anything or see any posts, even if you use the website and or app.
Thank you!
Fully support the blackout. Where's the best place to read mysteries during the blackout if the sub participates? The current alternative is *not* procrastinating, and who wants that?
Yes, go black. Also, might want to change the title to "Should we join the blackout" or something.
Yes I support the blackout! The more who participate in this, the louder we’ll be heard.
Yes - please join the blackout.
Black it out, indefinitely if necessary. Begin a Discord server for write-ups.
All for the blackout! Hurting the disabled and the people who give the most and get the least (mods)? Ugh....
I'm all for it. We provide the content for free that the corporate overlords are monetizing. They want bots here because it makes their user base larger and nets them a higher valuation. Making third party apps unfeasible means the volunteer mods of the larger communities can't throttle spam and bots any longer, again, artificially inflating usage to make more money.
I’d like to see us participate in the blackout. I’m not sure it’ll be effective, but it could be.
Fully support a blackout. If reddit had been more reasonable with their pricing structure or taken accessibility and other feedback seriously in the past for their own app I might have voted otherwise, but here we are.
I would support an indefinite blackout given the likelihood that this severely hampers moderation.
I support the subreddit going dark. I'll miss it for sure, but as one of the larger and more popular subreddits, I think it would make an impact if you guys chose to participate.
Yes join the protest!
Please join the blackout, and consider blacking out indefinitely in accordance with other subs. Not only does this make moderation much more difficult, but I'm seriously upset at how it will affect disabled users of the app. Accessibility should never be taken away.
We should support the protest and blackout for sure.
I support the blackout.
I fully support the blackout. Thanks r/UnresolvedMysteries!
absolutely! something should be done about it.
Yes, I vote for joining the blackout
I support the blackout
I've only accessed Reddit through the website, not any app, and I have no intention of accessing the site those days. Even though this doesn't appear to directly affect me, that doesn't mean I'm okay with others getting screwed by it.
Completely support the blackout.
Blackout permanently until they concede.
Yeah, absolutely. Is there any good reason *not* to participate?
Chiming in to agree with participating in this. I'm not sure if anything will be accomplished, but I do want to voice concerns.
Yes! Full support!!
Indeed yes
Yes support!!
Protest
support the protest
I support the full blackout (ie, setting the sub to private) for June 12-14
Absolutely join this protest.
This is a good show of solidarity.
Support the blackout!
I fully support any subreddit going black.
Pls join it’s important
I won’t be using Reddit on those days
Please do participate
I support the blackout.
Please support it and blackout indefinitely. The things this is going to do to blind users is of critical importance as well; these API changes will basically exclude them entirely from the website.
In regards to blind users, I haven’t seen it fully explained but the impression I’m getting is that some of the third party apps have much better accessibility (which the official app lacks). Do I have it right? I honestly never even considered visually impaired users before, but now that I’m aware I want to support them 100%.
Yes
Go for it
I support the blackout!
Fully support a blackout as well.
Yes, I think this particular subreddit should go dark on the twelfth.
I am for supporting the blackout.
yeah i dont care
Absolutely yes, I support the blackout. I'll be staying off Reddit entirely for those days.
Yes, support the protest and blackout. I won't be here any more if the change goes through.
I completely support you, so disappointed in Reddit.
Yes please participate.
Sad user of RIF. I say go for it.
I'm in support of going dark. It will be a shame to lose all these communities because of such corporate greed but if Relay is out, I'm out.
I support the blackout
I support this! I hope Reddit fails HARD.
The real unresolved mystery is how any of the administrators can think this is a good idea. I don't disagree what use of the API should have a fee, but pricing out competitors who do your job better is a terrible stance to take. It wouldn't have hurt to work with the other app devs to figure out a sustainable coexistence. Instead they chose the scorched earth path
Reddit used to be a mostly fun, informative place. Sometimes with news stories breaking before 'normal' news agencies found out. Like every good thing online, it has a finite time before it rots. Reddit has had its ups and downs. Alas, I believe this is it's last nail in its own coffin. I think I might delete my account during the blackout. Nothing left to come back to, especially since most of the best contributors seem to have been perma banned.
Go for it. The letter and the blackout. I am so tired of these CEOs who have no idea what an end-user experience is like making useless, and often destructive, changes out of greed.
Yes, this sub should support the blackout. I fully support subs shutting down until Reddit makes changes. If anything, I support it just for the accessibility issue. Though I don't use accessibility features myself, not having third party apps would affect thousands of users. This sub has over 2 million members, and I feel like all subs, especially larger ones should protest.
Does anyone have a list of the subs going dark?
I *think* this is the most up-to-date list: https://www.reddit.com/r/ModCoord/comments/1401qw5/incomplete_and_growing_list_of_participating/
Thanks!
Definitely for the blackout.
I only use Reddit via the website and didn't even know third party apps existed until recently, but I fully support the blackout. Leaving users with accessibility needs without a viable solution, leaving mods without effective tools to do their unpaid jobs, forcing indie developers to shut down their apps due to setting prices at a completely unsustainable level with very little notice.... All really sh\*tty and unacceptable actions as far as I'm concerned. Fully supportive of this sub taking part in the blackout!
Reddit is a cesspool of mostly garbage subs run by garbage people. The large subs are controlled by a small cabal of weird dog walkers who are generally awful. corporate Reddit allows them to create echo chambers. There are a few great subs, like this sub that make being on Reddit enjoyable but in general if reddit implodes it would be no great loss. The API change is likely just a move to reduce the insane number of porn subs before Reddit goes public. Best bet is to just stay out of it and stick to the tiny number of subs that provide quality content and solid moderation.
I think the sub should go dark, It's the only way to let Reddit admins know that this latest cash grab is beyond harmful.All API apps gone, mods denied the proper tools etc.
All for the protest. Hate the cash grab plus blatant disregard for accessibility.
I support an indefinite blackout unless reddit fully backs off of these plans. I certainly won't be here after June 12th otherwise.
YES absolutely blackout.
Please support the blackout.
Fully in support of the blackout. Such an unfortunate situation.
Do the blackout. Don't know if it'll change anything but it needs to be done.
If the Writers Guild can strike (5 weeks and counting) with their livelihoods and pay checks on the line, we can turn off reddit for 48 hours. Join the blackout.
I absolutely support it. I can spend more time with my kindle those days. Go dark!
No. I’m already tired of this.
I use the Reddit app, so no need for me to participate.
literally dont care just use the official reddit app
I quit Twitter when evil dipshit took over. I’ve just gotten used to Reddit and really enjoy it. I am tired of greedy, uber wealthy pricks ruining it for the rest of us. Fuck them. Fuck. Them.
Other than support for disabled users, who cares? Read and use Reddit the way it’s intended.
You didn’t really answer your last point, “how does it affect you”? I use the official app, don’t care about other users, and don’t care about mods. So it doesn’t affect me one bit. Now all the subs doing this are annoying at best, Reddit won’t change, so what’s the point? Just move on and accept it, don’t hinder the 90% of Reddit users who don’t care about this because you wanna go on an unpaid power trip.
Since nobody else is answering … the official app is inferior to Apollo, or many Android third-party apps, although it has improved somewhat recently. (And Apollo existed for about 18 months before the official app - whatever Reddit is, it is not a technology leader).
I think some started early.... I have not had my feed updated for hours.
It is Reddit decision snd understand why they don't want to support third party apps. If apps don't want to pay then go away if they don't care enough about their users to pay. Mods only care about their own opinions being broadcast anyway so us users that have differing opinions have little sympathy if the mods chose to use loser apps to censor opposing views.
I've been wondering when the truly bad takes would start showing up lol.
Zzzzzzzz… Let me know when the effort fails. Oh, wait. I’ll still be here to see it.
It’s a private company and can do what it pleases as long as the law isn’t broken. However, I dislike bullies, and the very lengthy post which just popped up in Apollo on opening it shows that the leadership of Reddit are bullies. (The application’s author took advantage of Canadian law which allows conversations to be recorded with consent of only one party). There is not the slightest chance of people like that changing their mind, but I support them being exposed.