Reddit is having a blackout. Reddit blackout: Subreddits to go private on Monday

[IcyPeas]

For anyone who uses Reddit.... I went to browse some of the subreddits that I have joined and can't access them. I thought it was my tablet acting up so cleared my cache etc. Then I googled it.

Thousands of Reddit communities will be inaccessible on Monday in protest at how the site is being run.

Reddit is introducing controversial charges to developers of third-party apps, which are used to browse the social media platform.

But this has resulted in a backlash, with moderators of some of the biggest subreddits making their communities private for 48 hours in protest.

Almost 3,500 subreddits will be inaccessible as a result.

A subreddit is the name given to a forum within the Reddit platform - effectively a community of people who gather to discuss a particular interest.

Reddit users - or Redditors - will typically join a variety of subreddits, rather than following individual users on other platforms, and see posts from these communities in their feed.

Reddit, unlike other social media sites, relies heavily on community moderation.

As well as a few paid administrators, the website uses tens of thousands of unpaid moderators -known as mods - to keep the website functional.

More at this link...

https://www.bbc.com/news/technology-65855608

[melm00se]

1. It started last night...

r/history went dark ~6pm ET on Sunday.

[wackadoo wabbit]

8. Yeah, a lot of them went dark at 00:00 GMT ... n/t

[Hugin]

2. Not knowing any of the details I will say...

It’s generally a bad move to charge third-party developers for a platform unless they are trying to kill it.

My evidence is a closet full of gaming consoles.

[obamanut2012]

4. The amin issue is this will stop Reddit access for hearing and seeing impaired folks

They NEED the third party apps.

[Hugin]

7. Oh, I agree completely.

If that's the case.

[FDRFTW]

3. Hi! I'm here from Reddit!

They changed their API so that third party apps are all out of business, so a lot of subreddits have shut down and people have left the platform.

“ Reddit launched a free API seven years ago, but in April, it announced it would be making changes. Those changes included charging for API access. That means developers who have made an app for Reddit would now need to pay for requests.

That’s becoming increasingly common, especially in the wake of Elon Musk taking over Twitter. Similar to the Reddit situation, Twitter started charging for API access, shuttering dozens of third-party apps.

With a paid API, developers generally need to pay on a per-request basis. The more popular an app is, the more requests it needs to make, the more money it costs. One developer claimed Reddit is charging $12,000 for every 50 million requests, or $0.24 per 1,000 requests. That may not sound like a lot, but Apollo, a popular Reddit app for Apple products, can make upwards of 7 billion requests in a month. That comes out to nearly $2 million per month and over $20 million per year.”

https://www.digitaltrends.com/computing/reddit-api-changes-explained/

[gopiscrap]

9. welcome to DU

[Jacson6]

5. These are for profit companies

I don't feel sorry that their rent was raised. My rent was just raised $180 and no one gives a damn about my expenses. I went through all my book marks for reddit and any community that was now private I deleted their bookmark.

[csziggy]

6. Many of the subreddits have gone private for right now

That means unless you are in their approved list, you don't see that sub.

The black out is supposed to last 48 hours - from midnight last night until midnight of the 14th. My plan is to not go onto Reddit until I get up Wednesday, if then, depending on the news.

Aside from the problem with many of the third party apps, Reddit also wants to charge for apps that allow access to blind people (Reddit's own apps do not provide text-to-speech) and moderator tools. There are also bots that provide information - for instance in the Birding sub, they just recently added bots that at any mention of "fledgling" post a message about the immature birds and how and why to not help them. In the "What is this Snake" and "What is this Bird" subs, they have bots that add a message with information about the species identified.

All of those add ons will be charged by Reddit at fairly exorbitant fees for services that Reddit does not provide and that the 3rd parties have provided for free to enhance the Reddit experience.

Personally, I think Reddit is cutting off their nose in an effort to make more money and that they are being extremely short sighted with this move.