[imagesource:trustedreviews]

Some of the most popular communities on Reddit went “dark” on Monday to protest the network’s decision to charge some third-party apps for the use of Reddit data.

Access to some of the most popular subreddits (the term for message boards on the website) was restricted by protesting moderators and included r/apple, r/sports and r/funny.

The move was “as part of the coordinated protest against Reddit’s exorbitant new API pricing” and “in solidarity with numerous people who need access to the API.” More than 6 000 communities joined in the blackout.

If you only use Facebook, you might be wondering what the big deal is. Why go dark, and for that matter, what is Reddit anyway?

Reddit is a social news website where content is ‘socially curated and promoted’ by site members through voting. The site name is a play on the words “I read it.” It’s a free site, but registration is required to use the website’s basic features. According to those who know, this will result in many of the apps that access this info having to close down.

According to Reddit, the new pricing will apply to roughly 10 percent of apps that request lots of Reddit data. One of these ‘outside apps’ is a company called Apollo. The app makes roughly 7 billion requests for Reddit data each month, and with Reddits new policy, Apollo will have to fork over an estimated $20 million (R372 Million) a year to do what it used to do for free. The company has now been forced to close down as a result of the changes being made.

Reddit however believes it is necessary to charge these third-party apps if it wants to survive in the long run.

“Reddit needs to be a self-sustaining business, and to do that, we can no longer subsidize commercial entities that require large-scale data use.”

Users are however of a different view and believe these apps are ‘critical tools for moderators and users alike’. So they shut it all down.

“It just felt like there was no room for negotiation. When negotiation’s not going to work, there’s not a whole lot of other tools Reddit communities have to protest, and so the idea is to hit them where it hurts.”

In a nerd-nutshell, the blackout basically means that users won’t be able to read or make posts on subreddits that have gone ‘dark’ unless moderators approve. That means most people browsing the site for their daily fix of life hacks or stock tips will have to wait.

While some subreddits are only adhering to the blackout for 48 hours, some of the more aggro ones are planning to stay offline indefinitely, saying only that their next steps depend on “Reddit’s continued responses to the situation.”

Reddit spokesperson, Tim Rathschmidt, has however said that Reddit is not planning to change the decision, so it’s a Mexican standoff.

The company is also being taken on over its decision to ban third parties from accessing explicit content.

These so-called unpaid moderators bring in an estimated $3.4 million (R63 Million) for the site annually. One of the researchers who completed a study on Reddit users, Stevie Chancellor, claims that the moderators who are boycotting the service are much more than just curators and content filters.

“They provide the underpinnings of the culture. They help steward the site and curate it. Without mods, Reddit would not be the site that millions of people go to.”

The rise of AI has also forced the move to paid access for Reddit as many chatbots, such as ChatGPT, are trained using Reddit’s data. The company hopes that tightening control over access to its content will ensure the information remains credible and relevant, and profitable.

Reddit seems to be just one more platform that needs to adapt to AI, but unless you are a loyal user, this is probably just a storm in a nerd cup.

[source:washingtonpost]