What is going on with Reddit Today (12-Jun-23)?

What is going on with Reddit Today (12-Jun-23)?

A Small Introduction First

Reddit is a social news aggregation, content rating, and discussion website. Registered users submit content to the site such as links, text posts, images, and videos, which are then voted up or down by other members.

It launched in 2005 and has evolved into a global phenomenon, captivating millions of users with its user-generated content, upvoting and downvoting system, and extensive array of specialised communities known as “subreddits.” From debates on politics and science to heartwarming stories, hilarious memes, and everything in between, Reddit has become a virtual world where curiosity thrives and the collective wisdom of the crowd flourishes.

With its open and democratic nature, Reddit continues to redefine the way we engage with the internet, fostering an inclusive space where ideas, opinions, and experiences can be shared and celebrated. But all changed a few days ago…

No More Free API

Until now Reddit offered their API for free. Reddit’s APIs allow different websites/apps to connect to Reddit and build new functionality.

Starting from July 1, 2023, Reddit will implement a significant alteration to its API terms by introducing charges for developers accessing its API. This announcement, made on April 18, marks a notable shift from Reddit’s previous practice of providing free API access. As a result, developers will soon encounter a new framework that involves financial considerations when utilising Reddit’s API services.

Community Strikes Back

As I mentioned above, Reddit is a community driven website. Users and especially moderators decide on the content by submitting it and voting it (up or down). Furthermore, moderation is done by subreddit moderators. These are people that do free unpaid work for Reddit.

Reddit users did not like this decision. They decided to strike back. Starting June 12th many different subreddits will go dark for 48 hours. There is a website that keeps track of this movement in real time. When I was writing this article 6292/7265 subreddits were currently dark. That means no activity and of course no revenue for Reddit.

Even worse, some of the biggest subreddits in existence, like, r/Music with 32M users, are shutting down indefinitely until Reddit reverses its policy.

Why is Reddit Doing All This

Well simply said “it’s all about the money”. Reddit has plan for an IPO. However, Reddit was never profitable so they are trying to decrease expenses by layoffs and trying to find ways of increasing revenue such as charging for their API.

What’s Next?

Honestly, at this point it’s difficult to tell. Reddit’s moat is the community. They have decided to go against their community. In the past, a similar course of action was undertaken by Digg and failed. Interestingly, Digg users move to Reddit back then and Reddit rose.

My prediction is that the CEO will be sucked and the company will revoke last decision. But I might be wrong, let’s see!