Sorry, but I’ve just come over from nbacirlejerk and I’ve become convinced this is the stupidest shit in existence lol r/nba closed down during the biggest game of the season so that, like, a handful of developers could sell apps?
If you’re so into reddit that you have to download an app, it’s gulag time.
It’s some lib ass protest that won’t change shit.
Third party apps are essential for visually impaired users and moderation, as :reddit-logo: doesn’t have a functional first party app.
As for me, I deleted my :reddit-logo: account and all this has done was lib up lemmy and give us some good dunk tank content.
People who moderate subreddits actually do use reddit enough to use an app. They’re also the ones making these decisions.
Moderators are also unpaid laborers who are needed to make the site function, so it’s neat that they’re fighting back somehow. Though a limited time shutdown is a lib-ass protest that won’t do anything.
:downbear:
Reddit’s mobile site and official app have such terrible UIs that they’re basically unusable.
I think fucking up reddit is a noble, if doomed, cause.
I also think this was entirely predictable. APIs get put in place to help a small platform gain adoption. Once a company grows big enough, and they try to monetize, an API is just a liability so they tighten the screws. As soon as reddit announced an ipo, this was already written.
It’s just one more example of capital making something intentionally worse so they can sell a solution.
The apps are either entirely or mostly free. They just allow for things like disability accessibility, a cleaner UI, and the bots moderators use to keep the website functional. Those three things are legitimate demands.
I think the strike is good whether or not it succeeds as long as it makes people hate reddit more, both as a company and as a platform. They’re starting to really mishandle the response right before their IPO launch. We’re seeing a user exodus to better websites and a lot of discontent from those remaining. Whatever becomes of that it’s not good for reddit and risks expanding the strike as other moderators respond to the crackdown.
