The past month has been a trying time for Reddit, following its announcement of modifications to its data API. This led to a barrage of criticism from developers, moderators, and users alike. In response, Reddit’s CEO has given multiple interviews in defense of the company’s decision on Reddit API Changes that will be enabled on July 1st.
To further complicate matters, several subreddits went offline in protest and various forms of protest have been taking place across the platform.
He was told that, due to API changes and rate limits, third-party apps would no longer be able to access the site. This announcement caused a huge uproar among Redditors, with many feeling betrayed by the platform they had grown to love.
The Reddit community was further dismayed when the company announced that it would be launching its official apps. These apps would have access to all the features of the site, while third-party apps would be limited in their capabilities.
Reddit API Changes
The Future of Reddit As of July 1, the API changes and rate limits have gone into effect, and Reddit is now entering a new chapter with fewer third-party apps and a greater focus on its own. The Reddit community is still not pleased with the changes, but the company is committed to bringing the best experience to its users.
Despite the outcry, Reddit is still growing and has seen an increase in users and activity since the announcement. The platform is also focusing on developing new tools and features that will make the Reddit experience better for everyone.
In the coming months, Reddit will be rolling out more of its apps and features, as well as continuing to work with developers to ensure that third-party apps are still able to provide a good experience for users.
With this new focus on its products, Reddit is hoping to create a better experience for its users and provide them with the tools they need to make their time on the site even better.
The revised API pricing policy has caused major disruption for many third-party Reddit app developers, leading to several closures. In response, a protest was organized on June 12-14, with several subreddits going dark.
This was followed by the announcement from Selig that Apollo would be shutting down by the end of the month, joining other apps such as Reddit is Fun and Sync for Reddit. The estimated cost of the API pricing for Selig alone was nearly $20 million per month.
He defended his decision to be profit-driven until profits arrive, and criticized Selig, saying that the former CEO had a “vision of Reddit that was at odds with the values of the community.”
Huffman went on to express his dissatisfaction, noting that while third-party developers benefitted financially, Reddit was shouldering an estimated infrastructure cost of $10 million annually.
The June 12-14 protest affected Reddit’s traffic and Google searches, but the company remained adamant that the revenue was not impacted. In response, certain subreddits decided to extend the blackout, with some even asking their community members to determine the next step.
In response to the threats from Reddit admins, moderators of various subreddits conducted creative forms of protest, such as sharing pictures of John Oliver, organizing blackout days, and shifting the focus of their communities.
They also resisted the company’s attempts to mark certain subreddits as NSFW, and some moderators were removed for refusing to comply, including from r/interstingasfuck, r/midlyinteresting, and r/TIHI (Thanks I hate it).
Notably, the company does not permit ads on NSFW subreddits. Therefore, the large number of communities transitioning to NSFW status could hurt advertising revenue. This is demonstrated by the closure of r/TranscribersOfReddit.
This volunteer subreddit used to provide transcriptions for media, but moderators had to rely on third-party apps for accessibility tools, which are not supported by Reddit’s app.
Moderators of apps like RedReader, Dystopia, and Luna, however, were granted an exemption from API changes due to their accessibility features. This exemption, however, has been met with criticism, as these apps may lack the necessary moderator tools.
Current Events
As a result of the protest, several communities have been affected. r/Photography and r/HomeImprovement are operating in either relaxed rules or restricted mode, while r/Pics is now marked as NSFW despite the company claiming that wrongly labeling a community with that label is against its rules.
Meanwhile, r/Videos is posting text descriptions of videos. Additionally, several Reddit apps, such as Apollo, Sync for Reddit, BaconReader, and Boost for Reddit, have shut down in response to the protest.
At the same time, developers of popular Reddit apps such as Relay, Now for Reddit, and Narwhal have decided to make their apps free for users to use while they explore a subscription model.
Despite this, some moderators are still pushing back against the changes, with the moderation team of the popular subreddit r/IAMA announcing that they will no longer coordinate celebrity interviews, as reported by The Verge.
Over the weekend, r/Blind moderators posted that there are bugs in the official Reddit app that are making it impossible to effectively manage the community. The subreddit has further demanded that the social network appoint a “Chief Accessibility Officer” to ensure Reddit is more inclusive and user-friendly.
In response, Reddit API changes released a blog post titled “Key Facts to Understanding Reddit’s Recent API Updates,” which mentioned that they have conducted an external audit on accessibility but didn’t provide further details.
The social media platform announced that certain accessibility-focused apps, such as RedReader, Luna, and Dystopia, would be exempt from Reddit API charges. This allows the apps to remain free to users.
However, the company did not specify the criteria for an app to qualify for the exemption. Amidst speculation of an upcoming IPO, the company is now focused on becoming profitable.
In an interview with The Verge, Huffman expressed his hope of taking Reddit public through an IPO, but acknowledged that there are “a few things [he’d] like to do with Reddit before [they] get there.”
He went on to mention the fact that some communities have relocated to new platforms, such as Kbin and Lemmy but noted that the communities on those services remain significantly smaller than the subreddits with thousands or millions of users.
Despite Reddit’s recent actions, the third-party ecosystem has not been completely eradicated.
However, it has become increasingly difficult for developers to operate without hefty costs, and this has hurt many communities who are now stuck using tools they may not have wanted in the first place. Reddit appears to be unyielding in its decisions, and no new changes to the API pricing structure appear to be on the horizon.
