this post was submitted on 20 Jun 2023
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Asklemmy

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I myself am really on the fence about this.

I hate what Reddit has done, as I was removed as a moderator on my sub. But I much prefer the UI to Lemmy so far. I’m also having a hard time understanding how this all works. I was familiar with Reddit, and it is obviously a way more active community.

But I also used Apollo and hate how they’ve done him so dirty.

Will you guys return if Reddit rights it’s wrongs?

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[–] [email protected] 13 points 1 year ago (4 children)

Spez is doubling down. He's shown his hand. He's lied. It's like watching Anakin's descent to the dark side. He's too far gone.

I don't really think there is a going back. The watering hole is poisoned. There's no more good faith. And, I think for a lot people, especially people here, it's a matter of principle at this point.

I might check in on certain niche subs that don't move on to other platforms, but the days of gleefully doomsctolling are over.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 1 year ago

IMO the response was even worse than the initial change. That is what put it over for me.

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[–] [email protected] 9 points 1 year ago

I don't plan on going back to Reddit in a major way. After giving Reddit up, I find myself thinking over my experience on that site for the last few years. Engaging commentary was harder and harder to find, particularly in any sub of sufficient size, and I spent a lot of my scrolling through Reddit angry. Leaving Reddit has been a wake up call for me. It's a rat race on Reddit, and I don't need that in my life anymore.

[–] [email protected] 8 points 1 year ago (2 children)

I was on Reddit 15 years and recently have been considering getting off the platform for other various reasons. All of the recent developments were just the final thing to push me to actually leave.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 1 year ago

This was me, too. I was actively looking for alternatives already, this whole debacle just provided enough of a community on those alternatives for it to feel like a worthy time to switch. There's nothing that will get me to go back at this point.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago)

Same, but 14 years. Had followed mastodon some and read up on activity pub, but meanwhile I never used Twitter and liked how reddit reminded me of forums and bbs/usenet/email listservs before that.

I definitely see how lemmy is rough around the edges, and I'm sure that will cause issues with any sort of mass long term reddit exodus, but personally I'm loving the experience, the dev community, the underlying philosophy, etc. & at least for the communities I've been following that decently high barrier to entry has uplifted most of the discussion (albeit while kneecapping niche or local or whatever discussion entirely because there isn't a community for it)

[–] [email protected] 8 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Hell no.

My issues with Reddit boil down to three: the admins, the mods, and the users. (Note: this is coming from a former Reddit user and mod.) Even if the admins turn 180°, the other two issues remain.

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[–] [email protected] 7 points 1 year ago

I think reddit model should be as a non profit org., something like wikipedia. No ads, no selling or trying to monetize user data, or being hostage to its investors whims. That would require a complete change of management. Only then I would think about going back.

[–] [email protected] 7 points 1 year ago (1 children)

sadly... yes. I'm just not finding the community here that I built up there over 11 years. I know, I know, give this 11 years and we'll get there, too... but it's still over there.

I did the whole "delete all comments and posts and replace with the API reasoning text" thing, for my main and my few alts. BUt I find I still am heading over there on browser through old.reddit and lurking.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago)

Same. I might stick around both for a while and see how it goes since I see big benefits and big drawbacks on both platforms. Same idea as why I use Plex instead of Jellyfin in that as much as I want to support open source projects, and am willing to pay a moderate amount to do that, the commercial platforms usually just have a better finish and feature set, as well as a simpler interface for people that don’t live in the tech world.

That said, there’s maybe a dozen subreddits that I really care about, so if those communities came over I’d probably follow. Most of those aren’t populated by the kinds of tech enthusiasts that are looking for an open-source/distributed/etc. model, they’re people that just want to be able to talk about their niche hobbies or connect with others in their industry, regardless of what the back-end looks like. Honestly, I’d even be okay paying a reasonable amount to stick with Reddit(as it was last month, maybe not as it is today), it sounds like they just need to be more open to finding a solution that’s reasonable for the third party app developers instead of just laying down the hammer and them plugging their ears. Problem there though is I suspect the people that I like to engage with on Reddit aren’t the ones making a big impact on Reddit’s revenue. I suspect Reddit can go ahead and lose those high engagement users and still make bank on ad impressions from front-page lurkers, and that’s why they’re not looking to play ball.

[–] [email protected] 5 points 1 year ago

https://static.xtremeownage.com/blog/2023/what-happened-to-reddit/

100% fuck u/spez.

They have messed up pretty badly, and anyone who still trusts them, is wearing a blindfold.

[–] [email protected] 5 points 1 year ago (2 children)

Fuck spez. Even if they reversed their decision, they have made it very clear how much they will take control if they don't get their way. They have repeatedly mistreated the mods, devs, and community. They slandered a man with lies that could end his career because of why? To gain social points?

Spez has shown what reddit really is and I am done

[–] [email protected] 2 points 1 year ago

I never even used Apollo (I'm on Android) and that BS with Christian left a godawful taste in my mouth. Can't support reddit after that, much less after all the other news came out.

Spez should really have just shut his mouth.

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[–] [email protected] 5 points 1 year ago

Nope. Not a chance. I have no love for giant corporations, and Reddit has always been particularly shit even by that standard. Say what you want about the evils of Meta / Google / Apple, ETC ETC ETC, but at least they generally try to keep their users happy, or at least using their platforms. Reddit just seem to have absolutely no idea what their users want half the time, Reddit premium anyone? The way they handled, or rather failed to handle, the accessibility issue also leaves a rather bitter taste in my mouth.

[–] [email protected] 5 points 1 year ago

Only if Spez leaves and is replaced by a decent CEO who reverses EVERYTHING that Spez has effed up in the past few years. I'd return for some small niche communities I participate on that aren't present in the lemmy-verse (yet). But I'd stay here too. I am committed to Federated services now.

[–] [email protected] 4 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Up until 3rd party app devs announced they're converting their apps to Lemmy? Yes.

Now, absolutely the fuck not. Reddit is a cesspool compared to when I first joined in 2013. Lemmy feels a lot more like reddit did then. It's quaint and cozy here. Yes I'd like to see this place grow some more. But 1/10th the size of reddit would be plenty. Most reddit users don't contribute anything useful anyways so no loss there.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 1 year ago

The culture is so different. I'm glad Reddit made space for so many different people. But the changes to make it more ad friendly sucks. Also seeing pop culture stuff reach the top regularly is annoying I don't care about celebrities.

[–] [email protected] 4 points 1 year ago

I'm keeping my account live so that I can still interact and ask questions in threads when I get taken there by search results. Reddit ultimately shows up a lot when looking for solutions to technical problems.

As far as browsing and contributing, I think I'm sticking with Lemmy. Things are just starting to get good.

[–] [email protected] 4 points 1 year ago

Nope, I've already deleted all of my comments and posts on a 10+ year old account. They can go straight to hell. Fuck them.

[–] [email protected] 4 points 1 year ago (2 children)

Definitely not. Even if I get luke-warm on lemmy, Huffman has shown a complete disregard to the community and has completely pivoted to building the business. As soon as they introduced New reddit and bought AlienBlue, the writing was already on the wall.

I'm not sure if lemmy/the fediverse has the legs to keep the community going indefinitely (i was around when Voat was absorbing the last reddit exodus, i'm hoping lemmy has more legs than that), but I think i'm done with these for-profit social media sites. Youtube is the last one (for me) that hasn't burned that bridge, but I'm not a contributor there anyway. For being a link-aggregation website though, I feel like federations are a perfect fit.

I'm old enough now that I can see myself not using social media at all.... Jesus how did I get so old. Time to go buy a Miata and some aviators.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago)

I'm not sure if lemmy/the fediverse has the legs to keep the community going indefinitely (i was around when Voat was absorbing the last reddit exodus, i'm hoping lemmy has more legs than that), but I think i'm done with these for-profit social media sites.

What I'm hoping for, is that a portion of people that care and come to Lemmy stick with it, and those people that aren't at all concerned with Reddits's business dealings stick with Reddit. It gives each community a chance to develop it's own voice, which is how it was before the major centralization of the web.

I guess what I'm saying is, even if Lemmy doesn't beat Reddit into the ground, Lemmy can still win in it's own way.

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[–] [email protected] 4 points 1 year ago

No

There's more to this than the direct changes to their platform:

  • not communicating with mods and users
  • being deadset about a really bad feature
  • doubling down on killing third party development
  • being a real dick about controversies
  • not valuing users for their content
  • not valuing volunteer moderators
  • going after a beloved developer specifically for no other reason than him going public with the situation

There's some things you can't rebuild, and a lot of redditors accept that Reddit is like an abusive spouse and it's time to see other people.

[–] [email protected] 4 points 1 year ago

Not planning to return. Lemmy feels good to me. Happy to be here.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 1 year ago

No, I won't return.

This whole episode taught me the importance of diversifying the online communities/platforms that I use, and how NOT to rely on a single platform controlled by a for-profit entity.

From now on, it's communities based on open platforms first for me, and proprietary ones the distance second and only if I really can't avoid it.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 1 year ago

If RIF survives or returns, then I will probably go back to reddit occasionally. But I haven't missed it since the blackout, so I will probably only use it for a reference and not a community to comment in.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 1 year ago

No.

Way too much trust has been lost for me to even consider going back to that place.

Even if they completely remove and ban Steve Huffman and his family, fiends or even acquaintances from any and all company and/or subcontracted positions, completely overhaul all their positions and replace them with trustworthy people (sucks to be them, but they know what they're getting into), add all the requested features overnight including and especially the accessibility features... I still won't consider going back to them.

They will need to exert a huge amount good faith effort over a span of a decade to earn back my trust, if they're at all capable of doing things in good faith.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 1 year ago (2 children)

I don’t think I will. I’m not fully moved over - I’ll use Apollo and if/whenthat goes away, then I’m done with Reddit. I’m having a harder time navigating lemmy and getting used to the concept, but it’s also kinda exciting. I remember joining Reddit in ‘09 and it was a similar feel, but this is better. So I think under most circumstances, unless they like get rid of apex and make some serious amends to some others, I won’t go back.

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[–] [email protected] 3 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Reddit is no longer is showing on my computer. Something about /etc/hosts. Can’t imagine how that happened.

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[–] [email protected] 3 points 1 year ago

I'm not sure. I think I want to stay here.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 1 year ago

I wasn't on Reddit in the first place, so my opinion's not really relevant here, but I really enjoy the communities that have formed on Lemmy, so I do hope people stay around. I really strongly believe in the federation of networks over the centralization around capital.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 1 year ago

Not me. For me it's half a matter of principle, but I'm also liking the fact that I don't waste as much time doomscrolling

[–] [email protected] 2 points 1 year ago

Damn redditors... They ruined reddit!

[–] [email protected] 2 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) (2 children)

No. I'll use RSS to lurk on subs that don't move, but this more and fragmentation has pushed me to finally try and curb my endless scrolling habits (by utilising IRC, I now only go through small bytes of content, and if I don't feel like it is important, I don't waste any more time).

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[–] [email protected] 2 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago)

Short: No

Long: Theoretically yes, but they'd need to completely change leadership and also give up any notion of going public and instead transition to a non-profit. I dont think they can be working for the community while chasing profits. They have been trying to exploit users for profit rather than work with them.

That reddit could see me return, but at that point it'd be a very different situation and a very different reddit. I don't think we'll ever see it happen.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 1 year ago

I'd probably go to my hobby subreddits and ignore /all

And then i'd also check the fediverse's site to see if they have anything different.

I'd imagine the content would grow more and more over time until either things went back to the way they were or reddit no longer had anything worth visiting for.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 1 year ago (2 children)

No. This latest monetization grab has exposed a lot of wrongs with Reddit and the way that its employees and owners think. It fundamentally makes us question how the modern web was taken from the people.

If anything, the past two weeks of Lemmy proves that individual and community ownership of the Internet is not completely dead. It doesn't have to be the same four or five companies owning everything on the Internet. There is a better way.

I think Reddit is permanently harmed. The numbers of comments on posts have dropped in every sub. People will be wary of posting quality content there anymore because it's going to be owned by, and monetized by Reddit. Nobody wants to provide free labor for someone else to copyright and make millions. The quality posters are gone, back to their specialty forums or chat groups. The people who stayed behind are the low hanging fruit and probably not worth discussing anything with.

This was Reddits Slashdot moment.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 1 year ago

The annoying this is that it didn’t need to go down like this!

  • If they had announced fairer pricing it wouldn’t be a problem
  • If they had announced more than 30 days notice it would have been less of a problem
  • If they had announced that you needed Reddit premium to use the API it would have made them more money and not be a problem!
  • If the AMA wasn’t a train wreck and they had at least given some concessions then it wouldn’t have been a problem.

This entire thing was bungled from conception to announcement to execution, if they had worked with the third party app devs, if they had communicated clearly, if that hadn’t come off as money grabbing, personal data selling ass holes then none of this would have been a problem.

As it is though, they can just get fucked.

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[–] [email protected] 2 points 1 year ago

I'm done. I moderated a very small, niche hobby sub for a bit over three years. The size and niche-ness kept it fairly well insulated from the worst online behaviors, but it's been shifting this year. I have been seeing more and more users posting to the sub for the first time, simply pushing their content creator/influencer material on Insta and Youtube. Their posts are only vaguely related to the sub topic, and they never stick around to have meaningful conversations in the comments of their posts. When they violate the sub rules, I have a policy of warning once and removing only if they don't respond within 24 hours. But even with a 24 hour warning, people get NASTY.

I modded the community for the benefit of others. With the shift in sub demographics and reddit sweeping my legs out from under me in terms of mod tools that allow me to keep control of the sub, I'm done. I can't keep it shaped into the community the original members want. They're frustrated. I'm frustrated. It's no longer fun or fulfilling. Someone who wants to keep the sub aligned with the wants of the new content creator/influencer demographics are welcome to it. Personally, I think a sub of people advertising their channels elsewhere is worthless.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Nope. It's far too US-centric, both in content and cultural norms enforced by censorship. What's really great about the fediverse is to be able to find not just niche content about "the outside world" but communities literally run under different cultural norms.

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[–] [email protected] 2 points 1 year ago

It's hard to say for me. What about next time they do something like this? It Seems like only a matter of time before they do. Maybe it would just be better to build and support this platform then deal with their nonsense anymore

[–] [email protected] 2 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago)

Most responses I've seen have centered on spez's actions, but I have a bigger reason for saying no.

Ever since the Conde Nasty days Reddit has gone in a direction that would be abhorrent to Aaron Schwarz. For this who aren't aware, Aaron was one of the original designers and developers of Reddit.

Anyway, I feel that reddit is now something of an insult to Aaron's legacy. Spez has made it worse by pissing on his grave.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) (3 children)

This is the most degen reason to give, but the likelihood is I would go back. Lemmy is solid though there's a couple of things that make me wonder if it's worth fully commiting.

a) Userbase. If reddit went back, subreddits would likely reopen, change their rules back to how they were before, and therefore the numbers would follow.

b) Centralised. I know this one will piss people off, but the fragmentation of lemmy is a bit too much. I have the option to put all my trust into a single account on one instance and subscribe fedarated if instances support it, or I can create 20 different accounts across different instances.

c) Retention of userstats. While I've not got rediculous amounts of karma like some people do, I have a a little bit, and rebuilding that is a bit ass.

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[–] [email protected] 2 points 1 year ago

No. Reddit has shown it's not what I signed up for. I learn my lession, goodbye reddit

[–] [email protected] 2 points 1 year ago

At this point, no.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 1 year ago

Nope, my account is gone and so are my comments.

I'm done with reddit.

Either Lemmy takes off, or I may start reading more in my free time...

[–] [email protected] 2 points 1 year ago

Lemmy will continue to improve and Reddit will flush itself further down the toilet.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 1 year ago

No. It's a pain in the butt to migrate from Reddit, but it's a blessing in disguise. The decentralized approach is much better and more future proof against bad actors. Having 1 site (or person) holdng all the cards is not something that should appeal to anyone.

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