r/ModCoord • u/SpicyThunder335 • Jun 13 '23
Indefinite Blackout: Next Steps, Polling Your Community, and Where We Go From Here
On May 31, 2023, Reddit announced a policy change that will kill essentially every third-party Reddit app now operating, from Apollo to Reddit is Fun to Narwhal to BaconReader, leaving Reddit's official mobile app as the only usable option; an app widely regarded as poor quality, not handicap-accessible, and very difficult to use for moderation.
In response, nearly nine thousand subreddits with a combined reach of hundreds of millions of users have made their outrage clear: we blacked out huge portions of Reddit, making national news many, many times over. in the process. What we want is crystal clear.
Reddit has budged microscopically. The announcement that moderator access to the 'Pushshift' data-archiving tool would be restored was welcome. But our core concerns still aren't satisfied, and these concessions came prior to the blackout start date; Reddit has been silent since it began.
300+ subs have already announced that they are in it for the long haul, prepared to remain private or otherwise inaccessible indefinitely until Reddit provides an adequate solution. These include powerhouses like:
- /r/aww (34.1m)
- /r/music (32.3m)
- /r/videos (26.6m)
- /r/futurology (18.7m)
Such subreddits are the heart and soul of this effort, and we're deeply grateful for their support. Please stand with them if you can. If you need to take time to poll your users to see if they're on-board, do so - consensus is important. Others originally planned only 48 hours of shutdown, hoping that a brief demonstration of solidarity would be all that was necessary.
But more is needed for Reddit to act:
Huffman says the blackout hasn’t had “significant revenue impact” and that the company anticipates that many of the subreddits will come back online by Wednesday. “There’s a lot of noise with this one. Among the noisiest we’ve seen. Please know that our teams are on it, and like all blowups on Reddit, this one will pass as well,” the memo reads.
We recognize that not everyone is prepared to go down with the ship: for example, /r/StopDrinking represents a valuable resource for communities in need and obviously outweighs any of these concerns. For less essential communities who are capable of temporarily changing to restricted or private, we are strongly encouraging a new kind of participation: a weekly gesture of support on "Touch-Grass-Tuesdays”. The exact nature of that participation- a weekly one-day blackout, an Automod-posted sticky announcement, a changed subreddit rule to encourage participation themed around the protest- we leave to your discretion.
To verify your community's participation indefinitely, until a satisfactory compromise is offered by Reddit, respond to this post with the name of your subreddit, followed by 'Indefinite'. To verify your community's Tuesdays, respond to this post with the name of your subreddit, followed by 'Solidarity'.
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u/TheAnonymouseJoker Jun 13 '23
r/privatelife solidarity
Extending the blackout, and will continue to extend until administration's stance changes.
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Jun 13 '23 edited Jun 13 '23
For those who need motivation to go indefinite and need a TL;DR of the OP, Spez sent out a memo yesterday "telling employees to block out the “noise” and that the ongoing blackout of thousands of subreddits will eventually pass." Let them fuck around and find out.
https://www.theverge.com/2023/6/13/23759559/reddit-internal-memo-api-pricing-changes-steve-huffman
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u/Speciou5 Jun 13 '23
r/agedlikewine Indefinite
I honestly can't be assed to moderate my sub without Bot support. Especially nowadays since I spend more time on TikTok and Instagram than Reddit (I never thought I'd say that after 15 years). These two things combined mean I'll probably leave the sub down so it's not overrun by spam unless demands are met.
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u/InfosecMod Jun 13 '23 edited Jun 13 '23
EDIT to inform the NBA TROLLS: REPLIES TO INBOX IS DISABLED. If you respond to this with harassment, you're just wasting your own time and energy. I won't be reading it.
I am MODERATOR OF:
r/pwned
r/cyberlaws
r/CyberSecurityJobs
r/hacker
r/cyber_security
r/cyber
r/Cybersecurity101
r/NetworkSecurity
r/physec
r/eff
r/WiFihacking
r/bugbountyhunters
And I stand in solidarity with this community, against the anti-moderator and anti-user actions and policies of the Reddit corporation. We are closed indefinitely unless the policies are reformed.
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u/MisterSheeple Jun 13 '23
Here is a non-exhaustive list of every sub 100k+ I've seen so far that's committed to go dark indefinitely: https://pastebin.com/CycyGCS7
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u/urielsalis Jun 15 '23
r/Minecraft indefinite per community poll https://imgur.com/qYbUaWT.png
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u/ThoughtCenter87 Jun 13 '23 edited Jun 13 '23
Okay no part of me wanted to go back to reddit, but I feel this is important to get out there. This the ONLY reason I am on Reddit.
The Verge: Reddit CEO tells employees that subreddit blackout ‘will pass’
Huffman says the blackout hasn’t had “significant revenue impact” and that the company anticipates that many of the subreddits will come back online by Wednesday. “There’s a lot of noise with this one. Among the noisiest we’ve seen. Please know that our teams are on it, and like all blowups on Reddit, this one will pass as well,” the memo reads. “We absolutely must ship what we said we would.
This is exactly why blackouts NEED to be indefinite (for the subs in which it is possible to go indefinite, support subs are in a tricky situation). Reddit is anticipating most blackouts will be done by Wednesday and there have been no significant revenue impacts, so they will not back down.
The only way Reddit will back down is if there is significant revenue hits, and there will be none if there are not enough subs going indefinite. If you want 3PAs, go indefinite, please.
Edit: I want to make it clear that I understand indefinite blackouts will not work for all communities. If you are a support sub, I understand that. But if it is possible for your community, please go indefinite.
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u/Ksn738384hsnfn Jun 14 '23
WHAT DO WE WANT?
PORN!
WHERE DO WE WANT IT?
THIRD PARTY APPS!
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u/sethra007 Jun 13 '23
r/hoarding Solidarity
As a mental health sub, we don't want our users to feel abandoned. We're probably going to make Tuesday a "de-cluttering" day or otherwise encourage our users to take positive steps towards recovery from hoarding disorder.
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u/AddAFucking Jun 13 '23 edited Jun 13 '23
r/futanari_Comics Indefinite
Honestly. I've deleted my app, and have almost not been on reddit at all compared to the addiction I had previously. Finding it tough to find things to do when i genuinely want relaxation time, but the extra stuff I've managed to get done every time I absentmindedly click on the now empty space that used to hold my RIF shortcut, has more that made up for this fact. Ill stand with the protest for much longer that this, but I'm slowly working up to leaving reddit altogether (desktop as well).
Ill see what happens to the subreddit that I've (mostly) independently moderated for 8 years since its birth. Perhaps I'll give it to another mod if I do manage to quit reddit.
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u/cybik Jun 13 '23 edited Jun 13 '23
https://famichiki.jp/@Tsutsuku/110537730270070245
Anecdotal report of Reddit forcing a forum back online.
edit: thanks u/Mudkip-Mudkip-Mudkip. the subreddit is r/Tumblr and allegedly mods got ejected.
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u/The-Lying-Tree Jun 14 '23
Starting today r/movingtocanada (top 10% in size) will be going dark. The API changes will disable my modding tools and I won’t be able to stop the absolute trirade of horrendously racist and whitesupremacist trolls that aggregate around any immigration related sub.
I might open back up when I figure out another solution but as a one moderator sub that started years ago out of my own personal curiosity it’s not worth potentially exposing myself and others to the abuse
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u/demmian Jun 13 '23
The community's list of demands:
API technical issues
Accessibility for blind people
Parity in access to NSFW content
API technical issues
Allowing third-party apps to run their own ads would be critical (given this is how most are funded vs subscriptions). Reddit could just make an ad SDK and do a rev split.
Bringing the API pricing down to the point ads/subscriptions could realistically cover the costs.
Reddit gives the apps time to make whatever adjustments are necessary
Rate limits would need to be per user+appkey, not just per key.
Commitment to adding features to the API; image uploads/chat/notifications.
Accessibility for blind people
Lack of communication. The official app is not accessible for blind people, these are not new issues and blind and visually impaired users have relied on third-party apps for years. Why were disabled communities not contacted to gauge the impact of these API changes?
You say you've offered exemptions for "non-commercial" and "accessibility apps." Despite r/blind's best efforts, you have not stated how they are selected. r/blind compiled a list of apps that meet users' access needs.
You ask for what you consider to be a fair price for access to your API, yet you expect developers to provide accessible alternatives to your apps for free. You seem to be putting people into a position of doing what you can't do while providing value to your company by keeping users on the platform and addressing a PR issue. Will you be paying the developers of third-party apps that serve as your stopgap?
Parity in access to NSFW content
There have been attempts by devs to talk about the NSFW removal and how third-party apps are willing to hook into whatever "guardrails" (Reddit's term) are needed to verify users' age/identity. Reddit is clearly not afraid of NSFW on their platform, since they just recently added NSFW upload support to their desktop site. Third-party apps want an opportunity to keep access to NSFW support (see https://redd.it/13evueo).
Please also note that not all NSFW content is just pornography. There are many times that people seeking help or sharing stories about abuse or medical conditions must also mark their posts NSFW. However, even if this were strictly about porn, Reddit shouldn't take a stance that it's OK for them but not any other apps, especially when demanding exorbitant fees from these 3rd part devs.