1y ago

Reddit Won’t Be the Same. Neither Will the Internet

www.wired.com Reddit Won’t Be the Same. Neither Will the Internet

Subreddits and third-party apps are going dark in response to Reddit’s proposed API changes. It’s the latest front in a labor battle between algorithms and the humans who feed them.

Technology @lemmy.world

www.wired.com /story/reddit-api-changes-ai-labor/

74 11

TechNews @radiation.party

WIRED

Reddit Won’t Be the Same. Neither Will the Internet

www.wired.com /story/reddit-api-changes-ai-labor/

85 11

26 comments

Reddit, for all of its flaws, is still one of the last true communities on the internet.
Reddit, for all of its flaws, ~~is still~~ was one of the last true communities on the internet.
- Definitely.. but when doors close new ones open. Nothing wrong with having new communities to visit and engage with.
  
  There will always be something. The question is exactly what and just how long it takes to get there.
- Reddit, for all of its flaws, once hosted some communities on the Internet.
  
  Of all the communities on the internet, Reddit was definitely one.
  
  Reddit was truly one of the communities of all time
- People leaving the mother ship to colonize the fediverse to create a better future for all OG creators, shitpoasters and dead beat lurkers!

Disappointed that the article didn't mention the fediverse
- I for one am okay they didn't mention Fediverse. Why advertise it; let the community grow without a lot of fanfare. The Verge is covering it already.
- In all likelihood, the fediverse will not take off like people think it will. It's just slightly too complicated for the average person to instantly give a chance. I don't see any real reason to bring it up in an article like this.
  
  This is my thinking as well. I’m here from reddit after shutting Apollo down but even now I’m still wondering what the hell is going on.
  Lemmy seems to be in all the feeds but seems a one way street.
  I’ve added magazines but I’m still lost. Maybe a few months I’ve figured it but I could easily see people says nah not for me.
- Their parent company has an ownership stake in Reddit. I'm surprised they have been allowed to be as critical as they have been.

I've said this before, but maybe pretending the entire Internet is equal to 5 apps from mega corps (largely fueled by pretend money) wasn't the best long term play?
Who would have thought?
- The problem is that most of the usable, visible, Web is equal to that. Google & Microsoft control most of what we see. Pinterest controls image access. Meta drives engagement to companies, and Reddit drives linkouts. Twitter handles most major news sources. Occasionally there's a chance that StackOverflow or Quora put in a word or two.
  Society leads us to ever larger communities. Corporations just make profit based on human behavior.

Honestly, the internet needed to be shaken up. Both twitter and reddit blowing up at the same time has given me a perfect excuse to check out the fediverse and other services. It's the perfect storm.
- I'm just glad to be here. it fills the void while I'm waiting for that habit to die. and maybe I'll make some friends or at least have civil conversations with people.
- Don't forget Netflix password sharing and YouTube starting to disable adblocks, shits getting real.

What we'll see is the continual gutting of Reddit as it marches ever closer to IPO.

I think the last straw for me was when I went to Reddit and noticed that all the awful news from the Supreme Court was given hearts and thumbs up and various other awards suggesting approval of the court's terrible, self-serving decisions. The site had been up to this point fairly progressive, but I feel like this is going to be the start of a new, more right-wing Reddit. (As if Twitter and the half dozen conservative microblogs trying to be Twitter weren't bad enough.)
- I noticed this too and get much more prominent soon as things were announced. Even a sub like /Joerogan where Rogan is "left" had pretty tame right wing theme (compared to the big rightwing subs) but soon as it was announced all the ones that were mostly quiet or restrained just let loose.
- There is so much astroturfing on Reddit these days. I'm sure there are people being paid to manipulate the narratives on social media. Even if it wasn't a local entity, it'd be an easy way for foreign governments to sow discord (pretty cheaply). Can you imagine? All you have to do to reach millions of Americans is to pay a person(s) to log into 1000 accounts and upvote something or give awards to a post. Reddit doesn't care cuz they get the moneys and they get the "engagement" they need to IPO.
  
  And to make matters worse Reddit has chased off or straight up removed a good chunk of the moderators who would have helped keep the bots at bay. Now it's an astroturfing playground out there with nobody to stop them.

26 comments