Reddit, the popular online forum, has been making headlines recently due to its handling of subreddits that shut down in protest of changes to the platform’s API. One such subreddit is r/malefashionadvice, a community with over 5.4 million subscribers, which is now under the sole control of the admin account u/ModCodeofConduct.
The protest, which began in mid-June, was initiated by several subreddits in opposition to Reddit’s decision to start charging for its API. The API had been used by third-party developers to create thousands of apps that integrated with Reddit, providing various functionalities such as moderation assistance and accessibility features. The introduction of fees for the API forced many popular apps to shut down, leaving the developers frustrated and the users disappointed.
In addition to these app-related issues, a transcription community also decided to close down due to a lack of trust in the platform. These events sparked a wave of protests across Reddit, with numerous subreddits either going dark or allowing explicit content to be posted as a form of protest.
The consequences of these protests were not insignificant. Third-party data revealed that Reddit experienced a decline in traffic after the protests began. In response, the company warned moderators who kept their subreddits private or in read-only mode that they would be replaced.
In the case of r/malefashionadvice, one of the former moderators reported that Reddit had removed their privileges, which was not entirely unexpected. In their place, u/ModCodeofConduct sought volunteers to take over the subreddit. Similar messages were posted on other subreddits where u/ModCodeofConduct is the sole moderator, including ones with large subscriber bases such as r/AccidentalRenaissance (925,000 subscribers) and r/ShittyLifeProTips (1.7 million subscribers).
A Reddit spokesperson clarified that the enforcement of the moderator Code of Conduct was not a new development in response to the protests. According to the spokesperson, Reddit considers a previously public community that has now been made indefinitely private to be “abandoned,” and they actively seek new moderators to reinvigorate such communities. They also mentioned that Reddit has a practice of reactivating private, high-subscriber communities that are being “camped” on.
Amidst all the turmoil surrounding the protests, Reddit decided to resurrect r/place this week. r/place is a communal art project that allows each user to place a single pixel on a large mosaic every few minutes. The revival of this project has provided redditors with an opportunity to express their discontent with the company and its CEO Steve Huffman (aka u/spez). The mosaic features a message urging viewers to “never forget what was stolen from you” and directs them to the r/Save3rdPartyApps community.
This recent turmoil has shed light on the challenges faced by platforms like Reddit when implementing changes that affect both users and developers. It has also highlighted the power of the Reddit community to mobilize and express their grievances. As the situation continues to evolve, it remains to be seen how Reddit will address the concerns raised by its users and whether it will make any further changes to its API policies.