Reddit held a call today with some developers regarding the API changes | Hacker News Reader

Reddit held a call today with some developers regarding the API changes

old.reddit.com

Third Party Ads

    We didn’t know how prevalent 3rd party ads were on 3rd party apps – they’re trouble for us.
    When people see their ads next to the wrong content, they don’t get mad at the 3rd party app, they get mad at us. We can’t ensure brand safety due to the ad networks many 3rd party apps use, which aren’t strong on privacy and tracking.

Awesome. So first party ads are made at the personal responsibility of reddit gods so there is no way malicious or bad actors or wrong people will get to show ads. Its only third party ads which will pollute the whole ecosystem if they are allowed to be shown.

Fuck them.

I've been a redditor for a decade. I can't jump away soon enough. They want to give "mod tools" so essentially give free mods more tools to sink their time and energy in while reddit earns from their generosity. Nice business model.

You do your work, I'll collect the cheque.

> They want to give "mod tools" so essentially give free mods more tools to sink their time and energy in while reddit earns from their generosity. Nice business model.

Oh but you see, they’re just “promises” of mod tools as usual. They’ve been doing this for years at this point, promising mod features that never show up

as i said, i've used reddit for far too long. i have had dozens of problems with rogue mods taking over subs and reddit did not intervene even when called to arbitrate. same for the third party apps who basically built the community around reddit.

i am sure reddit will face a huge disappointment. there is zero chances for me to use the official app so its good riddance.

i'm pretty sure lemmy might be able to pull off as a strong contender

Reddit's comments Re: Blackout -

> We respect your right to protest – that’s part of democracy. This situation is a bit different, with some leading the charge, some users pressuring . We’re trying to work through all of the unique situations.

Sounds like they'll install their own mods on major subreddits which stay dark and force the subreddits back.

Really disappointing to see them try and throw Apollo under the bus by literally just making things up. Their reply to mods reads as insincere, with tonnes of promises about stuff they’ll build to make moderation easier, without addressing any of the key points directly.

I don’t think they have enough goodwill for people to give them the benefit of the doubt.

Watching this all unfold has been bizarre, absolutely wild to think this company wants to IPO. I’m sure they’ll do it, but I don’t think the business seems in a healthy state.

From their "Why Charge" section:

"It’s very expensive to run – it takes millions of dollars to effectively subsidize other people’s businesses / apps."

Super compelling point here. I mean, could you imagine running a business that was based on other people's work and expecting to profit from it without paying the people who did the work?

Also, Reddit is currently a multi-million dollar profitable company despite providing free API access to the developers who have made their site more usable for mobile users.

They just decided that they should have more money and they don't care about what they have to do to get it.

So, full-on gaslighting efforts by reddit.

Reply on news.ycombinator.com