What I don't understand is why people think Reddit will let them just shut down subs permanently. They'll just remove the mods and bring the sub back forcefully if they have to, ride the wave of negativity and everyone will forget.
We also have custom tuned automod and other software to help out. A lot of the need for these services is because Reddit has failed to provide necessary tools in a timely way forever.
For example, our sub has been under brigade since the national news began focusing on it this past administration. The company did nothing for us, not even words of support.
The company has spurned volunteer mods long enough they have got whatever’s coming to them. It isn’t just an API people are upset about.
Anyway, the software tools for collaboration matter in moderation, but even more so it is a huge amount of work to keep a sub from going off the rails.
I’ve seen comments of people thinking it’s mostly power stuff and there are elements of that at play. But it doesn’t work day to day. Big subs that aren’t moderated constantly fall on hard times.
> past administration
lol. One trip to Portland is enough to see how disconnected the sub's mods are from the reality.
Subreddit quality doesn't matter. Most of the popular subreddits are already horrible.
* New mods cause controversy. Users are going to be on edge and riot about any small thing. Quality deteriorates.
* volunteer mods realize they don’t actually have any power. People loose interest in propping up Reddit. Mods become paid positions.
At all.
What is a couple of days of a few subs shutting down going to matter in the grand scheme of things? This is why unions aren't run by hobbyists.
Besides the political fallout, this API change will fundamentally cripple most of the tools hacked together to moderate the most popular subs.
Without the means to operate at scale (including many valuable bots), the volunteer mods who choose to stay will probably slowly drown under the sheer scale.