That doesn’t even count all the people that are visiting their favorite subreddits only to see them closed with a message detailing what’s happened.
Reddit moderators are uniquely privileged when it comes to making their opinions heard on reddit. The shuttering of subreddits is sensational and splashy enough to get media attention, but in itself says little about how most reddit users feel. A moderator revolt is like a strike of middle managers, revolting against upper management. They can lock the doors and keep all the common workers out, but that isn't evidence that the common workers have much investment in the strike. I think this whole thing probably follows the 90-9-1 rule; the 9 are mods and powerusers flipping out against the 1, while the 90 are probably oblivious or simply indifferent.
The vocal dissenters certainly seem to be in the minority.
I was also surprised to see yesterday that this same large sub I made them in was blacked out. Virtue-signalling? Throwing a bone to volunteer co-mods in the sub? Against the API changes? Who knows. Big mess now. Tech people don't like change, but when they get mad, wheels start turning.
Like any activism that actually accomplishes anything, it must be sustained and involve real sacrifice to work. This is just "raising awareness," which I guess it has done, but it's easy enough for Reddit to just batten down the hatches and wait for it to blow over, which it will.
It's no different than when you hear about A march planned for this or that cause.
These polls have an insane selection bias though. The ones who feel strongly for the issue will be the ones commenting and voting.
It's why stickies/sidebars/etc. rarely work because most of the users simply don't care enough to view them.
Sure, but isn't it in the other direction? The users are most affected by the change are those using third-party apps, but you can't vote in polls in third-party apps.