Reddit CEO: Apollo-Related Subreddit Blackouts 'Will Pass,' No Significant Revenue Impact So Far

[KazuSnow]

What's stopping Reddit from banning the insurgent mods and reopening those subreddits?

I doubt nothing, but banning 30,000 users that have spent a significant portion of their time, not just moderating forums for free but also developing unique code to deal with bots and automating other processes would be a massive blow to say the least. The average joe can’t code, and I dare say doesn’t wanna mod a sub, they just wanna read and not be bothered by sht that is filtered out by the mods.

 

[anselpela]

taking queues from how Elon is running twitter is a bold move......

Profitable? Who would have thought. What a crime.

 

[klasma]

IDEA: the entirety of Reddit migrates to Macrumors Forums.

So you want to tank both Reddit and MR?

 

[jole]

I will never understand this. Why do people work-for-free to help a company make its executives rich? Sounds like the moderators should unionize and demand compensation. That would really make Reddit pay a price for their practices, and be something that will not "pass".

Same way as you "worked" for free posting the above. It is a hobby.

 

[anselpela]

"has not seen any significant revenue impact so far"

well last time I checked Steve, you weren't really making any revenue at all so……

Hence why third parties need to go.

 

[anselpela]

Me a non-Reddit user watching whats happening:

View attachment 2217628
Though, sometimes I have to go on there occasionaly for tutorials.

Me as a Reddit user who understands basic economics, and doesn't think third party apps are entitled to anything.

 

[Apple Fan 2008]

The current Reddit CEO u/spez was one of the moderators of that sub...

My reaction:

 

[GIZBUG]

Man that CEO of Reddit is a $/-@

 

[bigjnyc]

As tone-deaf as this sounds.... Unfortunately he is right. 48 hour blackouts will not do much, a few thousand people deleting their accounts will only go so far.... Most of the people puffing their chests out and claiming they will never use reddit again, will eventually snake back in, because humans are brittle frauds like that..... People will move on to the next cause in due time and this will be forgotten. I am by no means taking Reddit's side here but I've just seen this movie before and know how it always ends.

 

[Vulkan]

Going dark for two days is not going to change Reddit's point of view, just like u/spaz stated, they will sit it out, and then things will go back to normal.

Two days is nothing. The blackout needs to be indefinite for any impact. Move these subreddits to Mastodon, close the whole shebang on Reddit, make noise, and close one million accounts or more and then you will be making a dent on them big enough to make them pay attention.

Otherwise, 2 days is like a 2 day electronic cleanse and you will set the example that is all it took for you to feel accomplished.

It's a waste of time.

 

[Hornby]

“The dogs bark, but the caravan moves on.”

 

[kalafalas]

I moderate a few subs on Reddit most notably for one of the major cell carriers and we have a group chat with the other cell carriers, Apple, and a few other tech-related subs and we are legit torn on this. We want to keep the subs closed because F this guy, but the amount of Mod mail we're getting every hour of people wanting in and needing help or has questions is legit tearing us apart.

Some people think Reddit mods are just trolls that sit in a corner, but some of them like myself love to help people, and seeing all the people messaging the mods needing questions answered or problems solved and not being able to get help is heartbreaking. We want to help but we also want to stand in solidarity with our other mods and the devs that have worked so hard over the years to create a better app. In the end, Spez knows we will have to open back up that's why hes being so smug about it, and just goes to show he doesn't care about the community 1 bit!

Reddit will die, the community is forever. Don’t give in and repoen, the passion and volume of people needing help is hope the community will find a new, nontoxic home. Stay strong!

 

[thadoggfather]

I really detest the Reddit CEO’s remarks

Would welcome an evergreen blackout until he’s ejected and better management comes in

Apollo is one of it not my favorite iOS app.

 

[kalafalas]

I doubt he’ll be CEO very long after the IPO. He just wants to cash out and does not care what happens to the product or its users.

Ding ding ding.

 

[Graphikos]

Reddit needs to be profitable to exist. Probably unlikely, but indefinitely protesting could result in shutting it down. Is that what they actually want? I suppose something might take its place in time if that happens. And the cycle will continue.

I guess maybe they can just crash the whole damn system...

Cosmo: In prison, I learned that everything in this world, including money, operates not on reality...
Martin Bishop: ...but the perception of reality.
Cosmo : Posit: People think a bank might be financially shaky.
Martin Bishop : Consequence: People start to withdraw their money.
Cosmo : Result: Pretty soon it *is* financially shaky.
Martin Bishop : Conclusion: You can make banks fail.
Cosmo : [imitates buzzer] I've already done that. Maybe you've heard about a few? Think bigger.
Martin Bishop: Stock market?
Cosmo: Yes.
Martin Bishop: Currency market?
Cosmo: Yes.
Martin Bishop: Commodities market?
Cosmo: Yes.
Martin Bishop: Small countries?
Cosmo: I might even be able to crash the whole damn system. Destroy all records of ownership. Think of it, Marty: no more rich people, no more poor people, everybody's the same. Isn't that what we said we always wanted?
Martin Bishop: Cos, you haven't gone crazy on me, have you?
Cosmo: Who else is going to change the world, Marty? Greenpeace?

- Sneakers (1992)

 

[bigjnyc]

I am not sure why we need reddit. I guess it can go away.

Reddit itself is an amazing resource and community... I have gotten more help and answers on reddit than anywhere else in my life.. on topics from cell carrier, tech equipment, paintball, stocks, credit cards, all sports leagues, etc.. etc... the list goes on and on. Just because the folks who run reddit the company are greedy POS with no morals, doesn't mean the website itself and the community should be condemned.

 

[Will Co]

Seems like a bit of an arrogant p ..erson

 

[ScottishDuck]

Profitable? Who would have thought. What a crime.

Ad revenue down 59% and company valuation down 66%. Twitter under Elon is in a tailspin and he even admitted it himself recently.

 

[CarlJ]

I don’t understand… 🤦🏻

How does the CEO of Reddit not realize how passionate his own user base is?

There's an old line about some people being absolutely unable to understand a fact that it is very much against their financial interest to understand. He sees $-signs that are so close that he can taste them, and isn't going to let facts and such get in his way - I hope it all blows up in his face.

 

[3xBoom]

Bye, Reddit! The way of FB/Meta you go, straight to trash.

 

[stellarsingularity12]

Interesting strategy given how their app literally started out as a third-party app. They should at the very least take the Apple route, buying up other apps that have features they want and then incorporating them into their app, rather than just chasing all the other apps away with unreasonable pricing.

Apollo’s developer actually offered and this tool took it as a “threat”. Even after the misinterpretation was cleared up on their call, he went as far to continue claiming he was threatened by the developer on a call with the mods, not realizing the prior conversation had been recorded.

Source

 

[podycust]

These third party apps should get together and build their own replacement backend.

That kinda already exists it’s call Lemmy

 

[xyz01]

They saw zero revenue from Apollo subs and in fact lost some with the app not showing ads. What do you expect? They are a business, not a charity. Even if they see a 20% reduction in posters, they’ll still be more profitable with everyone using the official App.

They could have gone the Spotify route - it's available in many other places than the official app, but you need a paid subscription to use those.

I might have paid that, but I'm not using the official app and I'm pissed off (I'm using Apollo) so I'll stop using it June 30th.

 

[CarlJ]

"has not seen any significant revenue impact so far"

well last time I checked Steve, you weren't really making any revenue at all so……

And... like he'd come out and say "well, (potential investors), this is really hurting our bottom line".

I mean, in the first sentence, he says, "about 1000" subreddits - there's well over 9000 that are participating in the blackout. I wouldn't put much weight in anything he says.

 

[upthetoffees]

**** u/spez

This guy has proven over and over again he isn't fit to be CEO of a potentially billion dollar company. I don't know how any investors are looking at the way he's handling all of this and thinking to themselves, "yeah, that's a company I want to invest in and support, look at how well it's run!"

This whole thing is a mess. Unfortunately, I don't see it ending reddit today, or even tomorrow, but I hope that everyone banking on making millions in an IPO see nothing but losses for their inexcusable actions and corporate greed.

No one wants reddit to be a billion dollar company, you don’t get it.