Reddit Threatens to Remove Moderators From Subreddits Continuing Apollo-Related Blackouts

[Shirasaki]

The issue is not replacing bad mods with another bunch of bad mods: that's pretty easy to do and Reddit can literally do that overnight.

The issue is that good mods are far more scarce and far more valuable and that alienating them will likely also alienate the most valuable contributors to the site.

Reddit can ditch bad mods by the hundreds easily but they need to be much more careful about not alienating those who bring actual value to the site, since they can just as easily bring that value somewhere else and have a competitor of Reddit gain a lot of momentum while Reddit loses it.

Well, reddit clearly doesn’t see that as an issue. In my opinion, the best way to force someone stubborn to accept the reality is to make the what-if to reality, and sooner or later the stubborn individual would either be replaced or kill themselves (Maybe not literally but you get the point).
Sometimes, burning the world to the ground is the way to go.

 

[LeeW]

"Reddit CEO Steve Huffman thinks the site's mods are too powerful. He said he plans to change the rules so users have the power to vote the moderators of subreddits out, in an interview with NBC on Thursday."

Now that is the most sensible thing he has said.

 

[sjsharksfan12]

"Reddit CEO Steve Huffman thinks the site's mods are too powerful. He said he plans to change the rules so users have the power to vote the moderators of subreddits out, in an interview with NBC on Thursday."

Now that is the most sensible thing he has said.

That is actually good. I still couldn't believe I was banned from one subreddit because I participated in another. I should have the right to defend myself and not the Moderator basically accuse me of something without actually any evidence. It was guilty by association, and that shouldn't be allowed.

 

[jameschho]

I still don't understand how if it's about cost and monetization, why not just include API access in reddit premium and push it onto the users. I'd pay a extra $5 / mo to keep using apollo in a heartbeat. Reddit's official line seems disingenuous, putting the cost burden on the apps is aimed at destroying their business models.

 

[bsolar]

Well, reddit clearly doesn’t see that as an issue.

Whether they are right in that or not only time will tell.

 

[netslacker]

Seems the developer of Apollo should start their own social media platform. They already have the best app that they've refined over the years, now they just need to add the infrastructure to power it. Seems like a golden opportunity.

 

[bsolar]

I still don't understand how if it's about cost and monetization, why not just include API access in reddit premium and push it onto the users. I'd pay a extra $5 / mo to keep using apollo in a heartbeat. Reddit's official line seems disingenuous, putting the cost burden on the apps is aimed at destroying their business models.

They likely want users to switch to their own first-party app. The problem is, the first-party app is pretty clearly inferior to the competition, so making the competition financially non-viable means that they suddenly have no competition to deal with anymore.

If you are the worst but the only option available, it means you are also the best.

 

[jameschho]

They likely want users to switch to their own first-party app. The problem is, the first-party app is pretty clearly inferior to the competition, so making the competition financially non-viable means that they suddenly have no competition to deal with anymore.

If you are the worst but the only option available, it means you are also the best.

Agree, here's the thing though.... Making reddit like all the other platforms makes it easier to fund and run as a business with a board and investors. However, it doesn't preserve whats special about reddit, the free flow of ideas and innovation, 3rd party apps is just a extension of that. Does it make it way harder for reddit to grow as a business in many facets? Yes, absolutely, however I also see it as reddit's defensibility. The passion you see in this blackout also the same love that would keep users from leaving the platform while at the same time making it hard to evolve as a corporation.

Instead of taking the harder and unblazed path, reddit and it's board decided to take the easy way out.

Ultimately, this is why I'm so disappointed and sad.

 

[steve123]

Instead of taking the harder and unblazed path, reddit and it's board decided to take the easy way out.

Reddit is not profitable. So, if Apollo is siphoning cash away from their path to profitability then Reddit has to stop the bleed.

The "blackmail" comment is likely correct. The Apollo developer likely asked for $10M to go away. Reddit's CEO refused. The board should fire the CEO because he did not make that deal and this whole thing blew up and will end up costing them way more.

 

[bsolar]

Even traditional news sites like the CNN are covering the situation... You don't get that kind of coverage if nothing significant is happening.

Now, the backlash in itself might not be ultimately as effective as the "protestors" hope, but arguing that there isn't significant backlash is arguing against all evidence.

 

[ceriess]

Open the subreddits, and site ban the offending mods. The mistake was allowing these self inflated neckbeards to become convinced of their power.

 

[CarAnalogy]

There will always be a readily available supply of unpaid moderators willing and eager to take their place.

Removing one moderator is a tragedy. Removing all the moderators is a statistic.

 

[shawnforever]

I was on there for over a decade and I never, not a single time, got temp or perm-banned from a subreddit.

I have, once. It was a permaban where he also muted me from even contacting him to appeal the ban, but I somehow got in touch in other ways, apologized for any misperceptions about the situation, and he eventually apologized himself for overreacting and let me back in. But it was enough of a power-trip to really make me question the power these moderators have. It's an issue because especially for more niche subjects, a sub may be one of the only places on the internet to talk about it. Permaban reform is definitely something I'd like to see. Right now reddit allows mods to permaban a user for any reason whatsoever. I'd like to see more standard criteria and not "this person annoyed me."

 

[bsolar]

Open the subreddits, and site ban the offending mods. The mistake was allowing these self inflated neckbeards to become convinced of their power.

The problem is that sometimes getting rid of the "self-inflated neckbeards" actually ends up proving that you did need them more than they did need you.

 

[GizmoDVD]

Try going into any retailer subs...Target, GameStop, Starbucks etc. and lts only a "employee appreciation, customer suck" posts. Try doing anything that is against that, and you are instantly banned. No appeal, nothing.

I welcome the ability to vote out Mods. Many of the top 100 subreddits are modded by the same dozen people, many of which are happily keeping the blackout going because they need that power.

 

[cocky jeremy]

Sue for what?

As noted numerous times, for every mod that quits, another 20 people will happily accept the free position and ego boost. They are not Gods, many of them are terrible and ban/remove posts based upon their personal ideas.

Pretty sure making up the fact someone is trying to blackmail you is illegal.

 

[Attirex]

Ah, Reddit. Where someone's grocery delivery service accidentally buys eight *bunches* of bananas, instead of eight bananas. And this is such an amazing and hilarious viral experience that it needs to be shared with the world, complete with photos.

 

[shawnforever]

most valuable contributors to the site.

There are no "most valuable contributors." Reddit's value is in purely the number of contributors, where the masses increase the visibility of good posts and decrease the visibility of bad posts. And where there's enough people to consistently post things that are interesting or worth talking about across a wide range of subjects.

 

[GizmoDVD]

Pretty sure making up the fact someone is trying to blackmail you is illegal.

Pretty sure if you listen to the phone call, you can hear Apollo try and string together some words in a very confusing way where it actually does sound like he is blackmailing Reddit to stay quite about the API change. For someone who has made millions off of Reddit while paying them $0, he should have hired an attorney for $350 an hour to speak for him.

 

[sdf]

Lets note here these are UNPAID moderators, who are modding these subs on their own time for nothing in return...

Who the hell you going to replace them with?

A script will probably pick the most frequent posters on the sub.

 

[macsplusmacs]

LOL.

3 days in and KBin's sci fi section has doubled in size:

Inkican (@inkican@mastodon.social)

Attached: 1 image Three days later, https://kbin.social/m/scifi doubled in size! #kbin #scifi #Reddit #fediverse

mastodon.social

Meanwhile, the Reddit CEO is Huff-ing and puffing and getting mad and all the people that give him FREE content and their free time.

This dude definitely went to South African Emerald Mine University.

 

[bsolar]

There are no "most valuable contributors." Reddit's value is in purely the number of contributors, where the masses increase the visibility of good posts and decrease the visibility of bad posts. And where there's enough people to consistently post things that are interesting or worth talking about across a wide range of subjects.

There surely are. Not all contributors bring the same value to the site and this means there will be a non-zero variance in the value they contribute.

This means the value of the contributors will end up falling in a normal distribution, which is to be expected since basically everything we do tends to end up distributed like that... This means the higher the value contributed, the fewer people will deliver it.

The only question is how much variance, but arguing zero variance is IMHO completely unrealistic.

 

[ninethirty]

LOL.

3 days in and KBin's sci fi section has doubled in size:

Inkican (@inkican@mastodon.social)

Attached: 1 image Three days later, https://kbin.social/m/scifi doubled in size! #kbin #scifi #Reddit #fediverse

mastodon.social

Meanwhile, the Reddit CEO is Huff-ing and puffing and getting mad and all the people that give him FREE content and their free time.

This dude definitely went to South African Emerald Mine University.

KBin is an absolute mess. Too slow, and god awful UX. Reddit has nothing to worry about here.

 

[AdonisSMU]

I disagree with all of this. If I were reddit I'd just remove the mods who blacked out their subs. Easy peasy and move on.

 

[GizmoDVD]

KBin is an absolute mess. Too slow, and god awful UX. Reddit has nothing to worry about here.

I never heard of that or Lemmy before these threads and they don't seem like great alternatives. How is Mastadon or whatever the weekly replacement for Twitter doing?