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

[bsolar]

why isn't the world of tech media going to town on Huffman for lying about how he has dealt with 2 3rd party reddit app developers who have evidence of him lying.

Why would anyone be surprised of a CEO lying to push his narrative to defend his strategy for turning a profit? It's basically his job. Most users won't care as long as that lie doesn't affect them, the investors will only care about the resulting profits or lack thereof.

Could it be that the tech world does not consider reddit to be an important part of the tech world?

Reddit is important but not irreplaceable. Just like Reddit itself replaced other platforms which became irrelevant, if things go really pear-shaped at Reddit, its users will migrate somewhere else and Reddit will become irrelevant itself.

IMHO the big deal will not even be the mods or the blackouts: it's whatever monetization strategies Reddit's management is going to try to implement and the impact these monetization strategies will have on the user's experience.

Users might not care about the CEO'S lies, but they will definitely care if using Reddit becomes obnoxious due to the push for monetization.

 

[anshuvorty]

Reddit does have the right to charge asinine fees for their API if they wish. They even have the right to replace entire mods teams (who are borderline unpaid Reddit employees) if they choose.

But they do not have the right to falsely accuse developers of blackmail. That is my main issue with this whole debacle.

Seriously, if you haven’t already, read into it. The CEO publicly accused the developer of Apollo, Christian, of blackmail. Fortunately for Christian, he recorded their entire conversation and released it for all to hear. Spoiler: there was no blackmail and the CEO even acknowledged that.

Huffman still has not spoke about why he lied about the blackmail accusation.

Yeah, this will make me want to use the service less and less. You can’t go on supporting a business whose leader openly lies and doesn’t admit it.

 

[123]

Nobody wants your 'free' labor, especially when you act like a child and shut down a subreddit over an issue that has nothing to do with the users. Good riddance ...

The subreddit is theirs, they created and maintained it, not Reddit.

Also, you say only work that requires an IQ of 150 is valuable work, right?

 

[LeeW]

The subreddit is theirs, they created and maintained it, not Reddit.

It's not theirs, mods own nothing.

 

[laptech]

The subreddit is theirs, they created and maintained it, not Reddit.

Also, you say only work that requires an IQ of 150 is valuable work, right?

You make a point that I think the majority arguing in reddit's favour have conveniently forgotten. Reddit provide the platform but it is the users that created the subredits not reddit. A user sends in a request to reddit admins to create a subreddit, they submit the name of the subreddit and wait to see if it is approved and when done so it is up to the owner of the subreddit to run the subreddit. They make the content for the subreddit, they can be the moderator of their own subreddit or they can find others, reddit does not supply the moderators to the subreddit. If the owner of a subreddit wants to put it on 'blackout' then it should be their right and reddit should not have the right to kick the owner (moderator) off their own subreddit because it upsets their CEO.

 

[laptech]

It's not theirs, mods own nothing.

Many moderators are actually owners of the subreddit they created

 

[123]

IMHO the big deal will not even be the mods or the blackouts: it's whatever monetization strategies Reddit's management is going to try to implement and the impact these monetization strategies will have on the user's experience.

The user experience is already greatly reduced just by some of the best mobile apps shutting down.

Reddit is mostly a time-waster that competes with various other activities. Sure, it offers news and discussions, but this is ultimately also just entertainment. If the experience gets worse, people are going to spend more time on TikTok. Add aggressive monetization to the mix and alternative meta forums that will inevitably emerge and the whole thing will fall apart quickly.

 

[ackmondual]

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?


Steve is making a running for worst tech CEO with Elon

And it sure as hell won't be Reddit themselves. They've been downsizing their workforce.

 

[GizmoDVD]

Many moderators are actually owners of the subreddit they created

No, they do not own anything on Reddit.

 

[R4z3r]

I hope Reddit disappears forever. The current CEO and, by extension, the platform, are a plague on common decency.

 

[vipergts2207]

But not without these specific mods .... You do realize that there are thousands of people on the internet who will gladly take their place, right? And, all without acting like petty tyrants that shut the sub down when they get pissed off, and depriving users of the content that the users themselves created! If you can't see that, you have an outsize sense of your own importance and the 'job' that the mods do.

Why do you assume quality people will be the ones to step into the position lmao?? Have you met people? And I’m not a mod bud, nor do I want to be.

 

[Abazigal]

But not without these specific mods .... You do realize that there are thousands of people on the internet who will gladly take their place, right? And, all without acting like petty tyrants that shut the sub down when they get pissed off, and depriving users of the content that the users themselves created! If you can't see that, you have an outsize sense of your own importance and the 'job' that the mods do.

I would agree with you if this were for a paid position. Else, I don’t know how many people would be willing to set aside hours of their time every day in order to perform a task for free, much less do it properly, and stick around for the long run. And for what purpose? To help a jerk of a CEO juice his company stock price at one’s expense?

 

[STOCK411]

I do wonder at what point the reddit board has enough of this sideshow. this wont help them one bit with their IPO plans

 

[2Stepfan]

Reddits well into its “find out” phase. Silver Stark as a role model unlikely to work out well for those lacking sufficient billions.

 

[Taipan]

There are three subreddits I use daily, so it‘s somewhat of a pity that they are going the Twitter route now.

 

[ackmondual]

This is such a classic example of an echo chamber. Mods thinking just so many people support this when in reality, a vast majority use the (well-reviewed) 1st-party app and thoroughly don’t care and just want access back.

Citation to support this?

Where do I volunteer to be a moderator that will keep the threads open. I don’t care about this silly crusade.

Edit: I do think corporate structure definitely was silly here but people getting so passionate about what happens to websites and app makers is so cringe to me.

Because certain sites and app makers have such impact. It's no different than sports fanaticism. Being this is MacRumors, if Apple announced that they want to be like Android and open up the platform to a lot more ads, and move away from the many reasons why people get iOS vs. Android, *I* wouldn't care b/c I don't use iPhones. BUt you can bet others here will curse up a storm.

 

[Nightphase]

Seeing reddit mods crying about losing moderator status is funny, especially when the ones crying were banning people for no-sense reasons or for having a different opinion on something.

 

[LeeW]

Citation to support this?

Sure, go and look at Reddit. Even on r/Apple as soon as they opened the subreddit back up the users pretty much savaged the mods in the replies for doing it in the first place. Sure there is support out there but it's very limited.

I have seen the same on a few others that I looked at. The reason is pretty much what has been said numerous times in this thread. It's not for mods to decide on behalf of everyone else what they should do and people are not happy with them for that.

 

[LeeW]

I would agree with you if this were for a paid position. Else, I don’t know how many people would be willing to set aside hours of their time every day in order to perform a task for free, much less do it properly, and stick around for the long run. And for what purpose? To help a jerk of a CEO juice his company stock price at one’s expense?

My 25+ years of experience on the internet says that supply has always exceeded demand. Whether it be Reddit, forums, other message boards and so on. You will never have an issue finding people willing to give up their time for free. I mean you say you don't know how many would be willing to set aside hours of their time every day. Reddit has something like 75,000 or more people doing exactly that before you consider every other forum/community across the internet.

For what purpose? It varies. Could be a genuine love for that topic or particular community, for the perceived importance of the position and others. Personal gain is also one I see on forums, it can add legitimacy to someone who is selling a service or product that is a moderator of the site and so on.

The quality of moderators is an issue everywhere, you can never be sure of people's reasons for wanting or accepting a role. I have always found the best moderators are not those who want to be one, but rather those that contribute regularly to something and are asked to be one because their knowledge, manner and other attributes are already shown to fit the role. But they are less likely to stay as long or have the time to fully commit.

 

[TheMacDaddy1]

Reddit does have the right to charge asinine fees for their API if they wish. They even have the right to replace entire mods teams (who are borderline unpaid Reddit employees) if they choose.

But they do not have the right to falsely accuse developers of blackmail. That is my main issue with this whole debacle.

Seriously, if you haven’t already, read into it. The CEO publicly accused the developer of Apollo, Christian, of blackmail. Fortunately for Christian, he recorded their entire conversation and released it for all to hear. Spoiler: there was no blackmail and the CEO even acknowledged that.

Huffman still has not spoke about why he lied about the blackmail accusation.

99.9% of Reddit users do not care at all. I use the official iOS app. I did not even know there were other apps and I do not care. It has been more than irritating to get blocked we searching for something.

 

[123]

99.9% of Reddit users do not care at all. I use the official iOS app. I’d not even know there were other apps not do I care.

That number is certainly wrong. But yeah, 70-80% probably don't care. This is also the percentage of ignorant idiots who use subpar tools every day even for their main tasks.

 

[123]

My 25+ years of experience on the internet says that supply has always exceeded demand

This is true, but only the demand for becoming a mod, "fame", prestige... But it is not true when it comes to doing the actual work. It is tedious, and even more so when tools are bad (which is the underlying issue). So, you are right, dozens of people wil apply. And none of them will continue doing much after the first few weeks.

 

[George Dawes]

Reddits so awful it makes Twitter look good

Anonymous downvoting ahoy ! I find the place utterly boring

 

[Zest28]

99.9% of Reddit users do not care at all. I use the official iOS app. I did not even know there were other apps and I do not care. It has been more than irritating to get blocked we searching for something.

Indeed, it is funny how these people are allowed to vandalize a company because people loose their “free stuff”, which nobody cares about except a vocal minority.

If people want Apollo, then Apollo can come with a paid app, only costs $1.99 per month.

 

[LeeW]

If people want Apollo, then Apollo can come with a paid app, only costs $1.99 per month.

The point of Apollo shutting down though is that it won't be 1.99 it will be far more and there aren't enough paying users to cover the estimated cost of $20m pa under the new pricing structure.