[afavour]

Call me cynical but I’m surprised how widespread the opinion is that Reddit is on a death spiral. It might end up being another Digg but I can’t help but feel like this is going to be a blip and that Reddit will by and large continue just fine.

If anything I think this is the moment that Reddit finally separates from the “geeky” crowd that originally birthed it (I remember the days when Reddit was the nerdier alternative to Digg!) I don’t think that community has been the lifeblood of Reddit for a long time, though.

[droffel]

To put it in terms HN might understand:

For moderators, the switch from being able to use third party clients to being forced to use the official reddit client would be like a programmer being told their favorite IDE/text editor can no longer be used for code, and you'll have to get used to notepad or something.

Existing code? Fine! No problems, you can run it like normal. Writing new code? I'm not so sure you will have nearly as many developers willing to work in that ecosystem. Third party applications are part of the core moderation loop of pretty much every subreddit that operates at scale, and depriving those moderators of the tools they use will be to the detriment of the quality of the site.

People saying this won't change much probably haven't tried to moderate at scale using only first party tools. It sucks.

[medellin]

Who knows but i already deleted all my accounts and delete the comments earlier this year. The site is only good for finding reviews on products but companies figured that out and game it now as well.

I hope reddit dies if for no other reason than the less social media the better

[rocket_surgeron]

>The site is only good for finding reviews on products but companies figured that out and game it now as well.

You're using it wrong. Reddit is the only place, in the history of the entire internet, that has successfully collected all of my interests into one location.

Astrophotography, Astronomy, Art Deco, Scuba, Amateur Radio, Radio Astronomy, Motorcycling (specifically Moto Guzzi bikes), EMS/Firefighting, Vintage Computing, Maps, Woodworking, and most importantly of all, Yoga-- all in one place.

There were fora for all of these "back in the good old days" but the user base is 100x more active and knowledgable, they're all in one place, and there are super-niches.

If you go to reddit and only see companies hawking a product, you're the problem.

Like the people who go on TikTok and only see chicks. What the fuck are you doing? I go on TikTok and only see astronomy and scuba diving videos. It's great!

[medellin]

It also had collected my interests in one location but i found the communities grew into toxic for lack of a better term “circle jerks”. It honestly just because a place to go to see people conforming to the majorities opinion on any sub reddit over 20k.

[snapplebobapple]

I have had all my interests collected in one place since at least the late 90's; its called a web browser.....

[simlevesque]

If you haven't paid attention maybe. But people have been pissed for years.

[djbusby]

Fires start with a spark.

[Tangurena2]

There is also a huge resentment among users about getting advertisements from Hobby Lobby. Their "He Get Sus" campaign is obnoxious and the $5,000,000 that Hobby Lobby has promised is worth more to Reddit than all of their users.

I think the Digg similarity is correct. For the sake of a buck, Reddit is going to destroy their userbase. CNN has shown us just how quick that sort of downfall can be. Chasing conservative money looks appealing to money counters, but if it is the enemy of your customers, then you may as well file bankruptcy right away.

[omoikane]

Perhaps people who mostly browse small subreddits through the default client are spared from the current drama. The front page of reddit feels very different from the rest of reddit.

I suspect those small subreddits will continue for a while.