Huge Reddit protest mostly ended
Some of Reedits biggest subs are going private over API price changes.
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Huge Reddit protest commenced June 12th: Reddit went into lockdown on June 12th over concerns about API price changes, with some developers going as far as to say it will “ruin” them.
Several popular communities on Reddit, such as r/videos, r/reactiongifs, r/earthporn, and r/lifeprotips, are planning to make themselves private on June 12th. This is in response to new pricing set by Reddit for third-party app developers to use the site’s APIs. When a subreddit goes private, it means that it can’t be accessed by the general public during the planned 48-hour protest. Stating that many of the participants may not come back unless their needs are met.
Update: Most of the subreddits have become public once more, however, a number of subreddits are still protesting the API changes by changing the content in their subreddits. For Example, the Steam subreddit is now all about actual Steam.
Huge Reddit protest commenced on June 12th
That’s not all, however, this is a full list of the participating subreddits taking part in the June 12th strike.
These subreddits plan to set their access to “private” to relinquish access to any one of its contents for 48 hours. The aim here is to damage Reddit’s revenue, by lessening the number of people that visit and use the site for 48 hours. This could put a sizable dent in Reddit’s AD revenue.
If you care about the API pricing issue you can take part by NOT using Reddit from June 12th to June 14th. But why is all of this happening?
Some communities remain private even after the “strike” is over
According to Techdirt, some of the Subreddits that have chosen to go private have done so indefinitely, presumably until the user’s concerns have been addressed.
This would be a big hit for Reddit, as nearly 3 billion people have been affected by the blackout in some way, it was only supposed to be for 2 days. (June 12th to June 14th) This news means that certain subreddits could be private for a lot longer.
Reddit devs still haven’t responded to the strike in any way, they are not budging on the issue. It is very apparent that Reddit does not want to back down.
Why are Reddit communities going on strike?
Reddit has recently upped its API usage cost, meaning developers of third-party apps, such as Apollo, will have to pay more to use Reddit’s API, much more.
For instance, the developer of Apollo app expressed concern that they would have to pay an exorbitant amount of money to access Reddit’s API. They mentioned that at their current rate of 7 billion requests per month, they would need to pay $1.7 million per month or $20 million per year.
The developer believes that this pricing is completely unrealistic and unfair. They don’t have that kind of money, and they wouldn’t even know how to pay such a large amount with a credit card.
However, an employee from Reddit has stated that the new charges for the API should be affordable if third-party apps use the API efficiently. They mentioned, “Our pricing is $0.24 per 1000 API calls, which means less than $1.00 per user per month for a well-managed app. Apollo, compared to other apps, has been less efficient and sometimes excessive, probably because it has been free.”
Despite this argument, developers of other third-party Reddit apps have expressed similar concerns. Reddit is Fun mentioned that they would have to pay a similar amount as Apollo to continue operating, but their earnings are nowhere near that number. The developer of Narwhal expressed that they would likely cease to exist within 30 days due to the charges.
Why are third-party apps useful?
The possibility of third-party apps shutting down is a big concern for subreddit moderators as they heavily rely on these tools to manage their communities.
A moderator named BuckRowdy explained in an open letter, which has been signed by moderators from various subreddits, “In many cases, these apps provide better moderation tools, customization options, user-friendly interfaces, and other improvements that the official app lacks. Losing these services because of the pricing change would greatly affect our ability to moderate effectively.”
All in all, these apps exist to make Reddit a better place, A personal note from me, is that I love Reddit, I love its sense of community and I love that we all band together to stand up for what we believe in. And I hope that never changes.
Will the strike work?
Reddit has seen a history of strikes that ultimately worked out well, but we will see if this one has as much of a strong effect, considering it affects Reddits ability to earn directly.
In 2021, a similar strike worked to resounding success when Reddit decided to team up with a controversial UK politician, Reddit communities went dark and managed to force Reddit to cut ties with the politician.
One thing is for sure, Reddit communities are strong, Reddit has crashed the stock market, tracked down killers, and toppled empires. Stopping a price increase is going to be child’s play. That’s why a Huge Reddit protest is set to commence on June 12th.
We have reached out to various people for comments, but we have yet to hear back.
Check out our news section to stay up to date on the Reddit strikes
