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- We need to talk about Reddit
BOLD CLAIM INCOMING: Reddit is the most useful place on the Internet. By that I mean it’s a destination that has reliably catalogued real human discussions on just about every topic imaginable. But now, it’s usefulness is about to collapse, thanks to the greed of the Executives running it – much the same way that Elon Musk’s takeover made Twitter lose its real value.
A quick recap of the story: At the end of May, Reddit announced it would charge a fee to third-party apps that operate within it’s ecosystem (look up API calls, or read this Verge piece). For Apollo, one of the most popular apps, it will cost $20 million a year when it used to be free 😭 So they’ll just have to shut down. This isn’t really problem for casual Redditors, but it’s a huge problem for moderators of big subreddits as they have to use third-party apps bc Reddit’s own app/moderating tools suck. To protest the decision, over 8000 subreddits went dark on June 12 – you couldn’t view any of the content unless you were already subscribed, and no new posts were being made. After the initial 48-hour blackout, almost 4000 subreddits are still down and many have committed to regularly going offline until… Well, until they give up I guess, because Reddit’s CEO is committed to pushing through the changes.
Why is this bad & why should you care? To me, Reddit represents the original promise of the Internet: to connect us with real people, and allow us to share useful, interesting or important information with each other. That was the promise! That’s why we all came online!
Reddit had managed to keep that promise. The topics and tone of discussion are not gatekept. Sure, it could be dark, unserious or argumentative, but the value was a) you could trust posts were written by real people, and, b) it was free and easy to navigate. I have always been able to find exactly what I was looking for on Reddit, because of how well it’s moderated by users and how openly people share there - both done for free.
In the past few years the Internet has filled up with shitty, soulless ‘content’ that doesn’t feel real. Content marketing has made Google borderline unusable – every search brings blog posts by random businesses trying to sell you something. Algorithmic ranking has made Facebook, Instagram, YouTube and TikTok content either insane (FB), commercialised (IG) or genuinely dangerous (YT, TT).
The state of digital publishing makes me want to weep. Last year I planned my wedding; Reddit was so much more helpful than articles on Vogue, Harper’s Bazaar, Brides.com, Hello May, etc etc. Because they’re chasing clicks and ad revenue, if the thing I needed advice on wasn’t trending, publishers wouldn’t cover it. Most lifestyle publications are so ‘ad safe’ that’ you’ll rarely see genuine criticism. Everything is always good, great, recommended. So, while I have no clue who Reddit user AlphaInferno35 is in real life, their honest thoughts on cutting the budget for table florals changed my outlook (and saved my sanity). Vogue Brides could never.
Making things harder for Reddit mods makes it harder for all of us to find the good, useful information & opinions that exist in the ocean of online crap.
I guess the core problem is that the men who run Big Tech want to personally profit as much as they can, but they are not the people who are providing the actual value. We’re the ones providing the value! In an attempt to squeeze more money out of this arrangement, they’re crushing the platforms into a collection of broken bits.
End result: Internet spaces are all much shittier than they used to be. And now Reddit – the last useful place? – is about to join them. They still operate, but if they’re less valuable and more costly to us (either in $$ or in social & mental health)… why bother? Why be online if you can’t find useful or interesting information made by real people? How do we pull back power from the people who run tech giants?
All questions, no answers. If you’ve got thoughts on this one please email me! I’m not done thinking about this topic.
If you’ve been bombarded with passive income TikToks promising to free you from the capitalistic prison we live in PLEASE read this. Someone is always working to generate capital, even if it’s not you. CLICK HERE TO READ.
Smart stuff on the Internet 💭
All the stuff I found on the web that made me think, smile, or have an ‘aha!’ moment. Spend your Sunday reading them – you'll be better off for it:
Margot Robbie Takes You Inside The Barbie Dreamhouse video on Architectural Digest
The craftsmanship of the Barbie set is jaw-dropping. Obviously they have a gigantic budget, but overall it’s important to show people the work and detail and craft that goes into creative projects, particularly in the fast content-consumption environment we now live in. Seeing the closet with clothes secured the same way they were in the box made me so nostalgic for my own girlhood.
Aja Barber’s Twitter thread about how Shein is putting most of the fashion industry out of business
"The result of this is less choice for everyone who isn’t wealthy. Fewer high street stores which are imperfect but a little better and fewer ethical brands all together because they’re going to be harmed the most. Your choices will start to look like luxury OR Shein. Awesome.”
Hollywood Has a Climate Problem on Mother Jones
“The goal isn’t for everyone to make stories that are about climate change, but rather that writers and showrunners don’t ‘pretend that this change isn’t happening, and that it isn’t affecting every aspect of human life on the planet.’”