Man that whole situation really sucks. Reddit was by far my most visited site before they decided to light the house on fire. On mobile I always used Boost because the official app is terrible and (at least the last time I looked at it) would drain my battery like it was nothing even when the app was closed. RIP. At least we've got Lemmy. I just wish these 3rd party apps would take their users to the fediverse instead of shutting down entirely. As a developer it really sucks when you have to shut down a project you've put so much work into.
this post was submitted on 08 Jun 2023
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what blew my mind, and the minds of many other people on reddit is that they (reddit) have 2,000 employees and yet still can't piece together a good and accessible experience for their users...
No matter how many developers you get, you're never going to have a good product if the guy calling the shots won't allow it. I'm confident that the developers working on Reddit probably know damn well that their product is trash and there's nothing they can do about it because their job isn't "make a good site" its "do what your boss tells you to do"
I've been a developer for awhile and you would be surprised how many companies can't get out of their own way to improve their products.
This is so true it hurts.
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I just don't get how a site based on freely produced content thst employs volunteer mods can actually monetise.
That part just gets me. The site has nothing without the users and the users have nothing without the mods.
The thing is, they have operating costs. I'm sure it's a boatload of money as well, given the size and scope of Reddit. Almost all startups run at a loss. And then continue to do so long past when they're a "startup". The money they "make" is from rounds of investors who believe they will find a way to make money in the future. Eventually investors get restless and demand that they find a way to monetize so they can recoup. Without those investors money, the site will come crashing as soon as they miss some critical payments for stuff that keep the site up. I'm absolutely sure that's what we're seeing. I think either way, its time has come.
Pinch the users to try to keep it alive for a little bit more. Don't pinch the users and it dies in a grinding halt when they miss some key payments.
So realistically, what would a sustainable business model be for something like Reddit?
Something like lemmy or a fediverse platform is going to rely on donations and community support. In the case of mastodon, for example, it’s been shown to work well enough for sustainable operations. For those willing to work on something worthwhile for lower salary, it is potentially a great gig. In a commercial context though, it’s basically a subscription based business model.
If we’re to recover from this ad driven data tracking economy, subscriptions seem like a healthy thing for businesses to adopt.
Reddit may have already signed their deals with the devil. But generally, the point of the fediverse is to escape this corporate manipulation of our basic communications in the internet, and it’s still interesting to ask what profitable but sustainable operations can look like.
I think that federation will help Lemmy a ton--there will be a lot of small, cheap servers rather than a single extremely expensive one!
Possibly. I’m not sure how true it is that the fediverse necessarily leads to more efficient computing needs per user. I’d bet it’s the opposite.
But, as you perhaps allude to, there are other factors. For those who only want niche smaller communities, they can enjoy a more stripped down experience without needing speedy and beefy servers. Similarly, the platforms here are probably slimmer and not bloated with features that are trying to engage and monetise.
The major factor, IMO, is ownership. Admins literally own their servers. And should have a much closer and codependent relationship with the users in their servers, except in the case of large instances which become different beasts. Additionally, users have much more choice and mobility on the fediverse. All of which means admins/moderators and users have more at stake in their relationship. More ownership over their platform/instance. And therefore actually have a reason to donate and contribute and help out.
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They can always work together with platform developers to make profits. Yet they're killing the very platform that bring traffics to the site. I can only see greediness here.
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Looks like the Chinese "investor" is the Communist Party. The actions Reddit is taking are pretty much how they take down all the companies and citizens they target.
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What a colossal shit show. They're hellbent on destroying third party competition before the IPO. Next on the chopping block are old.reddit and porn.
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Reddit just feels dirty to me now, not in a good dirty way... Just dirty, I want nothing to do with it. I see no coming back from this even if the backlash leads to Reddit reversing the decisions. Kind of new the IPO would do something like this. Looking forward to seeing this place bloom.
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It's disappointing that Reddit has chosen to prioritize money after their success :(
Money is the measure of success to a business. It's what they exist for, at least under capitalism.
They'll hold the very idea of community ransom. They'll do it in virtual spaces, and they'll do it in meatspaces. And they won't stop unless it's proven to be deeply unprofitable.
Joey is looking to do subscriptions
Joey is currently canvassing for whether people would be willing to pay a subscription. As an average Joey user, the answer is no.
I feel bad no supporting them (Joey) but I rather see Joey support the Lemmy/ActivityPub protocol
Agreed, assuming more than us 20 people take a principled stance and leave Reddit.
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Sync for Reddit is also shutting down on June 30th.
ReddPlanet also announced closure on June 30th.
Reddit creates API exemption for noncommercial accessibility apps (Ehhhh, grain of salt on this one. I'm getting a lot of conflicting reports.)
Relay is also out.
EDITS: fixed Sync names, added ReddPlanet. Will keep adding as I see them.
"If you do a better job than us at something we don't care about, have fun*"
*as long as blind users will have reddit ads read to them (probably)
Just deleted 2 of my 3 (don't ask me wny I have 3 Reddit accounts, bc I don't know)
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