goatburglerJun 14, 2023
Dan Gillmor

After Reddit's beyond-arrogant CEO dismissed the subreddit blackout as just posturing, moderators of discussions extended the blackout. This is the only sensible response to the company's contempt.

https://www.theverge.com/2023/6/13/23759674/reddit-mods-blackout-protest-extended-indefinitely

Please stay the course.

For my part, I'm canceling my Reddit account and looking at decentralized alternatives.

Reddit communities with millions of followers plan to extend the blackout indefinitely

Moderators of many Reddit communities are pledging to keep their subreddits private or restricted indefinitely. In response to a Tuesday post on the r/ModCoord subreddit, users are chiming in to say that their subreddits will remain dark past Wednesday.

The Verge
Jun 14, 2023 at 11:32pmWeb
Show threadSpockoJun 14, 2023
@dangillmor good!, content creators of the World Unite! You have nothing to lose but your content platform!
Show threadNorcalPM ☑️ Jun 14, 2023
@dangillmor I’ve spent the last several days playing around with Lemmy (beehaw.org instance) and K-bin (main instance and a new one set up by @supernovae
readit.buzz) and I have to say that they are certailnly feasible replacements for Reddit. Still a little sparse on content and needs better 3rd party app support, but I get the same warm and fuzzy feeling there that I get here - Lots of intelligent and decent people and very few trolls and miscreants, at least for now.
Show threadBiggestBulb 💡🏳️‍🌈🧑‍💻Jun 15, 2023
@norcalpm @dangillmor @supernovae I've also been on kbin quite a lot, and so far I love it. For now, most posts seem to be in the Reddit and RedditBlackout communities there, but hopefully in a month we'll have a more even spread of posts so it'll be just like "home" was
Show threadalok ✔️Jun 15, 2023
@norcalpm @dangillmor @[email protected] I'm still fediverse illiterate. Is my understanding correct that kbin instances are in their own little universe? That is, it has nothing to do with Mastodon instances?
Show threadMike (no not that one)Jun 15, 2023
@dangillmor If you're looking for an alternative I recommend taking a look at https://fedia.io it's the kbin run by @jerry
Thread - Fedia

content aggregator and micro-blogging platform for the fediverse

Show threadNick's worldJun 15, 2023
@dangillmor Reddit deserves to get fucked up the ass. No mercy! Bring on the fire!
Show threadben morettiJun 15, 2023
@dangillmor the content is too valuable. Reddit will just kick the mods and take over themselves, which will ofc increase the decline in quality further
Show threadMilo KeiJun 15, 2023
@morebento @dangillmor I really don't see this happening. The mods are unpaid and Huffman is bullying his way through this imbroglio in the lead up to the IPO (supposedly adding value). Running the missing subs with staff costs too much at too crucial a time. They could get some scab mods in (unlikely in my opinion) but much more likely to bluster through with the reduced sub count and the content that is trickling in and sit out the storm. That or back down on the API prices - Conde Nast has a tendency to crack down then back down
Show threadben morettiJun 15, 2023
@milo @dangillmor what about cheap offshored labour like what openai did for labelling training data
Show threadMilo KeiJun 15, 2023
@morebento not sure what that is - just not knowledgeable enough but from what I can gather of the details, some of the genuine issues mods have is with the bots and AI tools developed to get around sub rules. AI battling AI could be interesting!
Show threadben morettiJun 15, 2023
@milo basically using cheap overseas labour to do tasks
Show threadben morettiJun 15, 2023
@milo https://www.mturk.com/ Amazon’s interface to global cheap labour to do menial tasks
Amazon Mechanical Turk

Show threadMilo KeiJun 15, 2023

@morebento that really doesn't sound like anything good. I mean... Jesus.

Apropos of nothing, can we have universal basic income now please?

Show threadben morettiJun 15, 2023
@milo yeah it’s a cracker - total gig economy / empire
Show threadDesign by AdrianJun 15, 2023
@morebento @dangillmor I believe this has already happened with some subreddits. Moderators got the boot, new moderators in, sub opened.
Show threadDesign by AdrianJun 18, 2023

@morebento @dangillmor Hoffman is now threatening my sub of a few hundred thousand users:

Absolute fascist scare tactics, trying to get people to tell on each other and abandon their friends. #redditblackout #reddit #redditstrike #spez

Show threadben morettiJun 18, 2023
@designbyadrian @dangillmor what a deadshit
Show threadCyber YukiJun 15, 2023

@dangillmor I subscribed to a rather small subreddit. After a brief discussion with the mods, someone decided to open an alternative forum in a self-hosted server.

Currently it has like 20 subscribers or less (compared to the 10K subscribers the official forum has), but it's a start.

Even if the discussions are brief, it does feel like a community, and one with the guarantee that it won't be taken down by a big corporation.

This wouldn't have happened without the blackout.

Slowly but surely, community leaders are starting to wake up.

Show threadScott.Jun 15, 2023
@dangillmor LOL, the source is SpicyThunder335. Man I’m going to miss Reddit.
Show threadAhri Boy (backup)Jun 15, 2023
@dangillmor #kbin all the way! I hope someone would fork #Lemmy.
Show threadphineJun 15, 2023
@dangillmor I just quit reddit today.
The blackout and several subs becoming private invite only convinced me. It is losing its objectivity as a forum and that sux.
Show threadGremlinGirlGoingGoblinmodeJun 15, 2023
@dangillmor This is why I'm migrating out once these sites start to chastise their users you just got to get out it happened with Facebook it happened with Twitter and it's happening to Reddit. In hindsight the nft shit was a red flag to leave.
Show threadgavinisdie Jun 15, 2023
@dangillmor wouldn't be suprised if they forced the protesting subreddits back open
Show threadBookkeeping101Jun 15, 2023
@dangillmor I’m so bored but refuse to reinstall it
Show threadMatharl Jun 15, 2023

@dangillmor Before canceling your account, remember to use a tool to purge every single post / comments you made and export it to repost it on the alternative of your choice.

Our posts / comments are what make Reddit valuable, if you’re looking for information usually your search engine will lead you to a Reddit post.

To be effective, the only way is to salt the earth before leaving so alternatives like #kbin or #lemmy can shine brighter.

Show threadMilo KeiJun 15, 2023
@matharl @dangillmor great advice. Do you have any recommendations for tools to use? i've got some great content up there over the years
Show threadMatharl Jun 15, 2023

@milo @dangillmor I used Power Delete Suite but there are plenty of other options.

https://codepen.io/j0be/full/WMBWOW/

Power Delete Suite

...

Show threadMilo KeiJun 15, 2023
@matharl Thanks!
Show threadRejZoRJun 15, 2023
@dangillmor I've decided not to use Reddit entirely until shit with API is resolved. If not I'll just stop using it entirely. Did so with Facebook, Twitter and many forums, might do it again.
Show threadraulvJun 15, 2023
@rejzor @dangillmor I'm in the same bucket. My post on one subreddit was the top of the month for that place just a day before the blackout. I have no idea with who they want to keep that platform alive if all their mods and active posters are leaving
Show threadRejZoRJun 15, 2023
@raulv98 @dangillmor There is speculation they'll (Reddit) just remove the mods in biggest subs and reinstate their own and have them open again. Which is a likely scenario. I just wonder who's going to moderate it and when word will come out everything will just go to shit. If they think everything will be back to old are gravely mistaken.
Show threadraulvJun 15, 2023
@rejzor @dangillmor well good luck with that. I've read somewhere that Facebook pays something like 1mil people from India to moderate their content, whereas reddit was moderated for free
Show threadSome Other GuyJun 15, 2023
@dangillmor Lemmy is pretty darn cool, lot easier to adjust than mastodon. Lemmy.world is where I have ended up, but easay to filter sub / fedi / local / etc.
Show threadSome Other GuyJun 15, 2023
@dangillmor and I just read that beehaw is defed'n lemmy.world :-)
Show threadfreshkiwiJun 15, 2023
@dangillmor i also deleted it
Show threadThe Coog AbidesJun 15, 2023
@dangillmor the message is on the medium is the message is on the medium is the message is on the medium is the message is on the medium is the message
Show threadNickJun 15, 2023
@dangillmor I just hit 14 years on Reddit, but it's clear that yet another great project is being lost to corporate greed. I don't plan on going back, although I have a huge sense of disconnect.
Show threadFrostlikeJun 15, 2023
@dangillmor I will probably keep my Reddit account but I will also start to look into a decentralized platform
Show threadCloakerJun 15, 2023
@dangillmor the minute sync goes, my account will go. For now, I'm avoiding the site.
Show threadMilo KeiJun 15, 2023
@cloaker you've only got until the end of the month (unless they reduce the API cost). Apollo, RIF, bacon reader, Narwhal... the list goes on. They've all announced their imminent closure. Crying shame with sync as they finally (finally) updated their UI and it rocks on tablet - I love it.
Show threadCloakerJun 15, 2023
@milo bloody tragedy. Ive been using the beta for so long & its gorgeous. I'll be were disappointed if so.
Show threadMilo KeiJun 15, 2023
@cloaker Christian from Apollo had an impromptu AMA with Ryan from sync before the site went dark - such decent guys who genuinely do it for the right reasons. The convo was so wholesome
Show threadCloakerJun 15, 2023
@milo Oh, have a link?
Show threadMilo KeiJun 15, 2023
@cloaker Its dark there now. I tried yesterday. the subs private
Show threadCloakerJun 15, 2023
@milo ah, yep. Will probably stick to https://kbin.social now
kbin.social - Explore the Fediverse

Explore the Fediverse

Show threadMilo KeiJun 15, 2023
@cloaker *Sigh*
Show threadCyan MJun 15, 2023
@dangillmor Well, I'm out for now - and this has been on the way for a while. The mod support sub has been full of people struggling with unresponsive admin, abuse of 'reddit cares' reports, mushrooming bot accounts, being banned in preference to the trolls abusing them and being generally taken for obliging unpaid suckers. This has been an opportunity for the mods to display existing anger, as well as a flash point in its own right.
Show threadAral BalkanJun 15, 2023
@dangillmor Isn’t the “beyond arrogant” bit redundant?
Show threadGantSentinelJun 15, 2023
@dangillmor That is what I decided to do as well.
Show threadStefan SchollJun 15, 2023
@dangillmor Reddit is an archive of knowledge. That’s why it is frequently on top of Google search results. I doubt federated/distributed solutions have the money to store millions of 10 year old comments and posts.