Paul Haddad Jun 15, 2023
Now saying all the quiet parts out loud.
https://www.theverge.com/2023/6/15/23762501/reddit-ceo-steve-huffman-interview-protests-blackout
Reddit CEO Steve Huffman: Reddit ‘was never designed to support third-party apps’

Reddit CEO Steve Huffman tells The Verge that he’s fine that some of Reddit’s most-beloved third-party apps are shutting down, claiming they didn’t add value to the platform and were “subsidized” by other users.

The Verge
Show threadPaul Haddad Jun 15, 2023
Reddit is now the perfect example of Crab Mentality.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ipg4EL_JUyE
The Boondocks Hateocracy - Crabs

YouTube
Show threadPaul Haddad Jun 16, 2023
This guy is really unhinged.
https://www.theverge.com/2023/6/15/23762868/reddit-ceo-steve-huffman-interview
Reddit CEO Steve Huffman isn’t backing down: our full interview

We interviewed Reddit CEO Steve Huffman about the widespread unrest on the platform in response to its forthcoming API changes.

The Verge
Show threadPaul Haddad Jun 16, 2023

These statements are contradictory to me. You can't say you are charging what it costs and you are trying to only charge $1/user. Doesn't add up.

"What they didn’t like is the price, but the price is the price. It just happens to be expensive to run an app like Reddit.”

"Like we try to charge so it works out to about $1 per user per month for reasonable API usage”

Show threadPaul Haddad Jun 16, 2023
But hey they are willing to work with developers as long as there are no changes to the pricing or arbitary deadline.
Show threadPaul Haddad Jun 16, 2023
Huffman is right, no one should subsidize a business for free. Weird though I can't seem to find the statement where Reddit announced that they are going to start paying moderator and content creators…
Show threadPaul Haddad 
Reddit is working hard with them 3rd party developers just don’t know why they don’t want to work with Reddit.
https://www.theverge.com/2023/6/16/23763661/reddit-rif-is-fun-developer-ceo-steve-huffman
RIF developer counters Reddit CEO’s claims that he didn’t want to work with Reddit

Reddit CEO Steve Huffman said that the developer of rif is fun for Reddit (RIF) did not want to work with Reddit on the company’s planned API pricing changes. However, the developer, Andrew Shu, tells me that’s not the case.

The Verge
Jun 16, 2023 at 8:58pmWeb
Show threadPaul Haddad Jun 16, 2023
Imagine looking at Twitter as an example of what to do.
https://www.nbcnews.com/tech/tech-news/reddit-blackout-protest-private-ceo-elon-musk-huffman-rcna89700
Reddit CEO praises Elon Musk as protests rock platform

Twitter owner Elon Musk may have had an influence on Reddit’s CEO ahead of changes to the website that have resulted in a user-led rebellion on the platform.

NBC News
Show threadPaul Haddad Jun 16, 2023
I've read this bit a few times. It sounds to me like Huffman thinks individual Reddit 3rd party clients are making millions a year. That's absolutely not the case. Is anyone else parsing his comments the same way?
Show threadPaul Haddad Jun 16, 2023

Here's what I think is happening. Christian has stated about 50k subscribers. I 100% believe this, its right in the range I'd expect.

Huffman is probably looking at the MAU figures for Apollo users, which is I'd guess in the ~700k range. Probably also taking the most recent subscription price and straight up multiplying (ignoring Apple fees and foreign taxes). Just sitting there assuming that Apollo's profit is $7-9M/year which is easily 10x what it probably is.

Show threadsirshannonJun 16, 2023
@paul “don’t worry about his stated numbers, I have a higher guess.”
Show threadC SawulaJun 16, 2023
@paul my favorite part of this debacle is Huffman repeatedly demonstrating to anyone who will listen that he has no idea what he’s talking about with his *own* company
Show threadfedward Jun 16, 2023
@paul It’s fascinating to watch somebody be so publicly bad at math. Or business. Or both. And then keep digging in when people try to understand where he’s going wrong.
Show threadPat TrudeauJun 16, 2023
@paul this new found hostility toward developers - folks like yourself that justify and create value of these properties - is alarming. At best, these egomaniacal troglodytes are destroying long standing dev relations AND the value of the very product they’re tasked with “saving”. Irrelevance is far more costly to these company’s bottom lines than openness to devs. Mind blowing.
Show threadSimon HarperJun 16, 2023
@paul Again, why open up an API for 3rd parties and then complain if they do #Reddit’s job better from a user experience point of view? Either build a better native experience, or shut the frack up. Cc SpaceKaren
Show threadtikitakiJun 17, 2023

@simonharper @paul the user experience has nothing to do with it. They just want the ability to data harvest, the ability to shovel everyone into the inevitable new future "features" (like a tiktok short videos reel), and pump up the # of downloads on their app before their IPO

They could make a shitty app but if it's the only thing new redditors have ever known.. they don't know any better. We've reached the point where majority of redditors are new and haven't been on for 10+ years

Show threadSimon HarperJun 17, 2023
@takishan @paul yup!
Show threadIvan PavlovJun 16, 2023

@paul I am really not sure what difference does it make. If Huffman wanted to just have a fair share of Appllo’s profit, he would have introduced a reasonable price with a longer transition period.

I feel like this is a personal decision that has little to do with the business side of things. He just wants to kill 3rd party apps like Elon did.

Show threadBenJun 17, 2023
@ivanpavlov @paul This seems really insightful. Which is why he’s so bad at explaining the strategy… he doesn’t have one.
Show threadEddiKatJun 16, 2023
@paul also a lot of Apollo users probably had lifetime membership. I know I did.
Show threadScott.Jun 17, 2023
@EddiKat @paul I did also and I think I’d be willing to pay the Reddit app tax. If it was reasonable.
Show threadEddiKatJun 17, 2023
@maxburn @paul Same, but it complicates the math since some unknown percentage of Apollo users are not paying a monthly fee.
Show threadScott.Jun 17, 2023
@EddiKat you don’t pay the API fee you don’t get to use it, that one is on Reddit.
Show threadBenRiceMJun 16, 2023
@paul did Huffman conflate Apollo subscribers with Apollo users..?
Show threadPaul Haddad Jun 16, 2023
@BenRiceM that's what I’m wondering too.
Show threadSteveJun 16, 2023
@paul @BenRiceM it’s almost guaranteed that he’s conflating the 2. “Oh if you have the app you must be a subscriber”
Show threadRevJeberJun 16, 2023
@BenRiceM @paul
They could have. I think that same confusion happened on ATP.
Show threadJon_AlperJun 16, 2023
@paul That was how I read it and it struck me as absurd.
Show threadPhilip BrechlerJun 16, 2023
@paul That’s 100% how I am ready it
Show threadThe Amazing SneakernetJun 16, 2023
@paul it seems like he thinks that the 3rd party apps are collecting telemetry data and other information to sell to advertisers while bypassing Reddit’s ad system using their free api.
Show threadDJDarrenJun 16, 2023
@paul Yeah, that's 100% how I read it, and almost certainly how he meant it, because he's a prick.
Show threadLars Jun 16, 2023
@paul It is infuriating how much of a massive piece of shit Huffman is.
Show threadashJun 16, 2023
@paul if i was an investor or a potential investor, i would ask him how can some devs who are a 1-2 man show, make millions, and they are struggling? Is reddit’s business model & design that bad?
Show threadElliotJun 16, 2023
@paul same!
Show threadJay PJun 16, 2023
@paul Clearly he doesn't understand that most users aren't subscribing to the client apps
Show threadPaul KleinschmidtJun 16, 2023
@paul this is absolutely how it reads. Head in the sand.
Show threadDylanJun 16, 2023
@paul I’d be willing to buy that Apollo does over 1m in revenue. But that does not equate to making him “millions”. Right off the bat there’s the App Store tax. No way any of these guys are taking home “millions” after all the expenses, which is exactly where Reddit is at too?
Show threadPete MorrisJun 16, 2023
@paul Huffman has repeatedly put out confused data points in an attempt to support his decisions. It’s hard to know whether it’s dishonesty or incompetence.
Show threadhagenJun 16, 2023
@paul but even if it was true – with apple’s 30 % cut and the 20 million reddit now wants for the api the apps would need to make tens of millions of dollars if not more to be profitable.
Show threadan actual dogJun 16, 2023
@paul even if they were it's insane that he's that jealous, Reddit is huge!
Show threadSloan StudioJun 16, 2023
@paul If your goal is to destroy your brand and lose majority of advertisers…
Show threadbackyardagrarianJun 18, 2023
@SloanStudio @paul it’s not. It’s fascism and total control of thd global conversation.
Show threadSloan StudioJun 18, 2023
@lizbrownmorgan @paul Both may be true…
Show threadKelly GuimontJun 16, 2023
@paul I'd like to thank /r/spez for confirming what most people suspected once he started down a now familiar road...
Show threadpaulJun 16, 2023
@Verso @paul
Show threadBernie Hofley Jun 16, 2023
@paul if you’re looking to blow up your service/product, I could find no better example than Musk’s approach with Twitter.
Show threadDoney den OudenJun 16, 2023
@paul Literally went "hold my beer"
Show threadGeekpulp Jun 16, 2023
@paul someone wants to be acquired and he knows just the guy to do it…
Show threadJan AdriaenssensJun 16, 2023
@paul Disconnecting the tools that are being used by the people who provide *free content* to your site. What can go wrong?
Show threadMike BeasleyJun 16, 2023
@paul he looks like a guy who would look up to elon musk
Show threadJonathan PolleyJun 16, 2023
@paul I definitely want to invest in a company whose leadership thinks Musk’s Twitter is something to emulate.
Show threadElias FoxJun 16, 2023
@paul is Reddit going to get evicted from their offices then?
Show threadBrennan StehlingJun 16, 2023
@paul The fact that Twitter became so hostile to 3rd party apps years ago should disqualify it as a model to follow. I’d like to see apps pivot just like you’ve done with @ivory to a decentralized alternative. #Reddit
Show threadThom McGrathJun 16, 2023
@paul Every day I lose a little more hope that some kind of middle ground will be found. I hate Musk even more now.
Show threadJanek @ IndieDev.siteJun 16, 2023
@tekcor @paul Yeah with this article I think we are done here. The guy is absolutely deranged.
Show threadChris AdamsonJun 16, 2023
@paul Once again, I have to wonder: is this some kind of Brewster’s Millions scenario, where if he blows $200 million, he wins $2 billion? #RedditBlackout
Show threadVirginia S. O'PossumJun 16, 2023
@invalidname @paul I was thinking more "The Producers," but same diff.
Show threadDon WhitesideJun 16, 2023
@paul it’s a superb demonstration of the fact that SV CEOs view stroking their own egos as the #1 priority of their businesses. Fewer advertisers? Lower trust? Increased downtimes? Sure, but did the top dog get a lot of column inches and praise from other CEOs? Then it’s a win!
Show threadGeorge Liquor, AmericanJun 16, 2023
@paul Just goes to show that these hyper-privileged shit-heads are NOT our friends, and their platforms are not there for our benefit at all
Show threadSasha Göbbels 🐿️Jun 16, 2023
@paul @leobm "Elon Musk is a stupid person's idea of what a smart person looks like" 🤷‍♀️
Show threadAntonJun 17, 2023
@sashag @paul @leobm sounds to me like chatgpt.
Show threadRamón 🇨🇴Jun 16, 2023
@paul this is the perfect platform to share this article in. I was wondering when we were going to find this out.
Show threadMahmoud AzJun 16, 2023

@paul Now it's all making sense, His stupid and arrogant actions to his BS statements.

Steve is very attached to Uncle Musk 🤣 🤣 🤣

Show threadEarthy TonezJun 16, 2023
@paul This may explain some things https://www.nbcnews.com/tech/tech-news/reddit-blackout-protest-private-ceo-elon-musk-huffman-rcna89700
Reddit CEO praises Elon Musk as protests rock platform

Twitter owner Elon Musk may have had an influence on Reddit’s CEO ahead of changes to the website that have resulted in a user-led rebellion on the platform.

NBC News
Show threadLars Jun 16, 2023
@paul It’s pretty clear at this point that Reddit is not even trying to work with developers. They’re only saying they are to hide the fact they want 100% of users to access Reddit via their app or their site so they can decide what to show users. Targeted ads, targeted posts, etc. Things they can’t control via third-party apps.
Show threadSemmelstulleJun 16, 2023
@paul I just hope they get fricked over the GDPR breach by actually NOT deleting data (of EU citizens) and even RESTORE stuff. And we know the EU loves huge amounts of money because companies just shrug and go on,
Show threadPatrick HillsJun 16, 2023
@paul I agree, you know, it's just so unknowable. These freeloading devs driving users and engagement on their platform. The gall.