Reddit isn't profitable, despite having more than 50 million daily active users. In preparation for an IPO, CEO Steve Huffman put the platform's API

Reddit isn’t profitable, despite having more than 50 million daily active users. In preparation for an IPO, CEO Steve Huffman put the platform’s API

  • Dark Arc@lemmy.worldEnglish
    166·
    1 year ago

    The funny thing is… for me it wasn’t even the API changes, it was how Steve reacted to the community feedback. If you need to make your app profitable that’s fine by me, but don’t ignore your customers so bluntly. They could’ve easily worked politely with devs to find an agreeable API price, find alternative funding streams for those devs, etc. They did none of that, instead Steve acted like a jerk.

    • 8ender@lemmy.worldEnglish
      56·
      1 year ago

      Honestly if they’d worked with the Apollo dev and he’d turned around and proposed something reasonable like $2 a month to continue using it I’d still be on Reddit.

      Treating Reddit users like shit, treating devs who have made their whole business about making Reddit better like shit, fucking with unpaid mods, and finally, this weird manifest destiny attitude that Reddit will succeed despite all of the above turned me to the Fediverse.

        • Maya@lemmy.fmhy.mlEnglish
          13·
          1 year ago

          Because that doesn’t kill the competition.

          I have been so spoiled by my 3pa I can’t even look at the old.wasit.com I just see

          Ad Post Post Ad Post Post Post Ad Next page.

          Idk how people put up with that.

        • wh3resmym1nd@lemmy.oneEnglish
          4·
          1 year ago

          Stil frustrates me. Being fair about why the business side needs it and then giving a time frame to devs to integrate with premium calls would have been the best option.

          There would have been some revolts because of it, but nothing like the last few weeks imo

            • wh3resmym1nd@lemmy.oneEnglish
              1·
              1 year ago

              Good point! It was not a given, but right now it seems like Reddit’s choices (and related events at Twitter/Meta) have been driving new platforms to emerge. I’m still incredibly suprised by the adoption of Lemmy and Kbin and especially the quaility and diversity of available apps for the platforms. It’s just really cool to see what people can do when they care about communitites of people coming together.

    • TheRealKuni@lemmy.worldEnglish
      43·
      1 year ago

      This precisely. It wasn’t about charging for the API. It was about charging an exorbitant amount for the API, giving devs a tiny amount of time to come up with a solution, and then belittling the user and moderator communities.

      I don’t want to be a part of a website that treats its own community with so much disdain and spite.

      • HakFoo@lemmy.sdf.orgEnglish
        2·
        1 year ago

        It oozed bad faith. I’m surprised they didn’t just say “API is dead, here’s a new different product” if they were really eager to charge LLM scrapers the moon for training data, or kill apps.

        I suspect someone in legal told them that would be a risk-- if they can’t farm out accessibility issues on third party apps anymore, I could see them having ADA compliance issues.

        It looks like they took the “constructive dismissal” model-- make it hostile enough that the “voluntarily” abandon the platform. Then it’s not Reddit’s fault all the apps left, and why they seemed to scramble to find a poster child “accessibility” app and give it a sweetheart deal, so they aren’t completely exposed.

    • SlowNoPoPo@lemm.eeEnglish
      20·
      1 year ago

      100%, I was mad about the api changes but realistically I would have stayed

      But seeing the interviews he gave was just too much. Especially when he was talking about monetizing people who say things on Reddit they wouldn’t say to their therapist. Like, that group specifically you want to milk? Fuck spez

      • Dark Arc@lemmy.worldEnglish
        14·
        1 year ago

        But seeing the interviews he gave was just too much. Especially when he was talking about monetizing people who say things on Reddit they wouldn’t say to their therapist. Like, that group specifically you want to milk?

        Wow, I actually hadn’t heard that 🤯 It seems believable based on his other behavior though. It’s honestly a shame, Reddit is a cool forum, but it’s kind of like a nice restaurant where you know the owners are just awful people… And that really just ruins the experience of being there.

    • gapbetweenus@feddit.deEnglish
      16·
      1 year ago

      The API change did not affect me personally, I use old reddit anyway, but the reaction showed that he will run this site into the ground since he just does not really get it or is extremely greedy and does not care.

    • littlecolt@lemm.eeEnglish
      14·
      1 year ago

      This is the business world in general. Consumers need to say to businesses in no uncertain terms that they cannot just do whatever they want and still remain profitable. Without users, there is no profit. Charging for the API would be completely acceptable and expected, but they decided to go the most cartoonishly villainous route possible. This is what a lot of companies are doing now. They have gotten far too used to the profits being free. We should teach them a lesson, collectively.

      I’m 43. I lived a good amount of my life without the Internet and even more of my life without smart phones. Even after gaining reliable Internet access, I remember the times when the Internet was not just a few big companies. I just rediscovered one of the old forums I used to hang out on is still operating. They have an active IRC channel as well. Don’t think we can’t go back, big tech. It would be so easy to go back. Don’t tempt me with a good time.

      • jscummy@sh.itjust.worksEnglish
        6·
        1 year ago

        Which is incredibly stupid and shortsighted. Third party developers have made the UX actually tolerable, and of course the users are the absolute cornerstone of the whole website

    • Fluffyb@lemmy.nzEnglish
      12·
      1 year ago

      I remember when reddit gold was there to pay server costs. There was a little bar on the side to show how much % was covered per day. I had it for quite awhile. But then I hit financial trouble and had to cancel. By the time I could afford to give back they got greedy and I couldn’t in good faith keep giving them money.

      Reddit could have been a non-profit like Wikipedia. But they wanted all the money.

    • Ketchup@reddthat.comEnglish
      8·
      1 year ago

      It’s so true! I’d still be on Reddit too. Social media is not that big of a deal in my life. I never imagined having my nerve struck so hard. That I’d delete a 11yr old account. Loosing Apollo definitely would have lowered the amount of time I would have spent on Reddit, but I changed comments, burned my accounts, and did a gdpr request, when I saw Spez’s AMA and he doubled down against Christian. And Christian easily provided the call recordings. That was so terrible. I don’t want to be anywhere near that.

      • Dark Arc@lemmy.worldEnglish
        5·
        1 year ago

        I still haven’t fully moved on from it. I’m not sure if I’ll delete my account or wipe my comments or not. I don’t think it really hurts much to actually have an account registered with them(?)

        There’s also a fair chance that I’ve answered some useful techal support, programming guidance, or career guidance questions on there that would be lost to the search engine gods if I wipe my account… And that seems not so great.

        • Ketchup@reddthat.comEnglish
          81·
          1 year ago

          I don’t think everyone needs to be so drastic. And helpful genuine answers on niche topics is how I found reddit in the first place. In a way, for me, reddit became a google alternative. I liked seeing a qualified discussion about something. Especially discussions about things that never feel trustworthy, from life, relationships or even product purchases. I always feel I can distill a conversation down to gain perspective. Lemmy will accomplish that, but it’s going to take time to build it.

          I can’t see myself “using” Reddit again. But it will be inescapable to visit the site when I just need a good answer to things from years ago that were arrived upon in some old thread. To me that’s reddits greatest value. What we all contributed. So I totally understand why you can’t so handedly throw it all away.

    • Haha@lemmy.worldEnglish
      6·
      1 year ago

      He thought he was invincible . He truly had a loyal following. He unnecessarily fucked it up. He could of had it all; everyone was in support until he decided to do what he did

    • TurretCorruption@lemmy.worldEnglish
      6·
      1 year ago

      All they had to do was charge relative to the value reddit is providing to said apps.

      Instead they gave the “fuck you” price and now theyre not getting any money for their api.

    • Historical_General@lemmy.worldEnglish
      23·
      1 year ago

      Yeah, we all see his extremely punchable face. Simultaneously blond and ginger and rat-like. It’s a big reason I’m off reddit.