https://www.theverge.com/2023/6/16/23763538/reddit-blackout-api-protest-mod-replacement-threat
Reddit is trying to turn mods against mods.
"We're not threatening you! We're just asking you to stab each other in the back... Much more civilized!"
Yeah, this is an abuser's rationale: "I'm only doing what I have to to maintain my comfort. You're the ones making me do ugly things like forcibly remove mods, steal their work, and commandeer the content made by other unpaid contributors. I wouldn't do this if you didn't force my hand. But you have, so here we are."
Compare this to, "Why do you make me so mad? You know how I get when I'm mad, I wouldn't hurt you if you knew when to stop."
This was some good doublespeak FTA.
“We have not threatened anyone,” Reddit spokesperson Tim Rathschmidt said in a statement to The Verge. “That’s not how we operate. Pressuring people is not our goal. We’re communicating expectations and how things work...."
Well then. potato really is pronounced potato then..
On Tuesday, an internal memo sent by Huffman seemed to minimize the protest and its potential impact on the company. “There’s a lot of noise with this one. Among the noisiest we’ve seen,” the note read. “Please know that our teams are on it, and like all blowups on Reddit, this one will pass as well.”
Wait...I thought it was a vocal minority. I mean i get its not a mutually exclusive argument, but still...
The note at the end is also interesting. They are basically starting with allowing a lower mod to "disagree with closure" and takeover as top mod before they scuttle an entire mod team and install their own scabs.
Was going to post that top quote as well, that's pretty rich. The equivalent of "It's not a threat, it's a promise".
After doubling down there's literally nothing that they could do that would bring me back. They've taken a hard stance that has exhausted any goodwill and made it plain to see they only see their users as dollar signs.
https://i.kym-cdn.com/photos/images/newsfeed/000/559/963/385.gif
When circumstances got bad, doublespeak has been the default way of communication from the higher-ups in most of the corporate environments I could witness. They are used to people who put up with their nonsense because they have no other real choice. Fortunately, on the internet people do have a choice.
The protest does not matter and will blow over by itself. Also remove the moderators of the blackout subs because, the protest is definitely not affecting reddit what so ever.
But it makes sense, in corporate world the chef is used to be able to tell bullshit and not being called out since people want to keep their jobs.
They are also restoring comments. I regularly wipe my comments and noticed I have comments from 1+ month ago re-appearing.
Just a reminder that things rarely actually get deleted in the software world. Instead a flag is flipped to is_deleted=true
This sounds like something they could get in trouble for. How do we get them in trouble for it?
Summoning your GDPR rights if you live in the EU (right to deletion and right to forgetting IIRC).
In order for them to get in trouble over that your comments need to contain personal information or hints to identify you.
I'm considering dropping some hints and minor personal information in comments, then requesting a GDPR wipe and if they're still there after thirty days sue then for GDPR violation.
If they'd need to delete all comments of leavers Reddit would be such an empty place.
Yep, they've restored mine twice now. It's important to not delete your Reddit account because they aren't restoring those. If you want to nuke your comments, you have to keep your account open so you can keep deleting them. If nothing else, make them pay server fees for this bullshit.
I overwrote each comment with "Fuck u/spez" before deleting them using PowerDeleteSuite. That way, if they were to restore my comments, it'd be autoremoved right away on most subs.
People are seeing that get reverted too, according to several reports on Mastodon. It's reverting back to old versions of posts, comments, etc.
I'm sure they are just restoring from backup, which is why editing isn't working anymore
I've Power Delete Suite'd mine three times; ca. 500 the first time, 800 the 2nd (!) which was this morning, then I tried later, and only 81 the 3rd. Now my account "only" shows 9. Dunno how much overlap there is in all that.
Really glad to have deleted my account on that dreadful site. A bunch of dipshit paper producers thinking that paper sells books when books sell books. If no one uses your paper, then it's pointless.
well thats noble....
Saying to work with third party apps, but going full ballistic on Christian. Saying not to threaten mods and starting to threaten mods. Calling the API revenue small but appearently big enough to hike prices. Saying that Reddit is community driven but not listening to the community.
It's kind of impressive how tone deaf every action is that the Reddit CEO and his team has taken in the last week.
SPEZ is destroying the site with his pronouncements. I think that is his intent. It would be so easy to cooperate with everyone but instead he has set out to annoy and insult the people that make Reddit a community of people that want to stay informed and that want to inform others with their knowledge. It boggles my mind that he is acting similarly to a Trump or just a powerless dictator. It is appalling and unbelievable at the same time.
Nah, he is just a rich narcissist. My pet theory is that he thinks he can bully his way out without repercussions and that he sees himself as cunning while the whole userbase is a herd of sheep to be tamed into submission.
Well honestly, I think he’s mostly going to get away with it. There will be some repercussions, but Reddit won’t be shut down and the normies that stick around will probably actually be the more profitable less tech-savvy users. Sure it will change the culture of the site and many long-time users will leave, but there will be others to fill that void over time. The enshitification process will continue, but the masses won’t really care.
“Guys this is a democracy I promise. Just do your jobs and don’t complain, speak out, or vote against anything we say. You guys totally still are stakeholders in this platform though. Please volunteer more of your time so we can monetize your free content. Thanks!” - Reddit Admins
Aye, it seems like a dumb thing to say out loud rather than just do. That said, they've been saying a lot of dumb things lately.
I think the goal is just to get a giant payout from Microsoft and open ai and who cares what happens before, during, and after that.
Absolutely I think this is the end goal. They've accidentally discovered something that might actually give them value to investors (training AI) and they want to lock down that value so they can finally IPO, get rich and live happily ever after.
As much as I hate reddit right now, I have a hard time seeing the problem with any of this. I supported the blackouts. I think they were successful in getting the message out. Mods are volunteers, and I hold many of them in high esteem. (Just not the nutty power mods) But they don't "own" the subreddits, in my opinion. They are stewards of them.
The users are the ones who made the communities what they are. If they want their subreddits back, and the mods are the only ones saying it should stay closed, then remove the mods that are refusing to re-open. I don't see how that's a problem.
Even if only a minority of users want the sub reopened, do it. If they want to continue to participate the community they've been using for years, who is anyone else to say they can't? It'd be like half of a football team saying they don't want to play anymore and then saying the other half can't play amymore either. That's nonsense.
People who don't want to use the subreddit can just... unsubscribe and not use it. Delete their account. I do fully support users deleting their own contributions, and I think it's super crappy that comments are being undeleted.
I don't get why people are saying that this notice is a threat. It's just a statement of what is going to happen. If users want their subreddit back, remove the mods and restore the sub. I just don't see mods as "owners" of subreddits. They set the tone, they set the rules, and they enforce the rules, but all of that should always be with the consent of the governed.
It's clear the reddit admins don't care about, well, much of anything. They themselves are bad steward of the site they created. I'm sad to see it go the way it's going. I spent a lot of years there. But I'm here now, and hopefully Lemmy will thrive and be a better version of what reddit tried to be.
