After a 48-hour blackout by Reddit communities, also known as subreddits, the social media platform’s CEO Steve Huffman agreed to end the protests, urging protesters to take the first step.
During an interview, Huffman said he plans to “instate rules changes that will allow Reddit users to vote for moderators who have moderated protests.”
Protests led by subreddits began on Monday as large communities with millions of followers on Reddit closed their doors even to their own members, vowing to take some unspecified action.
The subreddits, unpaid volunteer moderators, responded to Reddit’s announcement with some demands focused on the platform’s application programming interface (API), accessibility for the blind, and access to content deemed inappropriate for work (NSFW). .
Reddit is one of the 20 most popular social platforms that was founded in 2005.
The changes, previously announced by the social media platform, will introduce hefty charges for “premium access”, effectively killing off popular third-party Reddit apps like Apollo, which provide users with customizable interfaces. Lets you browse the site.
Apollo’s sole developer, Christian Selig, estimates such apps would need to charge a user about $5 just to pay Reddit the new fee.
But another reason for the Reddit controversy is between the social network and AI companies like ChatGPT creator OpenAI, which has used huge data from the service to train its systems.
Huffman, who is also a co-founder of Reddit, said the new system would be more democratic and allow a wider group of people to hold administrators accountable.”
According to Reddit’s current policy, moderators may be removed by higher-ranking moderators or by Reddit itself for inactivity or violation of Reddit-wide rules. They can also remove themselves. They have held their positions for many years.
“If you’re a politician or a business owner, you’re accountable to your constituents,” he said.
One change that’s “really important,” he said, “is to make sure that, for example, the protests, now or in the future, are actually representative of their communities. And I think this week’s This may have been the case for many in the beginning, but over time this is becoming less and less the case.”
About 80% of Reddit’s top 5,000 communities have reopened after what was supposed to be a two-day content strike on Monday and Tuesday, he said.
But moderators of some of the biggest subreddits — including the most populous, r/funny — have stepped up their protest by remaining inaccessible in “private” mode.
“Our core concerns remain unsatisfied,” protest organizers wrote this week in a post titled “The Fight Continues,” explaining their extension.
“Reddit has been quiet since launch, and internal memos indicate they think they can wait us out.”
“I think most will get there through their natural decision-making process, and so we’re letting it play out,” he said.
Huffman also said Reddit is not profitable, and in an interview Thursday, he said it has less than $1 billion in annual revenue.
He added that he has no sympathy for competing apps that want to use Reddit content while avoiding advertising, which is the main source of money used to support the site.
“It costs a lot of money to run an app like Reddit. We support ourselves with advertising. And what we can’t do is subsidize other people’s businesses to run a competing app for free,” he said. .
