Before all the company astroturfing and corporate money flooded in, Reddit was a truly astounding corner of the internet. Although there were definitely some unsavory (and downright illegal and immoral) subreddits (including the incredibly gross /r/jailbait — yes, exactly what you’re thinking — which was once moderated by the current Reddit CEO, Steve Huffman) it was one of those places online that until recently still had the early Wild West feel that the internet was famous for in the nineties and early oughts. Co-founder Aaron Schwartz (who tragically took his own life after being hounded by various governmental organizations for the crime of trying to make academic papers accessible to all) was a big believer in an open and accessible net, and that informed the website’s ethos as much as anything else.
Nowadays, however, things are changing for what many believe to be the worse. The most recent example of this is the fact the company is going to start charging developers to access its API (application programming interface). As a result of these changes, many subreddits have “gone dark,” and it appears the servers are also struggling, as there are numerous reports that the rest of the website keeps crashing for countless users across the globe.
In practice, the API changes mean that developers who have made alternative smartphone apps for those who don’t like or want to use the official Reddit app will now have to start paying for the privilege of accessing Reddit’s databases to provide information to their users. One of the main organizations who’ll be negatively affected by this change is Apollo, who’ve made the claim that they’ll be charged more than $20 million per year at the rates they’ve been quoted. In a statement on their subreddit, they claimed that every 1,000 API calls (one call being a request to the Reddit server for information) would cost $0.24. Reddit has said that savings can be made by third-party groups if they become more “efficient” with their calls, although no example of how this is possible has been put forward by the site.
Of course, if Reddit had always had an app, then the countless people who’ve become used to using services like RedditIsFun or AlienBlue wouldn’t be affected. However, despite being one of the most popular pages on the web, (and a website full of self-professed computer nerds) Reddit only produced their own app in 2016, meaning that plenty of users who became used to using third-party apps will now be deprived of that option as the companies that provide them are unable to take on the new costs. Moreover, a large amount of Reddit’s infrastructure has historically been provided by third-parties, so the fact that some are now having the rug pulled out from underneath them is particularly jarring to those who’ve put time and effort into making the site usable.
It’s not just about ease of use for those who don’t like the official app, either; by using a third-party app, users who aren’t keen on new Reddit updates are shielded from changes, especially from an aesthetic and user interface purpose. There are also questions around access for those with disabilities, as many apps are specifically designed to help those with issues like vision impairment. However, as of June 30, it seems a large number of these beloved apps will be forced to shut down.
The charges aren’t solely the reason for the protest, either. The fact that they were introduced and are to be implemented so quickly means that companies who may have accepted having to pay to access Reddit’s database can’t plan to increase their income to cover the new outgoings. So, aside from costing more in general, it’s also a sharp rise over a short period of time, effectively killing these developers.
As a result of all of this, hundreds of different subreddits, including some of the most popular ones, have gone dark today. These include /r/soccer, /r/gaming, /r/harrypotter, and many more. Three of the largest subreddits that have gone offline (/r/gaming, /r/TodayILearned, and /r/music) have more than 100 million members collectively, so it’s not exactly a small percentage of dedicated advocates who are causing a stir. Some have said they’ll be dark for 48 hours, whereas others have committed to staying offline until Reddit reverses the changes. When users try to access these subreddits, they’re met by a message explaining why the groups are now private.
For its entire lifespan as a website, Reddit has relied on users moderating the largest subreddits for free. If they lose that free labor pool, there’s no telling what could happen to the self-proclaimed “Front Page of the Internet.” So, the fact that there’s such a large- scale commitment to protesting these changes should give the social media company pause. Add in that the site is suffering from outages today, and you have another string in the bow of the protestors.
Many of the subreddits that have gone offline only did so after consulting with their members, and generally speaking an overwhelming number of these communities voted to protest the planned changes. Some, like /r/music, even told users to directly contact Reddit with their concerns, to add to their impact of going offline.
Reddit has tried to fight back in the press, claiming that third-party apps that focus on accessibility will be exempt from the pricing changes — but only if they’re nonprofit. It has also said that the platform needs to be “fairly paid.” In a statement to Sky News, the company added:
“Expansive access to data has impact and costs involved; we spend multi-millions of dollars on hosting fees and Reddit needs to be fairly paid to continue supporting high-usage third-party apps. Our pricing is based on usage levels that we measure to be comparable to our own costs.”
They also confirmed that access would remain free for moderator tools and bots, which provide a vital backbone for Reddit’s systems. Their statement concluded with the following:
“We’re committed to fostering a safe and responsible developer ecosystem around Reddit – developers and third-party apps can make Reddit better and do so in a sustainable and mutually-beneficial partnership, while also keeping our users and data safe.”
It is uncertain whether the outages the website is suffering from today are connected to the ongoing protests by various subreddits, but the two do appear to be linked.
For now, neither side seems to be backing down. So, if you want to procrastinate today, maybe try TikTok.
