Camilo Payan’s Post

As I observe more about the feud between Reddit and its users, it only serves to reinforce an axiom (perhaps even a logical tautology?) I heard years ago, when Social Media first came on the scene: "When the product (or platform) is free, YOU ARE the product." The truth of this statement manifests itself in all kinds of different ways, so be aware. But I think this quote from a Reddit moderator illustrates one of the most frequent ways it applies: "While we're obviously aware that Reddit is a for-profit company, the recent weeks have made it very clear that Reddit is not a website that allows people to host communities for its members, but rather a company that allows people to maintain communities for them and for their profit." At the risk of sounding trite, my response to this moderator would be... "duh." Remember-- when the product (or platform) is free, YOU ARE the product. Conduct yourself accordingly. #caveatusor

We've seen numerous successful boycotts driven by a critical niche of users who understand their #power and stand in unison with one another. Reddit's moderators offer one example, but there are quite a few. Each case is formulaic, so let's define the #formula First, you need #experts in their field who genuinely value the opinions and contributions of their audience, like the #reddit moderators. Second, you need for these experts to be collectively irreplaceable, that is to say that you can replace one or two, but cannot replace an entire industry. Not only do reddit moderators provide an expert service, but they do so free of cost. They're expert #volunteers - the best kind Third, you need these folks to have a genuine #affinity for each other. Fourth, you have to break a core value of theirs, or a need, and act in a demeaning manner toward them, in order to start a #protest The reddit moderators understand how much volunteer #work goes into maintaining a #subreddit, and thus form an unseen kinship with their fellow moderators. So what was the spark? Quite a few moderators NEED third party aps to ensure the #growth of their subreddit. This isn't a want, it's a vital need. When reddit rolled out its #API pricing that's allegedly designed the kill third party apps, the subreddit moderators revolted. Where do we go from here? The #outcome was predictable from a mile away. When someone generously volunteers their time for your #company you have to make sure that they feel as #welcome as humanely possible, rather than taking away their tools. Reddit has two options: work together with the moderators in order to come up with a #plan to ensure the growth of the reddit #community or face a slow, yet inevitable decline

Reddit, Inc. is cooking their Golden Goose. At face, Reddit's 3rd Party App changes only impact a small minority of users, but those users are dramatically over-represented amongst the moderators who give millions of daily hours of free labor to the site. Moderators are losing access to crucial tools, compounding longstanding frictions and complaints of neglect by Reddit leadership. Thousands of subreddit moderators have changed their communities to be restricted or private, posting messages such as the one pictured below directing millions of users to competitor platforms such as Discord. Replacing the striking moderators is a non-starter. It would be impossible to do at this scale, in addition to shattering community trust+principles established over a decade. The subreddits protesting represent the site's most valuable content and recognizable subreddit domains such as r/science, r/music, r/funny, r/gaming, and r/aww. User metrics will nosedive today; it's hard to see how this doesn't force Reddit management to the bargaining table.

The ongoing "blackout" at Reddit is interesting to watch (subs are going dark in protest of Reddits apparent attempt to eliminate popular third party apps). Personally, I'm more surprised that third party apps are still around today at all, given than they don't deliver ads and compartmentalize the user base in ways that must be awkward. It feels natural given the evolution of Reddit. What's more interesting to me is the case that some of the subs are making — that Reddit relies on volunteer moderators (and content creators). Overall, it's interesting to watch as it shakes out and yet again highlights the inherent tension between profit motives and the way companies monetize online communities. It further illustrates a growing need for non-profit social media. Where are the open protocols, open source, foundation-backed, decentralized projects in this space? #socialmedia #reddit