- cross-posted to:
- reddit@lemmy.world
- cross-posted to:
- reddit@lemmy.world
The last major holdouts in the protest against Reddit’s API pricing relented, abandoning the so-called “John Oliver rules” which only allowed posts featuring the TV host. The article describes it as “the official end of the battle,” which seems an overstatement to me, but it’s the certainly the end of the initial phase.
Did Reddit win? Time will tell!
Really? Reddit retained about 98% of its users and gained full control of the app market. I’d call that a success for them. They got exactly what they wanted.
They solidified the establishment of competing services (kbin, Lemmy). Many of us would’ve never even considered using them otherwise. It may not have hurt them a ton in the short term, but they’ve helped set up their competition.
The users aren’t the value in reddit, it’s the content creators and savvy community members that respond to questions and leave useful content in their own right. Reddit lost a number of those, and those users are forming the nucleus of their demise.
I would argue it doesn’t matter if they go extinct. What is important is the non-market decentralized alternative. It is the only refuge and defense against enclosure and what can be called platform-feudalism.
For markets and free expression to exist we need a fediverse, a world where the average person and small proprietors can prosper instead of being exploited.
A large enough non-market alternative keeps the excesses of concentrated power in check.
I’d also say the brand reputation has taken a pretty decent hit with their awful handling of the situation. With an upcoming IPO you think they would have handled it carefully but they just seemingly YOLO’d it