It seems to me that Reddit is trying to heavily pivot to being an advertising platform, like Facebook and Google. It sort of makes sense, even though it seems to be the worst time for such a move (GDPR cookie law, Apple and Google and their "privacy labels", etc)
If this is the reason why they are killing off third party apps (now that they've stopped pretending they are), then it makes sense. They want to kill off third party apps to get people using their app so they can harvest data from them and then advertise heavily.
It also makes sense why their mobile website, despite visually being far better optimised for mobile viewing (unlike old.reddit.com), is so artificially broken and constantly asking users to download their app (if I had to guess, the app is easier to collect data as the native app has more "signals" than the browser version).
It also explains why they are implementing this change so quickly and not allowing third party apps to catch up (Reddit has their own app, they know the rules when it comes to IAP, and they know how difficult they are making these changes to third party app developers).
The big question is why all the drama??
Why not just shut off APIs for third party apps, full stop?? Why constantly make it about the Apollo app when it affects all* third party apps like Reddit is Fun, Sync for Reddit, narwhal for iOS etc??
Steve Huffman said before that these apps were using significant API resources and they were "inefficient" (implying lots of users use the app). Now he says that 95% of users use the Reddit app. Which is it????
Steve Huffman promised better moderation tools in his AMA. Why not deliver the tools now??
Why hasn't the official Reddit app improved its accessibility if Reddit wanted to capture a large audience in the first place (for ads and such - Facebook and Google hammer accessibility down devs skulls)??
Why all the lies?? Why change the story all the time???
This whole thing has been a comical shitstorm and could've been avoided had Steve Huffman been honest about the whole situation.
Despite being far from a baby, Reddit is still a very immature platform. The mobile app has major bugs that have persisted for years, the advertising is poorly targeted and executed, such as delivering whiskey ads on forums for alcoholics, and so unpopular that millions of users have chosen to use more functional third party apps.
However, Reddit has grown to the point where there are enough users to warrant an IPO, despite its immaturity. Investors will never buy something that they can't control, and that they can't clearly monetize. The subscription model is notoriously difficult for websites and social media platforms. So of course they are pushing ads.
Locking down API access gives them a controllable, saleable product. Even if it's inferior, even if it's bad for users, moderators, and the health of the internet, it's still more valuable to reddit.
@rabbinathan@rootfs In other words, they decided to attempt an IPO even though it doesn’t make sense for the business. They chose to put their own financial gain above the interests of the people they serve.
@baruch@rabbinathan@rootfs .... and ultimately, b/c users have LEARNED from Doctorow and previous events, their shutting down the APIs will (Darwin willing) shut down the business.
Late-stage enshittification. Death of the platform (or at least zombification) predicted. Like someone else's platform we know. :birdsite:
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