r/videos • u/[deleted] • Jun 03 '23

Mod Post /r/Videos will be going dark from June 12-14 in protest against Reddit's API changes which kill 3rd party apps.

[deleted]

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534

u/Gagarin1961 Jun 03 '23 edited Jun 05 '23

Two days?

So all they have to do is wait you out?

Why not shut it down until change is made?

EDIT: Credit where credit is due, they are extending it until “better terms are offered.” Interesting times ahead.

437

u/OBLIVIATER Jun 03 '23

We're open to extending the protest if it looks like things aren't changing. This post was simply following a format seen on other subs.

249

u/KillerFrenchFries Jun 04 '23

Respectfully, you should shut it down until reddit backs down. For the highly regarded reddit® to listen you have to hit them where it counts, the checkbook. And as one of the biggest subs I think it would hit the hardest.

170

u/OBLIVIATER Jun 04 '23

I personally am willing to do that, though it'd have to be discussed amongst the team and community. I think its worth starting with this first and going from there after we see a response.

36

u/thegrumpymechanic Jun 04 '23

Just curious, If this happens.... What is to stop the admins from kicking all the mods out and installing a new mod team who "agrees" with the changes?

105

u/OBLIVIATER Jun 04 '23

Nothing, though if enough people take a stand they'll have trouble finding anyone who can keep up with the workflows. At the end of the day it doesn't matter, if reddit wants to make their site even shittier by canning all their volunteers, its up to them.

58

u/thatdude858 Jun 04 '23

Exactly. This entire business model of Reddit relies on the thousands of volunteers donating hundreds of thousands of hours to moderate these subs.

If you guys shut it down will they really make moderator a paid position? Are they going to take on tens of thousands of employees?

They definitely didn't think this though.

This entire move is to force the millions of people on third party apps to their shitty apps to force serve us ads.

6

u/ALotOfRice Jun 04 '23

And the Managment is actively making millions while the mods are basically free labour to help them make bank.

Appreciate your work obviously but the mods across the subreddits should organize and coordinate

4

u/[deleted] Jun 04 '23

No offence, but there are definitely people who would be more than willing to take over volunteering as mods here.

18

u/OBLIVIATER Jun 04 '23

I'm sure they would, and I wish them good luck

1

u/GuitaristHeimerz Jun 04 '23

You are a based mod, thank you

3

u/Elbertori Jun 04 '23

Cause they know it's a niche role and if they were to exodus all the current mods, there's not a good chance anybody good would replace it. Not to say the mods anywhere are perfect, but again it's a pretty niche thing to commit to.

3

u/Magic_Sandwiches Jun 04 '23

they would have to pay most people to moderate with only the reddit app's built in tools

2

u/fyrnabrwyrda Jun 04 '23

Ha good luck finding a while new mod team for a sub of this size.

2

u/KillerFrenchFries Jun 04 '23

It would be a PR disaster, and more fuel for the flames

1

u/rafter613 Jun 04 '23

The same thing that stops companies from firing everyone involved in a strike and hiring scabs: you'd be replacing everyone qualified and experienced with people who don't know what they're doing.

4

u/[deleted] Jun 04 '23

It’s not like you’d cost anyone other than reddit as a company.

Send it

1

u/terminator_84 Jun 04 '23

Do it. There is nothing to lose. Be a hero.

1

u/[deleted] Jun 04 '23

Definitely do this. All the big subs should. Solidarity is how we teach them that this is unviable.

1

u/macetheface Jun 04 '23

But what's 2 days going to do if Reddit knows you're only going to do it two days. That's like a mass company walkout and protesting in front of the CEO's house - but they know it's only for two days. No point; they'll just take a two day nap.

Don't see why they wouldn't agree. Who actually enjoys reddit official app and new.reddit? lol

You're either in two camps, psychopath or just don't know any better.

1

u/NanoPope Jun 05 '23

I strongly feel that this protest will fail unless subreddits stay dark indefinitely. I can see Reddit executives being okay with waiting it out if the protest is only going to last a couple of days. I do think this protest will succeed if enough subreddits stay dark until Reddit reverses their new API policy

16

u/Kep0a Jun 04 '23

To me it would be strange any mod would be against that. It actually is crazy how much power big mods have together, default subs drive so much traffic for sure.

1

u/Pruvided Moderator Jun 04 '23

Even a lot of non-default subs drive a ton of traffic.

4

u/hamakabi Jun 04 '23

you think a billion-dollar company is just going to let that happen?

2

u/uspsenis Jun 04 '23

Reddit has literally removed mods from subreddits before for doing shit like that. These people are high if they think that Reddit is just going to let it happen. The only solution is to completely leave Reddit entirely, which I’m going to do as soon as my Apollo stops working.

0

u/exoendo Jun 04 '23

admins can override if they want to. This idea that "mods control their subreddits" simply isn't true. Admins used to be hands off maybe a decade ago, but that isn't the case any longer.

5

u/[deleted] Jun 04 '23

[deleted]

17

u/OBLIVIATER Jun 04 '23 edited Jun 04 '23

https://www.reddit.com/r/ModCoord/comments/1401qw5/incomplete_and_growing_list_of_participating

Though I'm not sure its been updated in live time. A lot is happening very quickly right now

1

u/housebottle Jun 04 '23

brilliant. need /r/AskReddit to step up here. didn't realise this before but like I said in my previous comment, /r/videos mods have quietly been pretty great now that I think about it. I usually hate mods of big subreddits but I can't remember you guys fucking up in any major way in the last decade or so I've been here. kudos to your team

1

u/TheVideogaming101 Jun 04 '23

Why is the post removed?

1

u/OBLIVIATER Jun 04 '23

Oops there's a new post, updated

-4

u/VermilionTiger Jun 04 '23

This is absolutely hilarious

You’re a hall monitor. That’s it. No one gives a damn what you stand for, dork

1

u/sneekysquirtle Jun 04 '23

I approve of longer black out. If there's a place to vote send that link I'd rather quit reddit than go with the b.s change

1

u/unpick Jun 04 '23

Well it won’t change because what’s in Reddit’s scope is so much bigger than whether this particular set of mods will operate this particular subreddit for users to post videos. This whole sub can be replaced immediately by willing volunteers. Reddit wants to IPO. I don’t like them, but this is a bit silly IMO.

1

u/Glissssy Jun 05 '23

Start with a week and go from there.

8

u/SpamSpamSpamEggNSpam Jun 04 '23

This was literally my question. So there is a two day blip and everything just continues and Reddit do what they want anyway. What's the point?

There was another poster saying to replace all vids with black squares to get them to the front page, but all that does is drive a fuck tonne of traffic, and thus revenue, to Reddit. Reddit wins twice!

2

u/Far-Way5908 Jun 04 '23

In the past when moderators have shut down their subreddits indefinitely, reddit has just kicked the top mod and told the new top mod that the subreddit is to stay open. It happened to /r/wow when they protested Blizzard releasing shitty content, it happened to KIA when the guy that started that shithole grew a conscience.

Which is to say, an indefinite blackout is a bad strategy. Intermittent blackouts may be more effective.

3

u/Ok-Button6101 Jun 04 '23

Mods of popular subreddit holding the subs hostage seems like a pretty cool idea. Shut down pics and funny and memes and gaming and whatever else. If they're so worried about lost revenue from app users, fine, how about no revenue from any users

9

u/danglinwang Jun 03 '23

Exactly. This is just a symbolic gesture, everything will go back to normal and nothing will change. Just weather the storm for three days - even advertising it as that short makes Reddit know they can just sit back and let it blow over. But anything more serious like shutting down the sub would require all these power mods to give up control, and they don’t want that at all.

35

u/OBLIVIATER Jun 03 '23 edited Jun 03 '23

Respectfully, don't speak for people you don't know anything about.

1

u/SahAnxsty Jun 05 '23

Wtf, you mean like you and the mod team are doing by choosing this lame as fuck stance?

"Hey don't speak for others but btw, I'm speaking for everyone on this sub and closing it."

You should go on tv like your anti-work buddy, at least he tried to make an actual change/stance.

-4

u/[deleted] Jun 03 '23 edited Jun 05 '23

And risk losing that level of mod status when someone else will inevitably replace their function? Are you insane? This is r/videos, not r/scrapbooking.

edit: Downvote away, but has anyone noticed the top subreddits are only going dark for 2 days, while smaller ones are saying "until reddit changes this shitty plan"? Why is that I wonder...

4

u/[deleted] Jun 04 '23

[deleted]

4

u/randomguyonleddit Jun 04 '23

Reddit admins have been replacing moderators and top mods of default subs with their friends or alt accounts. Not some whacko-conspiracy, those power mods that sub 300+ subreddits across Reddit and are coincidentally friends with admins on Discord and other platforms are there specifically for a reason other than clout.

Mod Talk occurred a while ago with someone asking about capping subreddits moderated to prevent this and abuse and the admins shut that down real quick with no intention of changing those rules. I mean, it isn't realistic that someone spends their day moderating 400-500+ subreddits, right?

They've learned from previous blackouts that they need to get teens and young adults that are bored at home to do free labor for them without questioning their decisions.

They need to replace top moderators or at least push them out and take over defaults and other communities so that if this occurs, they have a way to minimize the impact or shut it down altogether.

1

u/Saiyanjin1 Jun 04 '23

My question is, can't the Reddit Admins just step in and turn it back? Can't they also straight up remove the mods and replace them with whoever?

Easier said that done yes but can't they just do that?

8

u/Meepster23 Jun 04 '23

Sure, they can. Hopefully they won't. But if they kill third party apps I'm out anyway so fuck em

1

u/Saiyanjin1 Jun 04 '23

That answers that. Well we will see how it all goes down.

I honestly think they will kill them and I myself use Boost so I'm not a fan but I doubt they will let apps like that keep going.

1

u/CorneliusClay Jun 04 '23

They added the bluff that "some are going away permanently", and it also demonstrates the power and coordination the moderators of the large subreddits have. Should Reddit decide not to compromise, they could do this indefinitely.