Reddit outage may cause a decrease in moderator power

Since last Monday (12), the so-called “Blackout of Reddit” has yet to make any impact on the platform, but may have served to strengthen the company’s position to keep up with changes in the price structure of the site’s API. As a result, some third-party applications, such as The popular Apollo for iOS and RIF for Android should be turned off.

Blackout is an arm-wrestling match between the thousands of subreddits that remain private or restricted, and the site’s direction, which on June 5 announced a fee collection for developers. demanding higher usage limits for third-party apps.

“I think it’s time for us to grow up and act like a grown company,” CEO Steve Huffman told the NPR website. According to the manager, these people are angry at the changes “because they were getting things for free and now it won’t be free”he repeated.

See also: User protest toppled Reddit; to understand

What is Reddit looking for?

Read more: Reddit ‘blackouts’ to protest API access fee

Contrary to, or even against, the expectations of the blackout leaders, Huffman said. NBC What It aims to change the rules of the site to facilitate the removal of moderators. The idea is that casual users can vote for moderators if their decision isn’t popular.

For long-time moderators who are used to having great influence on the platform, the move is seen as a threat to the current power dynamic.

However, one factor Reddit should consider is the reaction of advertisers. advertising week, at least it has already started pausing ads while the blackout continues. And while Huffman assures the company’s revenues aren’t affected, the situation could get worse. if the protest continues in communities that care about those who actually pay to view ads.