Reddit Takes Control of Protesting Subreddits, Which Could Have a Big Impact on the App

Reddit has moved to the following stage of its countermeasures to finish the continued API pricing protests within the app, with the platform now taking control of the most important subreddit still holding out, which had been restricting access in response to Reddit’s changes.

As reported by The Verge, Reddit itself has now taken control of r/malefashionadvice, expelling its previous volunteer moderators as a way to re-open the community to outside users.

r/malefashionadvice, which has over 5 million members, is now in search of recent volunteer mods, with this note pinned to the highest of the group.

As you may see in this instance, the post was pinned by user ‘ModCodeofConduct’, which is the account that Reddit has used to take over a variety of protesting subreddits, as mods proceed to protest the platform’s API changes, which have priced many popular third-party apps out of the market.

Reddit has been threatening to take over communities that didn’t re-open and permit users and advertisers back in, which has further heightened tensions between its moderators and app management. That’s prompted many to launch recent communities on Discord as a substitute, which could have a big effect on Reddit usage, as more of its most passionate users shift to other platforms to proceed their groups.  

Really, it does feel like a line has now been crossed, and it’s unclear if or how the platform will find a way to get back to the ethos that it was founded upon.

Greater than some other social media platform, Reddit is built on its community, with volunteer moderators managing subreddits based on their passion for every, and their interest in keeping things running easily, and in alignment with each group’s rules and focus.

For a very long time, Reddit’s approach has been the envy of other platforms, with up and downvotes highlighting the very best content, as voted by users (versus algorithmically amplifying probably the most engaging content), and unpaid mods overseeing that feed, and keeping things on the proper track. The danger, after all, is that this also leaves Reddit heavily reliant on volunteer labor, which will not be sustainable, but nonetheless, it actually has been for the app’s 18 years of existence.

But now, it looks as if we’re at a crossroads in lots of respects, where Reddit might want to re-examine this approach, and consider, potentially, a brand new way forward. Sure, most subreddits are actually back up and running, however the incontrovertible fact that Reddit is now holding the specter of alternative over any mods that don’t comply with its rules significantly alters the dynamic, and will change Reddit itself without end.

Is that a foul thing? Perhaps not. Perhaps Reddit desired to force a change, as a part of its push to launch an IPO, with its reliance on volunteers potentially looming as a priority for investors. Now it could establish more definitive controls to minimize this concern, which may be in step with its broader moves to remove offensive subreddits and institute more control over activity within the app.

However it could also kill off the magic that Reddit has had, when it comes to that community ethos, that fraternal camaraderie that made it feel like a large group hangout, versus an AI system pumping out what it thinks you’ll like.

It looks like that may very well be an enormous shift. Now we wait for the following stage for the app.