Third-party apps are shutting down, API pricing has arrived, and protesting mods are begrudgingly giving in. But at what cost?
After receiving a message from a Reddit admin on Thursday saying that its moderators were going to be replaced, Reddit’s Firefox community opened up from being private — but with a temporary new focus on an animal species instead of a web browser.
He shared some details about how he plans to keep his Reddit app alive, and I’ve updated my story with the context. Other popular apps, including Apollo and rif is fun for Reddit, will be shutting down tomorrow.
Moderators have been on edge after CEO Steve Huffman indicated the company might consider rules that would let users vote out moderators, but based on a message seen by The Verge, a Reddit admin (employee) says that no such tool exists and that is not on the company’s roadmap.
In the message, the admin points out that only other Reddit admins can remove a top moderator from a community, but the company’s goal is to “empower communities to navigate these kinds of changes with more autonomy.” The admin says that to do so, it will “be coming up with solutions collaboratively with the moderator community.”
Reddit has already run one experiment to let users give feedback to mods, according to the admin.
RIF, you’re quirky and rough around the edges, but you’ve always gotten the job done. You know how to get out of the way and show people the articles, discussions, pictures, and videos they came for.
You have the silliest name, but we love you all the more for it. RIF will always be fun in our hearts.
The app is set to shut down tomorrow.
[www.talklittle.com]
That’s a recent quote from Reddit’s VP of community, Laura Nestler. Here’s more of it:
Reddit cannot survive without its moderators. It cannot. It’s a symbiotic relationship. It’s giving up control. And when you do that, you’re able to say: here’s the value that they create. Here’s what they’re actually bringing to the table. And then there’s no question of whether or not they’re valuable.
This week, Reddit has been telling protesting moderators that if they keep their communities private, the company will take action against them. Any actions could happen as soon as this afternoon.
