Thousands of popular subreddits joined the Reddit boycott from June 12 – 14 in response to planned changes to the Reddit API.
Reddit laid out its vision for the future of the Reddit API in April, which included implementing a premium pricing structure to access it.
These changes could ruin third-party apps users rely on for a valuable Reddit experience, such as those moderators use to keep subreddits safe for members.
Sending A Message To Save Third-Party Apps
In a post from r/Save3rdPartyApps, moderators listed their demands, alternative communities to join, a list of participating subreddits, and directions on how to make your subreddit private.
The demands for Reddit to consider regarding the API included the following:
- Allow third-party apps to run their ads and provide a revenue share model to make them sustainable. This includes bringing API pricing down and giving apps time to adjust.
- Improve the Reddit API by adding features like image uploads, chat, notifications, and increasing rate limits.
- Better communicate and consult with disabled communities. The changes negatively impact accessibility apps for blind users. Clarify how accessibility exemptions are granted.
- Compensate developers of accessibility apps that provide an alternative to Reddit’s inaccessible official app.
- Allow third-party apps access to NSFW content as long as they implement appropriate age verification and moderation systems. Reddit currently only allows this in their official apps.
According to a post from r/ModCoord, over 28k moderators from almost 8k subreddits are participating. Some communities, like r/Science and r/todayilearned, have over 30 million members each.
Subreddits, including r/bigSEO, displayed messages like the following to let members know what was happening. John Mueller, Google Search Analyst, commented supporting the protest and called Reddit’s pricing and communication about the API changes “disappointing.”
Subreddit moderators posted bulletins to their Reddit communities, websites, and other social platforms to state their intent to support third-party apps.
I moderate the /r/reactjs subreddit. I just posted an announcement that we’ll be shutting down the sub June 12-14 to join the protest against Reddit’s API pricing changes and killing of 3rd-party apps:https://t.co/ISmKo33WFb