There’s an added cog in the machine here. Every time someone tries (and succeeds) in explaining the issues, the astroturfing (or just regular bootlicking) begins and suddenly there’s seeds of doubt.
I am seeing many users (especially those who haven't been around for as long) asking people what the big deal is and why their favorite subreddits are down. Half of the people trying to respond aren't giving these people satisfactory and succinct answers. The protest is breaking down as soon as it began.
It was business as usual on some of the subreddits I post on a lot (e.g., /r/credibledefense, /r/historywhatif). Those never shut down. But other ones where they re-opened, there's a bit of debate going on about whether or not to stay shut down or not. At least on the subs I visit and post on, most people are in favor of keeping the subs open.
I think the real issue is that the protest coordinators were not able to succinctly explain why they had to protest to begin with. Charging third party app developers for API access is an esoteric topic. Most people don't even know what an API is. Most people don't use third party apps. Most people also don't care.
Instant Pots are amazing if you cooked every single day, but when I started meal prepping, I stopped using mine as much. Instant Pots aren't great for meal prepping, their capacities are too small.
IDK I also see plenty of posts supporting keeping subs closed too. I doubt a lot of people have left the site for good. But those voices are generally outnumbered by people who don't understand what's going on or don't care about the protest.
Don't get me wrong... Lemmy is fine, but I am finding that most of the active posts here are about the protest on Reddit... plus a few discussions on current news and gaming... but little else. I am still spending most of my time on Reddit.
On many subreddits that have polls, it seems like a majority favor keeping their subs open. It seems like the userbase is generally ambivalent or even hostile towards the protest at large.
Lol I'm posting on both here and Reddit. I'm kind of enjoying the drama even though I don't have a strong opinion about the API controversy personally.
Yeah I don't have a strong opinion about whole API access controversy but it does spark a greater debate about how we let centralized services like Reddit subsume the Internet forum culture of old. Of course, Reddit in many ways is a superior product to the decentralized forums of old (you only need one account to post) but at the same time, this whole protest has proven especially damaging to people who rely heavily on Reddit as a resource for support (like the mental health subreddits, the chronic disease ones, etc.).
My sister is 30 and doesn't have a driver's license. But she does live in a city with solid public transit.
Agree. I don't plan to leave Reddit but it's good to look at the alternatives that are available out there.
I'm still on Reddit and don't plan to leave, but it's always nice to be on alternative sites like Lemmy. Half of the subreddits I read are still shut down, and there is debate on some subreddits on whether or not to stay shut down. It seems like most average users don't care about the API changes and some are wondering what the big deal is.
Why not use both? Doesn't have to be either/or. You don't have to be super ideological, use platforms when they suit your purpose. I'm sure Lemmy will grow with time.
Because the point of having such a huge website was always to make money. You need decentralization to remove some of that profit motive.
An indefinite shutdown would not work - the moderators of the subs who perform them will be kicked out and be replaced by people who want to keep the subs in operation. Plus, it's a disservice to people who do use Reddit as a resource for work or otherwise. I think a 48 hour protest is reasonable, but beyond that, there's not a whole lot you can do.
I don't plan to stop using it. I'm annoyed by the changes but it is what it is. I doubt Lemmy will be the same level of resource that Reddit is. Lemmy is still great, don't get me wrong, but to think that entire communities might migrate over is a bit farfetched. Most people are still very confused about how federation exactly works.
Yeah I imagine as Lemmy scales you are going to see moderation issues. But that's message board culture in general.
Let's say you sign up on Beehaw. You post a comment that gets you banned from Lemmy.ml. That means your posts will no longer show up to users of Lemmy.ml. If all federated instances were equal, then that wouldn't be a huge problem; your comments will still receive enough interactions. But right now, since most of the activity is on Lemmy.ml, getting banned could reduce the quality of your experience on Lemmy as a whole, i.e., you receiving fewer interactions from your posts.
I guess. I'm kind of new to whole idea of federation myself, never jumped on Mastodon, for example. But we will see as Lemmy and its federated instances scale up.
Yeah. I imagine most people will continue to use Reddit. I know I plan to, but it's always good to explore alternatives.