Reddit Migration

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founded 1 year ago

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3rd party app for Reddit, Boost, is still functioning well after July 1st (www.reddit.com)

submitted 1 year ago by [email protected] to c/[email protected]

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Some users wonder if the dev will be charged for having it still up, others argue Reddit can't charge him without having signed a contract. Everyone is confused as to why the API change hasn't made it inoperable.

Why is Boost still working?

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[–] [email protected] 21 points 1 year ago (1 children)

It'll be fine in the same way Facebook is fine. It'll have users, and it'll maybe even make money. But Facebook is filled with negativity, regurgitated content, aggressive monetisation and an ever-increasing lack of personal connection.

I logged into Facebook for something last week for the first time in a long time. 14 out of the first 20 posts in my feed - so 70% - were "suggestions" or "promotions". It wasn't stuff posted by people I know or pages I've liked, and it wasn't even stuff that people I know or pages I've liked had interacted with. It was adverts and shitty, lowest-common-denominator content that I had no interest in.

Facebook isn't dead but it might as well be as far as I'm concerned. It's no longer enjoyable, interesting or useful to me. And Reddit is going down that same path.

[–] [email protected] 6 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Facebook is nowhere near as dead as you think it is. It is still the best place for local groups and many niche hobbyist groups. I really don't want reddit to be another version of that, 1 crappy social site is enough. Also you're missing a key differentiating factor: facebook has actual paid content moderators.

I don't think reddit will die, at least not right away (remember, digg shut down finally in 2018).

Best case scenario is they hemorrhage users, fail ipo, and then join the fediverse. I say this because joining will create a bridge for new users to come here.
Worst case scenario is they become like twitter. which is possible.
My money is on them trying to sell to Microsoft or Google for ai training, and keeping their api private.

[–] [email protected] 4 points 1 year ago (1 children)

You're making a great point about Facebook. It's still insanely popular among older and more rural Americans. I guess these are populations that would be more isolated without it and still see the value in participating. One example: I have a 21 year old niece who is on it 24/7, but then again she is a hour's drive from the nearest Walmart and and her parents. Three hundred miles from her bestie. She's two-thousand-ish miles away from me. She has my number, but she prefers Messenger to text.

It's also good for community groups, online garage sales, in memoriam pages, and the like. Some businesses like to use it instead of having a proper website, probably due to zero cost of hosting and familiarity of use.*

Reddit never fit naturally with any of those, but I'm sure it will find a niche of users in the same way.

*I'm sure there are other dynamics worldwide where Facebook might also be a valuable tool. These are just the first few examples I can think of in the US.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 1 year ago

I've found it has the weirdest active communities. The best poison control first line is through a facebook group.

It's great for 'boomer knowledge'. Geo trackers, foraging, mushroom growing, 80's japanese guitars, tree ID, etc.

Marketplace has taken away some of the sketchiness of Craigslist.

Facebook and Meta and Zucc are evil, but facebook is still a useful tool