this post was submitted on 14 Jun 2023
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In the last 3 days I've been paying attention to r/all, expecting several posts about it and...

Yeah

Wasn't expecting the website to literally shut down nor to monopolize r/all, because 3rd party users are the minority, but I hoped for more than whatever this was.

At least there's a silver lining, I discovered new alternatives that have healthier communities

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[–] [email protected] 4 points 1 year ago (7 children)

It went about as expected, IMO. 90% of redditors just don't care that much - even if they agreed with the blackout in principle, most of them were likely just waiting patiently for their favourite subs to reopen so they could go back to browsing as usual. A quick browse through some of my subscribed (and still open) subs revealed a lot of commenters weren't even clear about what was going on.

But it has had the effect of essentially kickstarting a community here which seems to be taking shape nicely and there's finally a (small but growing fast) alternative to reddit - which didn't really exist before. I can see the following months and years seeing a gradual shift in user base from reddit to here.

Reddit's not going to die overnight; that was never going to happen. But it's possible it's the beginning of the end of their empire and the slow decline to the ranks of the remember-that-website-whatever-happened-to-that club. Time will tell I guess.

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

I'm actually pretty surprised with, despite how few people there are by comparison, how active and useful this has already been. And I'm expecring it to only continue to get better. Pretty sure I'll have little reason to go back to Reddit except for some useful historical posts.

Especially after apps are shut down I'm expecting another flood of new users. And the numbers keep climbing (today kbin alone has gone up another at least 10%)

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

Cheers to that ! Just decided to register here today. I won't ditch reddit entirely but will slowly migrate away.

[–] [email protected] 4 points 1 year ago

Reddit doesn't have to die. This place just has to be comfy enough for us to stick around. Not everything is growth over everything.

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

Also, when mods of subs announce that their “protest” has an end date, it’s not a statement, just a minor inconvenience

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

I never would have found kbin if it weren't for the blackout. I plan on staying around too. I will still use reddit for the smaller subs I'm in were discussion threads are actually that, but I unsubed from all the news and politics type subs. I was weening off those anyway since they make me want to just go to comments for entertainment instead of reading the article.

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

The migration will definitely pick up once the apps no longer work, and even if there isn't a seismic growth in users in the fediverse the seer size of reddit was both a blessing and a curse.

[–] [email protected] 0 points 1 year ago (4 children)

I think Reddit has become too mainstream to die. I think it will simply continue to become mainstream, perhaps eventually become more like Twitter in terms of userbase. and the next generation of niche forums will be born, and therefor the next Reddit. But maybe I'm wrong, maybe reddit will 'never die.'

[–] [email protected] 1 points 1 year ago (2 children)

Reddit isn't going to disappear, but that doesn't mean it won't die. Going public will kill Reddit. The parent company isn't profitable, and the product isn't profitable, and public investors will only tolerate that if growth suggests future gains.

Those future gains will be had by strangling Reddit and twisting its corpse into something much less useful, interesting, and fun.

Reddit's animated corpse will carry on for years, but that IPO will be a poisoned pill for what we know and recognize as Reddit.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) (1 children)

So how do we stop that happening here? Do we just bounce between admins as they eventually can't pay for their servers?

[–] [email protected] 1 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago)

Support your admins, if you can. But yes, bouncing around will happen. Hopefully with added development support coming from an expanded userbase, account migration can be implemented on both Lemmy and kbin and people can move around with relative ease, as the need or desire strike.

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

Digg was around for a long time after Reddit took over. Hell even fark is still kicking.

[–] [email protected] 0 points 1 year ago (1 children)

The difference that I see between reddit and twitter is that reddit hasn't been purchased to be the plaything of a billionaire. This matters because unlike facebook and google, reddit and twitter aren't profitable. That means that reddit doesn't have to pockets to buy up competitors, lobby for beneficial regulations, focus on expanding overseas, or move into making hardware.

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

Reddit is just the plaything of anonymous billionaires that's the whole reason they want the IPO at all costs because they can't cash out without it, even if it is less than they had hoped for.

[–] [email protected] 0 points 1 year ago (2 children)

Possible it'll go the direction of Neopets and stuff. Still around, but not what it once was.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago)

Alternatively, it could go in the direction of facebook - still around, but packed full of everybody's racist great aunts, romance scammers, and weed dealers.

[–] [email protected] 0 points 1 year ago (2 children)

Even Digg is still around. But I think most people agree that it is "dead." Reddit will probably end up the same.

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

@Hypx same with Tumblr. It exists, but the core reason I used it is now gone and so are many of its members.

@tango_octogono @TheAngryBad @Hazbuzan @Forosnai

[–] [email protected] 0 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Hell, even MySpace is still around.

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

Your MySpace is dope bro!

[–] [email protected] 0 points 1 year ago (1 children)

It will be like Facebook, once massive, now where genx parents get their ads and warn others to get off their porch

[–] [email protected] 1 points 1 year ago (2 children)

As a Gen-X parent, I've abhorred the look and feel of Facebook even from the beginning. When I first made an account I got connected with old high school people and thought it was pretty neat. But then I tried to share some thoughts for discussion like one would do on a BBS/forum/Reddit, and realized that wasn't what it was for. That was the last I posted. I know I'm in a minority and people who love it have a need for sharing everything they do, but that isn't me.

There's a saying I like: "Great minds discuss ideas. Average minds discuss events. Small minds discuss people." I don't think this means that a person can only be one of those, but that in discussions there is a level of thinking going on with the category. I prefer the first one more, and even Reddit had places where you aren't going to find that...but it had some, and I enjoyed my time there.

Oh, and get off my lawn. You too, boomers. Everyone get off the damn lawn!

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

There are dozens of us!

I like that saying, by the way. I want to discuss everything, but when someone is limited to that lower level it's quite disappointing.

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

I'm also a Gen X parent on Facebook. I don't post anything, but so many groups use it as a public posting board. My kids sports leagues all have Facebook groups, my son's piano school use Facebook for news and information. It's really become indispensable as a collection of small, easy to use, newsgroups...

[–] [email protected] 0 points 1 year ago (1 children)

I agree, but those who are left are either looking for easily digestible memes or content created by others. Without an engaged community, Reddit has to be afraid of the next shiny thing that comes along, and I think that TikTok has shown us that they don't even care if that next shiny thing is spying on them.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago)

think that TikTok has shown us that they don't even care if that next shiny thing is spying on them.

I think "is spying on them" has been baked in since Snowden at least. The TikTok early adopters grew up in a post 9/11 world predicated on being spied on.

The only real difference is it was someone else's government doing the spying for a change.