Interested in getting a feel for what people may be likely to do IF reddit reverses their decision regarding API access, or reduces access fees to a reasonable level and 3rd party apps remain sustainable.
While I know the chances of this are extreeeemely slim, until 1st July there is an ever so slight chance this could still happen.
From my perspective, the community harm is done, and those who have left prior to July 1 have left due to principles, not because their app stopped working. As such, I’d be inclined to think most of those migrators would stay here in the fediverse.
But would we see a mass exodus back to reddit if the changes were undone? It’s easy to say no, but if it went back to operations as relatively normal, it may be easy to justify going back for some users.
I’d like to think I wouldn’t go back. I’ve deleted content and account from reddit. I’ll be happy here so long as there is enough userbase for some discussion.
Its not like this was the first shitty thing that Reddit have done. Its a platform that has been getting progressively worse for years. I will definitely stay here.
Same here.
I’ve had it with Reddit.
They go all hamfisted in this situation, but when they should do something, they don’t.
Besides that, I’ve been annoyed with the centralization of everything for decades. I grew up in a time BBS and newsgroups ruled the day, before the Internet.
Switching to the Internet then and finding that HALELUJAH, I can access whatever I want without having to rely on the BBS I pay for to pull in the content (same with usenet).
And then in the past 2 decades, motherfuckers started centralizing everything into one place again anyway.
And all this while I’ve been in IT for just as long and saw the possibility for federated systems being here, with the thing holding it back being the interest into interconnecting selfhosted systems was FAR FAR outweighed by everyone wanting to rule the internet.
So I’m glad we’re now at a point most people are seeing what a mistake it was, the Facebooks, the Twitters, the Reddits.
Now lets move to federated systems where you can have some actual control on the content you consume and won’t be forced to have a load of stuff shoved down your throat for every nibble of content you actually want to consume.
I try and take a pragmatic stance.
My desire to find an alternative to Reddit stems in part from a practical aspect. I TRIED using the official app, but it’s as bad as Facebook these days and bombards me with ads. The user experience is terrible.
So if the API changes were reversed, that means I’d probably still use Sync to check some super-specialized subs or to look up answers from time to time.
But on the other hand, the damage’s been done. I will not use Reddit where there’s a viable alternative, and Kbin is not only a viable alternative but actually better for conversation and general discussions. It’s a project I’m excited about instead of just using it by pinching my nose.
So I think a large part of the damage is already done. If Spez 100% reversed his decision, it’d still be too late. It’s like a boyfriend/girlfriend being supremely shitty to you, then realizing their mistakes and apologizing sincerely… Although you might accept their apology, something about the relationship is already broken.
So I think whatever happens, Reddit has reached the Facebook stage for me. I’m still using Facebook for a few things like staying in touch with some friends or joining events, but the days where I’d go there to find interesting content are long gone.
11 year redditor here and this sums up almost exactly how I feel. There are 2-3 small niche communities that I may go back to if reddit reverses their API changes or at the very least commit to a reasonable rollout period like Christian Selig had proposed. But for my main content aggregation? I’m now fully onboard with this federated model, whether it be kbin, lemmy, or some mix of the two/some other great open source solution.
Plus honestly it’s hard to imagine a sincere apology from Spez at this point. The time for that was near the start of this. Maybe when the blackout started.
At this point, it’d be hard to believe any apology to be sincere as opposed to something scripted.
Honestly, the damage is done. I don’t think I’ll ever feel good about going back to Reddit
I wanted to migrate in some past controversies, but there never felt like a feasible alternative. And what alternatives existed were usually overrun by the absolute worst kinds of people. The fact that there’s a half decent alternative this time makes this time different.
That said, I probably will still check reddit for cases where there simply isn’t a Fediverse equivalent (hopefully largely just yet). But I’ll minimize my usage and try to avoid giving them advertising money.