A long time ago, I played an MMORPG that was scheduled to shut down the beta world. That feeling, in the last moments, of everything around you seeming just as before, but knowing that this could be the last time ever you’re seeing that world. That community.
I’m getting the same feeling looking at reddit right now.

Sure, the blackout might fizzle. The admins might be forced to recant, most subreddits might return. Even if they don’t, reddit could survive in some form.

… or a digg apocalypse is repeated, and we’re all presently witnessing the last moments before the bombs fall and nothing will ever be as it used to be.
A strange feeling, standing on the precipice of Internet history.

  • LvxferreM
    link
    fedilink
    English
    arrow-up
    11
    ·
    1 year ago

    I think that the Digg apocalypse is being repeated, and I don’t think that there’s a reasonable chance for Reddit to stay up in the long run.

    It won’t be a OHKO, but it’s bleeding.

    And people might say “this is not the first blackout, and Reddit survived”, but I think that they aren’t taking into account two things: scale and which chunks of the userbase are pissed.

    For example, I was there when the policy changes prompted a bunch of people to leave, and the formation of Ruqqus. The sub banning pissed a half dozen free speech idealists, and a million Nazi. Most people don’t care about the former, but they were [rightfully] glad to see the later gone.

    This time however the company outed itself as hostile towards the very users who are likely to keep the place running, through content and/or moderation: experienced users. It’s effectively a brain drain. Even if the admins are forced to recant, most damage was already gone.

    And the ones still there will be less eager to contribute.