By: Jonathan Han
Reddit was founded by Huffman and Alexis Ohanian in 2005. Over the years, the company has faced numerous controversies, such as the misidentification of the Boston Marathon bombing suspect in 2013 and becoming a hub for NSFW content in 2014. However, as Reddit grew, it attracted investors. Huffman had plans to take Reddit public in 2021, but the stock market downturn postponed the IPO. Nevertheless, the site has improved, user numbers have grown, and the company’s financials have strengthened.
Recently, Reddit has faced another immense issue. Bucky, also known as “BuckRowdy” on Reddit, is a moderator for around 80 subreddits. Moderators like Bucky play a crucial role in maintaining and expanding the Reddit community. However, a couple of weeks ago, Bucky and many other moderators initiated a revolt.
The cause of the revolt was Reddit’s decision to increase fees for independent developers who built applications using the company’s data. These changes made it extremely difficult for third-party developers to generate profits. As a result, many developers who had created tools for moderators had to either shut down or modify their apps. This led to a protest from Bucky and other moderators, who closed hundreds of forums, rendering Reddit unusable for 57 million visitors. At one point, the site even went offline entirely. Bucky expressed disappointment, stating, “It is really demoralizing. I take all this abuse for you, and keep your website clean, and this is how you repay us?”
In its efforts to transition from an online message board to a social media business, Reddit has introduced executives and invested in advertisements. The company is currently valued at over $10 billion. Similar to other companies, as they matured, Reddit made changes to its platform. Twitter, for instance, modified its guidelines to limit developers’ use of its data before going public, while Facebook has also made platform changes. Both companies faced backlash after implementing these rule changes.
However, Reddit’s situation is distinct due to the power wielded by its community. The day after moderators closed hundreds of forums, users spent 16% less time on Reddit, according to Similar web. Reddit is primarily community-led, and the influence of regular users is inherent to the platform, as noted by Adrian Horning, a user, and data scientist.
On Wednesday, Reddit CEO Mr. Huffman expressed his goals of improving Reddit for both new and longtime users and building a sustainable company. He acknowledged that the changes should have been communicated more openly and attributed the anxiety surrounding Reddit’s changes to the natural maturing process of the platform.
In April, Huffman announced plans to restrict access to Reddit’s API and charge large companies for accessing the platform’s data. In May, Reddit informed developers about the increased pricing for such access. The developer of Apollo, for example, had to shut down the app due to the additional $20 million in annual fees. Redditors were outraged by Apollo’s closure. Huffman justified these actions by stating that supporting apps like Apollo cost the company millions of dollars.
While subreddits are gradually returning to normal, some users still protest the changes. Bucky mentioned being an active member of the “Save3rdPartyApps subreddit,” which organizes protests following Reddit’s guidelines. Despite the setbacks, Reddit will continue to grow as a business. Huffman believes that part of what makes Reddit special is the community’s ability to revolt and voice their opinions.