Reddit Will Exempt Accessibility-Focused Apps From Its Unpopular API Pricing Changes (theverge.com) 38
Reddit is creating an exemption to its unpopular new API pricing terms for makers of accessibility apps, which could come as a big relief for some developers worried about how to afford the potentially expensive fees and the users that rely on the apps to browse Reddit. From a report: As long as those apps are noncommercial and "address accessibility needs," they won't have to pay to access Reddit's data. "We've connected with select developers of non-commercial apps that address accessibility needs and offered them exemptions from our large-scale pricing terms," Reddit spokesperson Tim Rathschmidt says in a statement to The Verge.
The Reddit community has been in an uproar over the API pricing changes that might saddle developers with exorbitant charges and force them to shut down. Apollo developer Christian Selig, for example, says he'll be on the hook for about $20 million per year based on the updated pricing. Three days ago, moderators on the r/Blind subreddit posted an extensive message protesting the pricing changes, which could be hugely detrimental to apps for screen reader users like RedditForBlind and Luna For Reddit.
The Reddit community has been in an uproar over the API pricing changes that might saddle developers with exorbitant charges and force them to shut down. Apollo developer Christian Selig, for example, says he'll be on the hook for about $20 million per year based on the updated pricing. Three days ago, moderators on the r/Blind subreddit posted an extensive message protesting the pricing changes, which could be hugely detrimental to apps for screen reader users like RedditForBlind and Luna For Reddit.
Re:It begins (Score:4, Insightful)
Re: (Score:2)
What apartment do you live in?
Are you looking for a street address...or GPS coordinates?
I mean...the OP wasn't kidding about Dick Cheney being evil.
Reddit experiences the Musk Effect (Score:5, Insightful)
Randomly creating pricing for things, then changing that pricing, then creating exceptions... while it does devalue the product... the real damage is convincing millions of people NOT TO TRUST YOU. Basing a business plan on a capricious price gouger is somewhere just south of a REALLY BAD IDEA.
Reddit, that bleeding hole in your foot is making a mess. Put down your rifle and call a whambulance.
Re: (Score:2)
Clearly taking inspiration from Elon Musk's Twitter.
Fake concessions (Score:4, Insightful)
They’re going to assemble a list of concessions so it seems like they met in the middle. I wouldn’t be surprised if they donated some money to the apps authors too. But they don’t care about not being able to show ads and I’m sure they’ll note which keys are given out for free to apps for people with disabilities which will only improve their ad targeting and information harvesting.
Yes, that is what they said the first time. (Score:2)
This is not a change in policy. This was always the policy.
The chicken little garbage surrounding this pricing structure is really immature.
Just leave (Score:4, Insightful)
If you love your favorite Reddit app, plan to leave Reddit for a month as soon as they institute the policy change. See what happens when tons of their users and content creators disappear and their valuation tanks.
The only thing they have of value is their users.
Re: (Score:2)
And the only thing the apps have of value is their ability to access content on reddit.
Expectations? (Score:1, Flamebait)
You have a bunch of people making money off of the content reddit hosts without paying them anything. What did you think was going to happen? Your apps need reddit, reddit doesn't need your apps.
I'm not saying the pricing is fair as what they're asking, or if it should be more, or less, that's not something I can really give a proper opinion on, but you built your app to make money off of their content...so not feeling a lot of sympathy here. That's why it's important to make business deals and partner with
Re:Expectations? (Score:4, Interesting)
You have a bunch of people making money off of the content reddit hosts without paying them anything. What did you think was going to happen?
Reddit has been making money off their moderators without paying them anything. What do they think is going to happen?
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Reddit has been making money off their moderators without paying them anything. What do they think is going to happen?
So what you're saying is when people don't get paid for the work they do, that's a bad thing.
Does that apply to people stealing music, videos, and software, or only people in seats?
Re: (Score:1)
You have a bunch of people making money off of the content reddit hosts without paying them anything. What did you think was going to happen?
Reddit has been making money off their moderators without paying them anything. What do they think is going to happen?
Its volunteer. If you are mad, dont be a moderator. Solved. Or, keep whining about business you dont own, start or maintain. /shrug
Re: (Score:2)
Reddit has been making money off their moderators without paying them anything. What do they think is going to happen?
some moderators might quit and will be promptly replaced?
you frame that as if it were a crazy idea that is likely to backfire. it isn't, profiteering from volunteer moderators is a very sound and long proven business practice, it has been around for decades and it's not by coincidence that it is so pervasive.
dunno, maybe reddit does have real problems, and maybe these new pricings are precisely an attempt to mitigate those, but you can rest assured that whatever the cause of their eventual downfall is, it w
Re:Expectations? (Score:4, Insightful)
The moderators are probably the most important users on the site. Without them, reddit would be a complete cesspool of spam or worse.
So, pissing off the moderators by taking away the tools they need to actually perform said moderation (because the official website and apps are nearly worthless, usability wise) isn't exactly a path to success.
Lose the moderators, they lose the user base. Lose the userbase, and they no longer have eyeballs to sell to advertisers. Lose those advertisers, they no longer have a business. /shrug
Re: (Score:2)
So, pissing off the moderators by taking away the tools they need to actually perform said moderation (because the official website and apps are nearly worthless, usability wise) isn't exactly a path to success.
i get that.
Lose the moderators, they lose the user base. Lose the userbase, and they no longer have eyeballs to sell to advertisers. Lose those advertisers, they no longer have a business. /shrug
we will see if that's true or wishful thinking. indeed maybe some sub with some specially charismatic set of mods might decline or even switch platform. but i predict in most other instances though other wannabe mods will eagerly jump in to fill the holes no matter the tools. there's also time and room for reddit to improve their own tools .... or at least say they will. it doesn't seem a priority or else they would have done that already, but i would expect them to use that promise to appease th
Re: (Score:2)
we will see if that's true or wishful thinking. indeed maybe some sub with some specially charismatic set of mods might decline or even switch platform.
Reddit is unique (vs other "social media") in that it's not the network effect that gets people together, it's the actual subject-focused sub-reddits. There's no inherent reason why any random sub can't just up and move to a different platform -- Especially now that there are actual viable alternatives such as lemmy.
but i predict in most other instances though other wannabe mods will eagerly jump in to fill the holes no matter the tools.
...Thereby completely changing the "feel" of a given sub. Has that _ever_ worked out in the longer term?
Reddit seems to be making the mistake in thinking that the _platform_ is what provides t
Re: (Score:1)
Re: (Score:2)
It's already been said but your example is the exact opposite of the situation. This seems intentional to try and flip the scenario around and it's wrong.
It would be more like if Reddit got mad that some of their volunteers who don't get paid to moderate quit. That's a closer example. Except Reddit isn't getting mad if one if their volunteer moderators decide to quit, or if the moderators refuse to do it anymore without being paid.
Just like app developers making money off of reddit getting mad that Reddit
Re: (Score:3)
Extorting the middle man is a bad business decision; it's like ISPs not being satisfied their customers are paying them and demanding money from websites (who pay their own ISP). The PR consequences make it too distasteful to pull off; at least ISPs have a oligopoly to ba
So let me get this straight (Score:3)
Re:So let me get this straight (Score:4, Informative)
Reddit can't be bothered to add usability to their platform, never mind accessibility.
It's to the point where every 3rd party Reddit app is accessibility-focused.
Do boycotts like this even work? (Score:3)
I doubt these kinds of boycotts work in any durable fashion for social tech companies.
This isn't a fast-food chain competing with a dozen other chains that have millions of drive-throughs all over the country, where brand loyalty is low because the main customer requirements are: fast, cheap, and broadly generic/familiar.
Tech/media companies can just back off a bit, then 6 months later end up with effectively their same desired outcome by changing other aspects of their operations, licensing, fee structure, TOS, UI/UX. Or, more easily, re-introduce the original set of changes piecewise over a slightly longer time period.
Boycotting a retail establishment makes some sense because you are directly giving them their revenue. When you boycott, you are directly, immediately reducing their revenue and causing them additional cost-drain for excess inventory that must either be stored or thrown away, and the full HVAC/maintenance/operation cost for their physical stores to stay open. The business has a direct relationship to you. The customer is the user is the customer.
Temporary boycotts seem of little impact for a software service where resources (server time/space, carrier connectivity) for the entire operation can readily be scaled up/down, most of your labor overhead is either corporate management or tech staff maintaining the code/system that's already there, rather than paying 20,000 employees to do nothing due to a slowdown. Even less impact for social-interaction sites when there aren't a dozen other businesses ready to claim all your customers tomorrow morning. The numerous attempts at politically or culturally motivated alternatives to Facebook and Twitter over the past 5 years have proven the people are more important than the product itself.
As Cory Doctorow wrote:
This created a kind of mutual hostage-taking: once a critical mass of people you cared about were on Facebook, it became effectively impossible to leave, because you'd have to convince all of them to leave too, and agree on where to go. You may love your friends, but half the time you can't agree on what movie to see and where to go for dinner. Forget it.
Re: (Score:2)
I doubt these kinds of boycotts work in any durable fashion for social tech companies.
Reddit has a history of these boycotts having an affect. It's fine to generalise, but we have actual past performance here specific to the platform in question to rely on. These boycotts have worked, regardless of what generalised (and not at all incorrect) view may say to the contrary.
Re: (Score:2)
I doubt these kinds of boycotts work in any durable fashion for social tech companies.
Reddit has a history of these boycotts having an affect. It's fine to generalise, but we have actual past performance here specific to the platform in question to rely on. These boycotts have worked, regardless of what generalised (and not at all incorrect) view may say to the contrary.
I'll defer to your knowledge about Reddit. It's not a platform I've used other than occasionally showing up in search results for specific information. I've not posted there or followed any of the subs. For the boycotts which have worked, would you say the results have been durable -- an enduring change where the company said, "Okay, we hear you and value you so we won't do that thing you don't like" and it was still genuinely off-limits 5-10 years later? That is, the company didn't just manage the boycott
Too little, too late (Score:2)
Re: (Score:2)
No one gives a f*** about accessibility (Score:3)
The people complaining about reddit's change are moderators who need the actual tools reddit refuses to provide to do their job. I have a blind friend. He has no issue using reddit without any special app. The OS / other apps he already runs on his machine handle this for them (as they should, because accessibility should be fundamentally a system wide process, not a per app process).
Reddit seems to have its head buried very deep.