Numerous subreddits have switched to alternative forms of protest.
Alternative types of protest activity are posting messages of only one type, changing the topic in focus, and days when the community becomes closed.
Many of these subreddits took part in the Reddit shutdown from June 12th to 14th. This activity was a demonstration of disagreement with changes to the API rules, due to which many third-party applications were threatened with termination.
The company’s CEO, Steve Huffman, said that the updated rules, according to which the practice of charging fees for using the API is being implemented, are not subject to revision, and also noted that for many years developers have been enriched by the company’s infrastructure, for the maintenance of which Reddit spends up to $ 10 million annually.
Against the background of the unambiguous position of the company’s management, subreddits began to think about disconnecting indefinitely.
Reddit at the same time stated that moderators should maintain the openness of the community. The company also claims that the decision to terminate the existence of a particular association of users on a digital platform should be made based on the results of public approval. Moderators have received a notification from Reddit that they will be removed if they continue to accumulate particles during outages.
Some communities, to circumvent the measures to remove the moderator, conduct surveys, during which the type of posts allowed to be posted in the subreddit is determined. The rules are also being relaxed, as a result of which moderators will lose some tools, which will complicate their work.
Some of the largest communities, such as r/pics, r/aww, and r/GIF, decided to publish photos and GIFs of John Oliver, who, upon learning about the initiative, approved this step.
In the case of r/aww, the community is also allowed to post photos of Chiijon. R/iPhone decided to publish images glorifying Tim Cook.
There are some bizarre forms of protest. For example, posts with the letter k were banned in r/Shitposting. R/ Wellthatsucks changed the subject and now specializes in discussing vacuum cleaners. R/Interestingasfuck canceled most of its rules system, asking participants not to violate the rules of the entire site. R/Memes only allows the use of medieval memes/memes of landowners. This is a kind of response to Huffman, who compared moderators to the landed gentry.
The protest activity in this case turned out to be very original and indicates the use of a creative approach, but there is no guarantee that these efforts will somehow change the position of the company’s management. Huffman says that Reddit should become a profitable business. He also suggests that the protest is the result of the discontent of a small group.
