More than 8,000 communities have temporarily shut down on Reddit in protest of recent API policy changes. The moderators of the affected subreddits have announced that they will re-open access to their communities on Wednesday, while some others intend to continue their protests indefinitely against the policy changes. However, Reddit co-founder and CEO, Steve Huffman, appears to be unfazed by the situation as he seems to believe that the protests will blow over.
According to an article on The Verge, Huffman told staff to disregard the collective action in a recent memo. He claimed that there hasn’t been “any significant revenue impact” of the protests and that Reddit will eventually overcome the challenge.
The platform experienced issues with its stability when many subreddits shifted to “Private” at the start of the protest. Huffman acknowledged that the demonstrations posed a challenge and that they had worked to adjust the infrastructure, respond to community issues, and adapt to the added strain. He encouraged his employees and thanked them for their hard work towards keeping the platform running.
Huffman stated in his memo that “this one will pass as well,” reminding everyone that their teams are taking care of the situation. He added that they must focus on maintaining their product and improving its quality. Additionally, Reddit announced plans to revamp their API in April, with third-party developers creating many apps that connect to Reddit, including moderation tools.
Apollo and RIF, two third-party apps loved by Redditors to access the platform, announced their decision to shut down just before the API pricing changes came into effect. Interestingly, Huffman revealed that Reddit was still in conversation with some other third-party apps, even though he acknowledged that things progressed slowly. He explained that they have agreements with RedReader and Dystopia so far.
Huffman also advised staff not to wear Reddit-branded clothing while in public as people were upset, and they did not want them to be the target of their frustration.
