this post was submitted on 17 Jun 2023
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I hate to be a party pooper, but I really can't see how the subreddits doing things like that are in any way a protest.
I highly doubt Reddit cares what anyone is posting pictures of as long as they are legal, and the engagement is high. The only way to post them is to engage with Reddit, whether on their website, through the official app, or through a third party app that has to pay Reddit money to use the API. That's exactly what Reddit wants.
And as for the mods: in a real life scenario, I can see how the threat of being replaced is scary because it means losing your income... but here? They were doing free labour, and as soon as Reddit threatened to take away their power over a corner of the internet, they immediately gave in and proceeded to encourage their audience to "protest" by engaging with Reddit.
I think it would have been several times more effective if the mods just all quit, and everyone who is "protesting" by engaging with Reddit in one form or another (posting, commenting, or just looking and upvoting) just left. I really doubt Reddit is even worried about what is happening now.
imo the novelty of john oliver will wear off soon, and people will want regular content again. so long as mods stay firm that regular content is not allowed, users will be dissatisfied and lower their engagement. though it’s not a perfect plan (people could just use different subs), it’s better than nothing
people go to reddit for the content. if the content isn't on reddit anymore, they will end up elsewhere. filling reddit up with content that nobody really cares about will dissuade people from using reddit.
I think the point is this dissuades lurkers, as it's boring.
The lurkers are the ones upvoting. I'm certain that not posting content would be much more boring. What would lurkers do with a drought of content?
To be completely honest, all of these just sound like a lot of excuses for people to toss their alleged ideals and values aside and keep using Reddit, while soothing their conscience by pretending they are still doing something.
And I say "alleged ideals" because if one drops them as soon as they encounter any resistance and it stops being comfortable to stand by them, then I don't think it can be said they ever stood by those ideals in the first place. With all respect, I would say they were just playing make believe until things got real and actually affected them. And the sad part is that it affected them in the most minute of ways.
Perhaps I'm being too dramatic, but it makes me wonder: if people can't even organize and keep a strike for one week when it requires this little of them, and a lot are succumbing to the smallest of threats ("you will henceforth no longer be allowed to perform free labour for us"), then what's the point in even trying to organize and change anything in the real world?
I really think the point is that posting useless content that actively protests the platform and makes it less valuable and interesting should make it hard for Reddit to show investors that their platform is worth money as they go public, which is why the whole thing started in the first place.