Reddit’s community-driven spirit is dying. Their new policies prove they’re more about profit than people—here’s how it all went wrong.

Reddit has always stood out through its unique model of self-governance. Unlike the manicured lawns of Facebook or the algorithmic overreach of Twitter, Reddit's content and values are shaped by its users' passions. And the heart and soul of this system have always been the volunteer moderators who dedicate their time to nurturing vibrant communities across countless subreddits. It’s a bottom-up approach that has remained Reddit's defining feature.

Unfortunately - it’s also an increasingly fragile arrangement. Reddit has gone from a quirky online experiment to a billion dollar, post-IPO social media giant. And the interests of its corporate overlords are increasingly at odds with the freewheeling spirit of its user base.

The question now is: can Reddit maintain its unique character?

If their new policies are any indication - the answer is a resounding, fucking, no.

The Great Blackout of 2023

Some backstory: in June 2023, Reddit witnessed an unprecedented event that would come to be known as "The Great Blackout." Thousands of subreddits, including many of the platform's largest and most influential communities, went dark in protest against changes to Reddit's API pricing and their betrayal of 3rd party clients such as Apollo. These changes effectively shut down the beloved apps and tools that many users and moderators relied on.

The protest showed the power of Reddit's community. By making their subreddits private, moderators effectively removed vast amounts of content from the site, disrupting the user experience and sending a clear message to Reddit's management.

It was a flexing of collective muscle that should have forced management to recognise and respect the symbiotic relationship between the platform and its volunteer workforce.

The Corporate Counterattack

Fast forward to September 2024, and Reddit has made a move that can only be seen as a scorched earth response to last year's protests. In a massive policy shift, the company has announced that moderators must now request approval to make their communities private or mark them as NSFW.

Laura Nestler, Reddit's VP of community, framed this change as a necessary step to protect the platform's long-term health:

"We have a responsibility to protect Reddit and ensure its long-term health, and we cannot allow actions that deliberately cause harm."

The implication is clear: the tools that moderators used to organize last year's protest are now seen as potential weapons that could be turned against the platform itself.