Hello everyone,
/r/LetsNotMeet will be made private starting on June 12th, and will remain private for the duration of the protest.
What this means
You will not have access to /r/LetsNotMeet until we open it back up to the community. If you’re currently subscribed, you’ll still be subscribed when we open back up again.
Why is this happening?
This is part of the protest around API changes making it difficult or impossible for moderators to do our jobs; if you’re unaware of the protests or what’s been going on, you can find some more information here, and there’s a great infographic here which summarizes the main points.
I don’t use third-party apps, why should this impact me?
While you may not use third-party apps, the majority of moderators do. This is because the official Reddit apps have poor functionality when it comes to moderating, can be slower than third-party apps, and generally are not well-suited for moderating.
Additionally, the official apps are incompatible with most screenreaders, limiting functionality for people who are vision-impaired.
Doesn’t Reddit deserve to make money?
Sure. Nobody’s saying they don’t. But the pricing in this case is particularly egregious. As Apollo’s main dev pointed out, he pays Imgur $166 for the same number of site requests that Reddit is now charging $12,000 for.
So what’s going to happen next?
Some of it will depend on Reddit’s response. Some subreddits have already said they will shut down permanently if the API changes go through, as the mods exclusively use third-party tools to moderate. We’ve been hearing from a lot of mods who are saying they’re tired of Reddit’s sweeping changes, and they may decide to just quit moderating. When it comes to /r/LetsNotMeet, we’re planning to reopen when the protest ends, but we’re not sure what will come after that yet.
What you can do
There’s an open letter which can be found here asking Reddit to reconsider their plans. Please consider reading and signing it.
Please also consider doing the following to show your support:
- Email Reddit or create a support ticket to communicate your opposition to their proposed modifications.
- Complain. Message the mods of /r/reddit.com, who are the admins of the site: message /u/reddit: submit a support request: comment in relevant threads on /r/reddit, such as this one, leave a negative review on their official iOS or Android app- and sign your username in support to this post.
- Spread the word. Rabble-rouse on related subreddits. Meme it up, make it spicy. Bitch about it to your cat. Suggest anyone you know who moderates a subreddit join us at our sister sub at /r/ModCoord- but please don’t pester mods you don’t know by simply spamming their modmail.
- Show your support by participating in the Reddit boycott starting on June 12th.
- Check out the list of Participating Subreddits, and give them some love.
Thank you for reading, and we look forward to seeing you when we’re public again!
–The /r/LetsNotMeet Mod Team