For those who don't know, retrogaming on Reddit was a labour of love, there is a multireddit, m/retrogamingnetwork that networks over 60 subreddits under one banner giving the audience, banner, and reach of a big subreddit to some very small and niche spaces.
I bopped onto the main subreddit to grab their discord link for https://sub.rehab/ and was amazed to see the sub open. There's a stickied post from "your new head mod" - they've made some changes already, ones that would stir debate if the userbase was still there to know about it: Reveddit Link
To quote the post opener:
First of all, you all know me probably at this point, but I’m Chalupacabra. We’re in the process of readjusting the mod team, so it’s not fully set up yet, but I’m your new head mod. It’s a process that’s been in the works for a bit now, I’m sure you’ve probably noticed some of the changes the team and I have put together to try to mix things up a bit based on what y’all told us you were interested in seeing.
And if there's any doubts as to what the community "were interested in seeing" we had voted 88% in favour of a total blackout.
On the one hand I'm glad I don't have anything to miss on reddit anymore, I'm not interested in being part of communities run by people more interested in themselves than anyone else, but it's sad to see something that should have died peacefully be zombified instead.
Here was their protest stance:
r/history will be joining the blackout from June 12-14 to protest the proposed API changes which will end 3rd party apps.
This Subreddit will be going private June 12-14. Don't Let Reddit Kill 3rd Party Apps!
#What's going on?
A recent Reddit policy change threatens to kill many beloved third-party mobile apps, making a great many quality-of-life features not seen in the official mobile app permanently inaccessible to users.
On May 31, 2023, Reddit announced they were raising the price to make calls to their API from being free to a level that will kill every third party app on Reddit, from Apollo to Reddit is Fun to Narwhal to BaconReader to Boost.
Even if you're not a mobile user and don't use any of those apps, this is a step toward killing other ways of customizing Reddit, such as Reddit Enhancement Suite or the use of the old.reddit.com desktop interface.
This isn't only a problem on the user level: many subreddit moderators depend on tools only available outside the official app to keep their communities on-topic and spam-free.
#What's the plan?
On June 12th, many subreddits will be going dark to protest this policy. Some will return after 48 hours: others will go away permanently unless the issue is adequately addressed, since many moderators aren't able to put in the work they do with the poor tools available through the official app. This isn't something any of us do lightly: we do what we do because we love Reddit, and we truly believe this change will make it impossible to keep doing what we love.
The two-day blackout isn't the goal, and it isn't the end. Should things reach the 14th with no sign of Reddit choosing to fix what they've broken, we'll use the community and buzz we've built between then and now as a tool for further action.
What can you do?
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.
Boycott and spread the word...to Reddit's competition! Stay off Reddit entirely on June 12th through the 13th- instead, take to your favorite non-Reddit platform of choice and make some noise in support!
Don't be a jerk. As upsetting this may be, threats, profanity and vandalism will be worse than useless in getting people on our side. Please make every effort to be as restrained, polite, reasonable and law-abiding as possible.
#How does this impact r/history?
Even if you only use the official Reddit app and/or "New Reddit" on desktop, this change still impacts all of us. r/history uses third party apps and browser extensions for its moderation. Even though I mostly use r/toolbox for my moderation, I have to use it through a special browser on my mobile to get it to work properly.
We believe that people who wish to use this subreddit in the way that's most accessible to them. We've also had several comments from people who are short sighted or even completely blind who cannot use the reddit mobile app to browse Reddit and require the use of third party apps. It's unfair for them to have to suffer.
We hope this gets the message across to Reddit. We love this Reddit and I love this sub. I want to spend as long as I can beating down unofficial versions of history and making sure that big history has a suitable place to operate from for many years to come.
Thank you for reading!