this post was submitted on 23 Jun 2023
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Reddit will never be normal again after this. Someone else said it recently - It doesn't matter if only 5% (or less) of the user base leave because this 5% will most likely be the most passionate and active users actively creating content that is not advertisement.
In the long run; the content quality will decline because of that.
In addition, these statistics likely do not distinguish what is bot traffic that are scraping the site vs users. The bots will keep scraping.
Reddit basically had a monopoly -- given how quickly things are moving on Lemmy and other sites -- I think that monopoly is over. It's still a bit too chaotic here for a major mass move but there's now so much more interesting content. People will eventually figure out how to make these sites competitive now that there is so much interest.
It's at that point that things will really change.
I think you and @Screak42 hit the nail on the head.
There was never going to be a mass exodus, not without an established competitor (as Reddit was to Digg back in the day).
Trust has been broken. That's like a boat that now has a tiny hole in it- it may not sink now, but that doesn't mean it's not sinking.
That said- I don't think there will be a mass move. I think the more passionate old school people will migrate away, which will leave less content for the newer folks. The site will certainly get a lot less interesting. And this will hurt them in the long run. But like most mismanagement, it'll look good for the next quarter or two.
People forget that there wasn't even a mass exodus from Digg. Although we can pinpoint the exact day that Digg killed itself, it actually took a long time for everyone to eventually leave. People hedged their bets between platforms -- just as many people are doing now between Reddit and all the new alternatives.
This week on Lemmy actually feels very different from last week. There's some sort of critical mass that has been hit even if it's just some minuscule tiny fraction of the total traffic of Reddit.
Agree 100% on the critical mass. Last week I would visit a day later and sort by new, and there'd be maybe a page of stuff since my last visit. Now I am back to sorting by top day, because going through new would take hours.
I think it's not just more users that are here, but that the users who are here are invested now. It's no longer just a fun toy to hack around with, it's potentially a new home so we are starting to decorate :-)
We're not going to get the same numbers as Reddit, and that's a good thing. I don't want already users to leave. I want the smart ones to leave and come here. The ones who have something to say, the ones who can engage in discussion and debate, the type of people who made up reddit's early user base. The idiots who just want to scroll memes and TikTok style low effort videos all day and can't have a respectful conversation to save their own life, Reddit can have them. They install apps without question and don't use ad blockers so maybe Reddit can make some money of them. Best of luck with it.
I’m ready
Not only that, once reddit IPOs they are tied to wallstreet and must beat wallstreet quarterly estimates or else. They already had trouble turning a profit, they are going to pound the users with shit no one wants. That was already happening, but it's going to get worse.
It's almost a relief that I was (relatively) recently introduced to 3rd party apps that it made me care enough to move to Kbin in protest of Reddit's actions. The future there is bleak.
Been on Reddit for 4 years. Almost exclusively used the official app. I was completely irritated by the ads disguised as posts. @ChristianSelig posts about the API drama and I tried out a few of the 3PAs. What in the name of God was I ever doing on the official app?
The ads disguised as posts annoyed me so much I nearly left a year ago. I found a way to block them, but I'm glad to have found a substitute I can use.