A video about the effectiveness of the Reddit protest

  • I don’t know, my brother has been a Redditor for as long as I was (15 years) and he became angry and hostile when I told him about Lemmy. We’re both in our 50s.

    He’s been using the official Reddit app for years and claims it “works perfectly for him”. He seems utterly blind to Reddit’s enshittificaton. He’s always been kind of an asshole- he behaved the same when I quit Facebook, though he eventually did the same- and he also fears new tech (he didn’t have a smartphone until 2020). I wonder if people like him- of which I’m sure there are plenty- will ever wake up.

        •  SenorBolsa   ( @SenorBolsa@beehaw.org ) 
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          1 year ago

          I actually think being older in general makes you more willing to move around on the internet, I’ve seen so many changes and joined and left so many things as they rose and fell that it’s just a fact of life that some things on the internet are very cyclical, I’m actually astonished that reddit got as far as it did while remaining relatively user friendly.

          The more sure you are of something being perpetual the more ephemeral it seems to actually be.

          • Absolutely, I already was over “sticking to a platform no matter what” when LIveJournal was bought by Russians in 2007. At one time LJ was practically my life, but I took a “scorched earth policy” with my blog there just as I did with all my Reddit content.

    •  bbtai   ( @bbtai@beehaw.org ) 
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      1 year ago

      We’ll see how it plays out. I have a feeling reddit may currently be putting in artificial upvotes and comments to save things. They’ve done it when reddit got their start, and as someone who works in tech, I know nothing’s stopping them to create a fake 10 year old account with thousands of karma and fake old replies to do some social engineering to make it appear that nothing has changed. This might work out especially for your brother who is afraid of change, or it might not.

      • I know nothing’s stopping them to create a fake 10 year old account with thousands of karma and fake old replies to do some social engineering to make it appear that nothing has changed

        No need to create them, they’ve got lots of old ‘deleted’ accounts they can resurrect for this purpose.

      • I think that’s a portion but I know a few people that just take the path of least resistance. Right now, that is absolutely not the fediverse. In a few months with all the apps already in development, it might be a better experience with better content.

      • Yeah, that’s exactly how I felt when I left Facebook, too. When my brother eventually also left it was so hard not to say “I told you so”- but I didn’t, and of course he never admitted that I was right all along. It’s good that I’ve matured enough that simply knowing it is enough.

      •  saboteur   ( @saboteur@lemmynsfw.com ) 
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        1 year ago

        Your first sentence I agree with. Your second sentence I don’t agree with. It’s still early with the reddit exodus - things have been escalating incredibly fast and most people don’t even know much about it yet, or are still processing what’s happening.

        Reddit was a big part of our lives for many people and it’s not easy to let go. I was so deeply offended by what happened that I let go quickly even though it hurt me. But people who already used the official app? For them, it’s a difficult conversation at best. But I’d say it is still early days.

      • Idk about that. Third party apps have not yet been sunsetted, so I’d imagine there are some people who are waiting until the very end to make the switch. That was my original plan for the two weeks after the blackout. Ended up jumping ship early because of how it all played out, but I’m sure there are some holdouts who plan to leave once their app dies.