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A slew of Reddit’s most popular communities went dark yesterday for 48 hours to protest changes to the site’s previously free application programming interface (API) pricing.
While Reddit insists the new price structure is intended as fair compensation to cover costs, community members and independent developers say the rates will destroy the ecosystem of third-party apps that Redditors use for everything from browsing to moderation. Christian Selig, creator of popular Reddit-browsing app Apollo, is shutting down the app after stating the company demanded $12,000 per 50 million API hits, or an estimated $20 million a year.
Earlier this year, rival social media network Twitter jacked up prices for API access, raising concerns that other sites would follow its lead. As CNBC reported, Reddit may be seeking to make up for lost ad income as it prepares for an initial public offering first announced in 2021.
An incomplete list of participants on a Reddit page dedicated to coordination between subreddit moderators had some heavy hitters, including six boards with more than 30 million readers: r/aww, r/science, r/gaming, r/Music, r/Pics, and r/todayilearned. BuckRowdy, a moderator of r/ask and others, summarized concerns from volunteer moderators in a post with over 15,000 upvotes:
Let’s just rip the band-aid right off: in many cases these apps offer superior mod tools, customization, streamlined interfaces, and other quality of life improvements that the official app does not offer. The potential loss of these services due to the pricing change would significantly impact our ability to moderate efficiently, thus negatively affecting the experience for users in our communities and for us as mods and users ourselves.
According to TechCrunch, Reddit has backed down in only one area: API pricing for accessibility apps, such as those that help the blind use the site.
Reddit spokesperson Tim Rathschmidt declined to comment to IT Brew, instead saying questions would be answered during an AMA (“Ask Me Anything”) with CEO Steve Huffman on June 9. Mashable described that AMA, during which Huffman said the company would not be changing course, as a “disaster.”