Reddit is facing an ongoing blackout from some of its most active users after it revealed plans to charge some third-party apps for data access. But despite thousands of communities within the online discussion network going dark this week, Reddit CEO Steve Huffman told The Associated Press the company is not changing course. Reddit’s response to the blackout has fueled further outrage among protest organizers, who accuse the company of trying to remove moderators of subreddits who are protesting. Reddit says it is simply enforcing its code of conduct. Reddit’s changes to its data access coincide with the San Francisco-based company's reported plans to go public later this year.
It’s all a game of chicken until June 30th, then it’s going to be too late to backpedal. The number of people that will just stop using reddit when their app breaks probably isn’t huge, but I’d bet it’s a significant chunk of their content creators.
After June 30th, when people find that their favorite third-party app doesn’t work and subreddit moderation goes to shit because moderators don’t have the tools they need to moderate, Reddit will become a sad, jungle, crazy place. The quality of posts will deteriorate and it will no longer be a happy place.