A lot of subreddits are finally returning to normal after a very long protest against Reddit's API changes, three of which have millions of followers included. Previously, the subreddits were only allowed to publish posts that are related to John Oliver.
Reddit Going Back to Normal
The subreddits on the topic, particularly r/aww, r/pics, and r/vids, have been posting about its main subjects again. The fixation on John Oliver started back in June when moderators were accused of acting against what the members wanted by pushing the protest.
The groups were then asked to vote on a poll whether they wanted the subreddits to go back to normal then or only post about the British comedian, which the latter choice won. Ever since then only published posts related to the chosen subject, until now.
The subreddit r/pics, which has over 30 million members, changed back last Saturday. There was no explanation as to why they went back to normal, but it was one group that John Oliver posed in photos for, as reported by The Verge.
As for r/aww, which stands at more than 34 million followers, explained that the shift back to normal operations was to be expected, given that the John Oliver rile was never intended to be permanent. Mods added that the "passion for the protest has waned," ergo, returning to its purpose.
With r/videos, with over 26 million members, already changed to a different form of protest since June. Instead of exclusively sharing content related to the comedian, they adhered to certain rules such as only posting content with profanity in the title, which was also decided through a poll.
The moderators even addressed potential complaints about the protest lasting longer than it should, stating that members should remind themselves why it was done in the first place, and that Reddit still had some issues to address.
There are still subreddits that refuse to drop the John Oliver rule. For instance, r/gifs is standing its ground. It's likely they will change back soon as well, especially since there are now significantly fewer posts, which could indicate that members are growing tired of the protest as well.
Reddit CEO Steve Huffman Said So
Amidst the protests initiated by mods from over 8,000 subreddits, the Reddit chief executive said that the campaign against the new API policy "will pass." Predictably, this enraged many of the protesters, but it looks like he was right.
In his words, Huffman said that there's "a lot of noise with this one," adding that it was among the nosiest they have seen. Then, he expressed that like all blowups on Reddit, it will pass as well, as quoted in Crackberry.
It was bound to happen even without the acknowledgment. At the end of the day, the blackouts just deprive Reddit users of the content they want to see. The company itself could overrule all decisions made by mods if they want to, which they have as they already stripped some mods of their position.
