According to Reddark, who tracks the protests on Reddit, the protests are taking place over API changes that will force many third-party apps, such as Apollo, to shut down.
Posted Date – 11:07 AM, Sun – 6/11/23
New Delhi: With social discussion platform Reddit’s impending application programming interface (API) changes, more than 100 subreddits have already shut down, with thousands more scheduled to do so.
According to Reddark, who tracks the protests on Reddit, the protests are taking place over API changes that will force many third-party apps, such as Apollo, to shut down.
Earlier, Reddit CEO Steve Hoffman hosted an AMA (Ask Me Anything) session to discuss the platform’s controversial API changes, confirming that Reddit does not plan to revert to its upcoming API pricing changes, which have already been announced. Leading to multiple developers announcing that they would be shutting down their apps.
During the meeting, Hoffman went on to blame Apollo, calling the “behavior and communication” of developer Christian Selig (developer of the Apollo app) “pervasive” and saying he couldn’t see Reddit going any further with the developer, TechCrunch reported .
Selig was one of the first to point out that Reddit’s new API pricing would effectively make it impossible to continue running the Apollo app, explaining that doing so would cost him $20 million a year — money the app doesn’t make.
Other third-party applications such as Sync, RIF, and Reddplant will also be closed.
Since the AMA, some subreddits have escalated their responses.
Meanwhile, Reddit is laying off at least 90 employees and reducing new hires as part of a cost-cutting restructuring plan.
The layoffs will affect 5% of the company’s 2,000 employees, according to the Wall Street Journal.
