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The boycott of Reddit began on June 12th, with users expecting to bin off the platform for two days following. You might be wondering why this is happening, so here’s our explanation of the API changes and their ramifications.
Reddit has been the foundation of the internet for as long as the platform has existed. It collects the latest news, opinions, questions, and answers, all the while being the home for niche hobbyists to congregate with like-minded individuals. However, we could see all of that change soon. A huge overhaul to the Reddit API pricing is threatening to push away third-party apps and developers who can’t afford to involve themselves with the platform.
Reddit API changes explained
Recently, the developer of Apollo, a third-party Reddit app, revealed that the price of 50 million requests to Reddit’s API will now cost $12,000. Essentially, in the case of Apollo, this means that something that was once free, will now cost significantly more. Not good.
The developer has gone ahead to state that “Reddit reiterated that the price would be A) reasonable and based in reality, and B) they would not operate like Twitter.” Not only this, but the developer calculated that Reddit would be making 20x from Apollo requests to the Reddit API than the platform would make from the same session of a Reddit user on their own apps.
What is an API?
An API (Application Platform Interface) is a service which essentially allows one application to talk to another. In the above instance, Apollo is an application requesting to access the Reddit API. It does this in order to load in new posts, comments, upvotes and downvotes, and more.
Why did Reddit increase the cost of API prices?
Reddit have been planning an IPO since 2021, which could be why they’re trying to increase their revenue through recent changes.
It’s also been suggested that it could be a move that encourages users to switch over to Reddit’s official apps, though again, there is no confirmation of this.
What’s most likely is that Reddit are trying to prevent users from being tricked into downloading third-party apps which may end up containing harmful phishing content or similar. However, at this point, we simply just don’t know.
Why are people boycotting Reddit over this?
Many people out there are opposed to Reddit’s recent changes to their API as it’s going to destroy countless third-part apps – Apollo being a prime example of this. The planned boycott will take users away from Reddit for 48 hours, with the hopes of forcing the company into realising just how reliant on third-party apps they are.
Millions of people around the globe use Reddit via third-party apps, so if countless subreddits are set to go invisible for a few days, Reddit itself is going to take a huge hit to its userbase. This could end up being one of the biggest digital protests in history, and certainly isn’t going to look for Reddit themselves.
What third party apps are affected?
Essentially, all third party apps are affected, with many destined to shut down following the changes. Here a few popular, notable apps that are going to be affected:
- Apollo
- Reddit is Fun
- Reddit for Blind
Apollo is one of the apps scheduled to shut down forever – with June 30th marking the app’s last day.
