This subreddit will be joining in on the June 12th-14th protest of Reddit's API changes that will essentially kill all 3rd party Reddit apps.
What's going on?
A recent Reddit policy change threatens to kill many beloved third-party mobile apps, making a great many quality-of-life features not seen in the official mobile app permanently inaccessible to users. This includes everyone who needs accessibility features due to visual impairment because the official mobile app apparently thinks screen readers for blind people are a myth.
On May 31, 2023, Reddit announced they were raising the price to make calls to their API from being free to a level that will kill every third party app on Reddit, from Apollo to Reddit is Fun to Narwhal to BaconReader.
Even if you're not a mobile user and don't use any of those apps, this is a step toward killing other ways of customising Reddit, such as Reddit Enhancement Suite or the use of the old.reddit.com desktop interface.
This isn't only a problem on the user level: many subreddit moderators depend on tools only available outside the official app to keep their communities on-topic and spam-free.
What's the plan?
On June 12th, many subreddits will be going dark to protest this policy. Some will return after 48 hours: others will go away permanently unless the issue is adequately addressed, since many moderators aren't able to put in the work they do with the poor tools available through the official app.
/r/dogcare will be doing something different from June 12th onward.
We want to ensure our searchable past posts remain accessible to all, whether logged in users or not. Therefore, instead of setting the subreddit to private, all new posts and comments will be placed in the modqueue and require manual approval. As a preview of the consequences if our access to functional mobile moderation tools is removed, we will only be moderating from desktop during this time period. (Of course, since dog trainers/dog walkers/other pet care professionals are rarely doing desk jobs due to the nature of the, well, job, feel free to use your imagination on how sporadic this will end up being based on what percentage of the mod team you think are actively running dog businesses and don't have continuous access to a computer throughout the day.)
What can you do as a user?
- Complain. Message the mods of /r/reddit.com and r/reddit, who are the admins of the site; message /@bborn; submit a support request; comment in relevant threads on /r/reddit, such as this one; leave a negative review on their official iOS or Android app- and sign your username in support to this post.
- Spread the word. Let your friends know on related subreddits. Meme it up, make it spicy. Bitch about it to your cat. Suggest anyone you personally know who moderates a subreddit join the coordinated mod effort at /r/ModCoord. (Don't bully or harass mod teams about it, though!)
- Boycott and spread the word...to Reddit's competition! Stay off Reddit entirely on June 12th through the 14th - instead, take to your favourite non-Reddit platform of choice and make some noise in support!
- Don't be a jerk. As upsetting this may be, threats, profanity and vandalism will be worse than useless in getting people on our side. Please make every effort to be as restrained, polite, reasonable and law-abiding as possible.
What can you do as a moderator?
- Join the coordinated effort over at /r/ModCoord
- Make a sticky post showing your support, a template has been created here you can use or modify to your liking, and be sure to crosspost it to /r/ModCoord.
-Mod Team