Ask Lemmy

...catastrophically hostile UI + overrun with bots...

Not one particular reason in general, just the site's atmosphere in general was getting tiresome. Everyone trying to be the funniest person in the room to get the most upvotes. There's a place for that, and I still use Reddit from time to time, but for learning about current affairs Lemmy is much preferable.

They killed the apps.

The main cause for why I wanted to leave reddit was the "hustle" for getting as many upvotes as possible. It just felt like the content was not genuine, but merely manufactured for clicks, meaning that you wouldn't really get proper or meaningful conversations with other people. What triggered my switch to lemmy was reddit's api changes and the censorship moderators and spez did.

Here, I can have an actually meaningful conversation without the toxicity and childishness of redditors on reddit. One thing I miss though is leaving the huge bank of information that accumulated on that platform from decades of people sharing information.

It wasn't just the API thing, but also how all the mods handled it. So many Reddit mods are pathetic losers that will throw us all under the bus to hold on to their petty power.

API I followed sync for reddit here. If LJ ever abandons the app I'll probably be gone from here as well but I don't see that happening

Reddit API + going public

Unlike most, I survived the API garbage because I primarily used the desktop site.

But the subsequent response and then the removal of the "don't sell my personal info" option was clearly spez saying the quiet part out loud. Asshole doesn't deserve to get richer off of my effort.

I was kicked off Reddit for criticism of Israel

Closing of r/ProgrammerHumour

When the API changes happened, I hadn't discovered third-party clients yet, but I knew what an API was, and the consequences of the pricing change.

The API thing. After so many user-hostile and manipulative UI changes I was done with the official app. I also loathe the algo feeds and blatant manipulation. That and the complete disregard for the disabled made me commit to not give them more content or traffic.

Also, not great that the CEO is a musk fanboy and wannabe slaver.

Boost stopped working

Blatant nazi stuff, mod infiltration, creepy mod rules for NSFW subs

Fuckers killed rif is fun and I was gone, once they took the api away you could see the entire project it was already well enshittified. Had an account of almost 20 years too.

1. RIP Apollo
2. I almost didn't join lemmy because the first time you sign up in the fediverse it feels like a big deal. What got me to actually follow through was to impulsively join a silly instance (RIP iusearchlinux.fyi)

API stuff and the general response to the community feedback and blackout. I used Apollo and wasn’t interested in switching to the ad-riddled official reddit app. Tried Kbin first and eventually found myself on lemmy. Liking it here.

I exclusively browse on mobile and their app sucks. The API changes were the last straw, but I was slowly on the way out the door anyway. The bigger an online community gets, the more it will resemble your average online community. The average online community is a toxic mess. Reddit is so big, even the niche little weirdo run subreddits weren't the same anymore. It looked like reddit but felt like Facebook.

I used the API to see what mods were censoring. The lack of mod transparency is gross.

line This, RIF dying, and the general apathy people had to Steve bald face lying to everyone and banking on people just forgetting the whole thing.

Everyone cheered when the jannies got booted for "abusing their power" only to be replaced by someone less capable but more willing to toe the line for the company

I didn't care too much about API changes at first - I used an open source app on my phone, but mostly browsed desktop. Would have been fine going back to desktop only. As long as they keep the old site design around, I'd be fine to stay.

What killed it for me was the absolutely un-caring, not-budging response from leadership. I don't feel good continuing to feed the site my attention at that point.

I like quirky Foss stuff anyway, so I was already curious about Mastodon and Lemmy. But I'd always figured they'd be ghost towns. Twitter and Reddit deliberately being proudly, blatantly awful was enough to push me out to here, along with enough other folks.

The killing of the API, and the disgusting behavior of Reddit suspending users like me calling out the violence by Trump.

Apparently, Reddit admins LOVE violence and Trump.

It was a result of the 3rd party app collapse that triggered the migration of reasonable people out of reddit. I was the mod of r/mapporncirclejerk and saw my mod queue explode with the most hateful shit that went unchecked by other commenters.

Then my friend told me about where everyone went, glad to see all of you!

I'm now mod of [email protected] so stop on by!

The new API rules in advance of the IPO rubbed me the wrong way. The multiple monetization schemes were already pretty creepy as it was.

And the Fediverse feels better all around.

Death of third party apps

While the "recent troubles" put energy to my leaving, I have always been uncomfortable with Reddit, Twitter, Discord, Stack Overflow, Quora and Fandom, as corporate-owned repositories who work by, in one way or other, profiting off of freely contributed work.

It used to be that if someone wanted to help people with freely-given information, they'd offer it in a forum, on Usenet, or on a website they started and hosted themselves, or if it fit in there, put it on Wikipedia. Now, people add it to a freaking pile that corporations monetize. Don't just hand them value! Put it somewhere that won't beg you to install an app, or beg you to "upgrade" to "Nitro," or force you to watch intrusive ads, or force people to create an account to see it, or track you! Your volunteer labor should not be a profit center!

The killing of Apollo (and all others) really rubbed me the wrong way, and I refuse to support companies moving in the direction of forcing ads in front of people.