Changes to Reddit’s API—which includes new fees for third-party app developers—have been met with pushback from thousands of subreddits, many of which are undergoing blackouts that will last until Wednesday.
It’s funny because with their over 40% valuation drop from the change they would have been better off just buying out the third party apps. Most of those apps were made with super slim teams. A couple mil and they would have sold. The API cost increase could have stood, people on 3rd party apps would have been brought into the fold and not counted towards it, and they would have then just slowly tweeked the apps towards the same user experience over time. It would have been the ultimate win for reddit and would have avoided this entire situation. Instead they decided to burn it all down.
The valuation drop by Fidelity took place over time, mostly last year, so it’s unrelated to the API changes. That said, I agree the admins have chosen very poorly. With the amount of money on the table, buying out 3rd party apps would have been a steal compared to the massive hit to goodwill among their users and mods they’re taking now.
It’s funny because with their over 40% valuation drop from the change they would have been better off just buying out the third party apps. Most of those apps were made with super slim teams. A couple mil and they would have sold. The API cost increase could have stood, people on 3rd party apps would have been brought into the fold and not counted towards it, and they would have then just slowly tweeked the apps towards the same user experience over time. It would have been the ultimate win for reddit and would have avoided this entire situation. Instead they decided to burn it all down.
The valuation drop by Fidelity took place over time, mostly last year, so it’s unrelated to the API changes. That said, I agree the admins have chosen very poorly. With the amount of money on the table, buying out 3rd party apps would have been a steal compared to the massive hit to goodwill among their users and mods they’re taking now.