PrivacyGithub redlib thread still unfolding. From reddit shareholder letter,
And a key piece of work to retain new audiences is shifting Reddit to a logged-in-only experience.
Most on lemmy know the privacy and bot-infested dumpster fire reddit is. So it's very easy to think good riddance. But that misses an important point. IMO.
Inspite of the dumpster fire, it also contains a huge body of knowledge not found anywhere else. Example. Many times I have searched for a super obscure error message and the only good hits were a reddit thread in a tech sub. This is formerly open knowledge, accessible privately, now being closed and locked behind logins.
In old web forum days, weird niche info was distributed all over. That made it robust. Big tech social media displaced most of that world. It all got centralized. No matter hjow awful their algorithms are, no matter how toxic, those sites do have riches of knowledge.
We ARE losing something, if open access to niche info created by normal ppl is cut off.
"Ppl will figure a way around" you may say. There is no way to win that fight in the long run.
I hope people learn. Stop using reddit.
How does that fix the issue OP is writing about? The knowledge no longer accessible from a simple web search?
If I type any subject into Google, followed by the word Reddit, I still get Reddit threads in response.
The people capable of giving those answers aren't gone forever, tech is prob the one case where lemmy should suffice already, ask the question, you'll be the first now.
I personally use RedReader (signed out) and "share to" Linkora to save useful threads.
https://f-droid.org/packages/org.quantumbadger.redreader/
https://f-droid.org/packages/com.sakethh.linkora/
That works for now. If redreader stops working... 🤷 bye Felicia. I don't visit Reddit much anyway.
I've replaced "sitting at PC, nothing to read" with neal.fun, Atlas Obscura, Smithsonian Smart News and Lemmy 🤣
PS: IIRC, you can download a good chunk of reddit as an archive to search against.
https://github.com/ArthurHeitmann/arctic_shift
https://github.com/19-84/redd-archiver
I think the full pushshift reddit archive (to 2024?) was 4TB, but you can just grab smaller useful subsections. So it's less of a workaround and more a "tube is out of the toothpaste, suck shit Spez".
Actually, redd-archive (which is up to end of 2025) has an MCP, so you could point your local LLM at it and get it to find the info you need, all off line.
Last I checked, it even let you grab snapshots of particular subreddits of your choice, so you're not grabbing multiple terabytes. 2026 snapshots aren't out yet IIRC
This has happened to me on iPhone Safari and Firefox for the past few months. This will seal the deal for me against Reddit.
I cant even getting a log in. I was banned about 18 months ago and no matter how I create a login (using a VPN/10-minute email) they still figured out it was me.
Then I discovered this place and thought fuck it.
Need a new device. If they're really serious about it they might start requiring you to loging through google/iPhone which require phone numbers to register.
But you should be able just to use a different nontainted phone and sign up just fine. I've done it on my pi and an extra phone through vpns and seemed to work. This hasn't been recently but I got banned maybe 6 months ago and made a few burners.
You could maybe try a virtual machine too, just never log back in on your primary phone.
But I agree with everyone's sentiment don't go back.
In addition to the more utilitarian aspect of Reddit soon-to-be wallgardened, I’m sad that the cultural, community aspect may be as well. While one could argue that certain communities could theoretically be replicated here, it’s just very difficult without significant mass.
I'll miss the Arthurian and Latin subreddits in particular. Not sure if they'll ever be here, and I am often busy with school so not sure if I can do moderation. Plus I'm not the most knowledgeable in those subjects.
Is there a tool to download all reddit posts? I didn't want to delete from reddit because some people might find it useful but now that it's gated, I wanna move it all to lemmy.
Iirc shreddit lets you download all your posts before deleting them
I tried "bulk-downloader-for-reddit" I don't know how you'll drop it to lemmy.
This is a good reason to delete posts and stop contributing to reddit.
If people want old info they can use old archives that harvested all the content. It's easy accessibility of content that has led to people putting up with reddit becoming anti user removing third party apps, making UI worse, and login requirements.
If using reddit just lurk and delete content. Don't contribute.
While I do agree, reddit has been shown to un-delete comments that were mass deleted in the past if the user used a script
I got permabanned, when I delete posts/comments it just shows deleted on the username area, keeps the content up
That's why you don't delete your account. You rewrite then delete and keep your account to monitor it.
Either way, it is new content that people mostly use reddit for that is keeping the site alive.
This is the reason I don't like discord (alongside its lack of privacy, ownership).
I am aware they announced recently that the info will now be searchable (for servers that allow), but I consider it an information black hole.
So many people decide to use it and all that information is not searchable. It's also lost if discord ever desires it, or the server admin bans you, or wtv.
Moving to a more open internet has to come from the masses, but the masses like Facebook so here we are.
I don't think the masses like Facebook. I think they hate it, and hate reddit's new policies. But they're also distracted / lazy and ignorant and neither understand the alternatives, nor are willing to invest time to discover and learn to use them. I'm also very sure the average person scores significantly lower on both intellectual curiosity and reading comprehension than the average Lemmy user.
When Trump 2.0 started, there was a massive uptick in people attempting to learn about cyber privacy, public infrastructure and other was to be safer and more in control of their digital lives. But most of them couldn't sustain it and it petered out after about 8 months. It will probably surge back if fascism does massive, rapid bullshit, but as long as they keep turning up the temperature slowly, the frog will just boil to death while doomscrolling and there's not a damn thing we can do about it.
You can tell reddit got dumber because of posts complaining about ads, which is the bare minimum level needed for tech literacy.
Which is why reddit has turned into being reposts of twitter, tiktok, and facebook as the general userbase became the bulk of the audience and biggest sign is the anti science demographic sharing the space that amazes you that they can even type.
It's also why reddit has been able to get away with their changes.
Sorry but this is complete cope. I left reddit after the API debacle and even I will begrudgingly admit the site stayed at least as useful as it was before, if not more so. I repeatedly come back to find answers to obscure questions less than 3 years old, I wish there was somewhere else to go.
You misunderstood what I am saying. I'm talking about the general users of reddit and the most popular subreddits that are basically twitter and facebook topics.
Niche subs are still useful, but the masses are what has made reddit worse because they are the largest userbase that willingly puts up with all the reddit changes. So everyone else gets dragged along.
There is a reason long time reddit users stay away from /r/all and stick to their subscribed subreddits.
I didn't even talk about leaving reddit, but about the shifting demographic as the userbase grew.
I don’t think the masses like Facebook. I think they hate it, and hate reddit’s new policies.
I think the way Cory Doctorow put it is Facebook is betting people love their friends and family more than they hate Mark Zuckerberg.
there’s not a damn thing we ~~can~~ will do about it.
FTFY
What I really don’t like about discord is I have to have an account to use it and I can’t separate my accounts across spaces.
I might be part of some really weird spaces I do not want remotely associate with open source or even professional discussion and support groups. Why those tins are on discord I don’t know, but they are.
Moving to a more open internet has to come from the masses
100%. Your frustration is mine too.
I hate to sound like I'm victim blaming, but this kinda sounds like a Leopards Ate My Face kind of situation. How can anybody trust Reddit to do what is good for the people that use the site? Anybody who writes software for Reddit must expect that it will be a cat and mouse situation where the community UX is deprioritized to chase money.
Why isn't lemmy searchable?
You just have to add lemmy (obvious downside of some instances not being named a variation of lemmy means they are less likely to show up still), its not like reddit now, its like when you had to add reddit at the end of your search, nows its just always the first result
It is. And many even popular search engine searches will give results from a lemmy instance.
It is, searchable, isn't it?
At least the app I'm using does have a search function, and it works...
As for search engines, it's searchable there too, there's just no much point in filtering by site because... which site?
Search engines could add a specific “search only on the fediverse” filter, but they're too busy enshittifying themselves and losing money with unprofitable “AI” “search” to do it...
Looking forward to freeing up a couple more hours of my week!
But seriously, finding search results of use is going to be even more painful.
I generally agree with your sentiment. But let's see some possibly positive sides at the same time:
- Maybe this will encourage or entice people within or outside that wall to come to places like Lemmy.
- And maybe will encourage people on Lemmy and similar platforms to share even more.
- As time passes, a lot of that knowledge and information there becomes obsolete. This is something I'm strongly noticing also on StackExchange for example.
It's why I'm testing out piefed.
But I've also been in software dev for 20yrs and am not your average user...
Went from MySpace, to Digg, to Reddit, now looking for new place for news feed that isn't tainted by the great algorithm.
Welcome!
Maybe this will encourage or entice people within or outside that wall to come to places like Lemmy
People say stuff like this all the time. History tells us that will not happen. There was a sitewide protest when they killed the API but no one left. History tells us there is fucking nothing these social media corporations can do to get people to leave. Because they have tried over and over again in recent years and it always fails. Maybe 1% finds somewhere else to spend their time.
Nothing?
I have been on Lemmy for years after they blocked apps.
It is called getting a spine and sticking to their principles.
I lost sympathy for those that keep persisting with that shit hole for all kinds of excuses.
There was a sitewide protest when they killed the API but no one left.
Before the API protest, Lemmy had less than 1000 Monthly Active Users. Right after the protests, it shot up to just under 70,000 and then settled down to around 38,000 users. It currently has around 31,000 Monthly Active Users with another 7,000 between Piefed and Mbin.
then:
now: https://fedidb.com/software/lemmy
Waving from PieFed!
Oh well only a hundred million to go!
A lot of us don't want to be in a community with millions of people. Some people like stadiums, other people like cafes.
There was a sitewide protest when they killed the API but no one left
There are dozens of us! Dozens!
Dozen thousands?
i left
Cool!
I dunno, one of the big reasons that Reddit got big, was Digg shooting themselves in the foot.
I literally left when they killed the API.
Same :) At first I just wanted to have an alternative to Reddit. More like a backup in case it gets worse. Then I realized that I was browsing Lemmy more often so I deleted my Reddit account and here we are. I'm the first generation who was on facebook. Then our parents joined and we moved to Twitter. After Musk ruined that we fled to Reddit and now Lemmy.
Me too. There are dozens of us! Dozens!
One more here!
There was a sitewide protest when they killed the API but no one left.
I’m no one important and I left. I think a lot of people are fed up with being monetized at every turn.
If there really are more bots than real people participating as others claim, then the real people are going somewhere. Maybe they will stumble in here.
How do we know for sure? The site is infested with bots that may create traffic to compensate the activity by the actual human users, who fleed their service. Afaik even spaz confirmed that most of the traffic on Reddit is generated by bots.
More recently, I've seen tons of comments about Proton that seemed like numerous copies of the same idea shared with less than one minute intervals. It detinitely felt suspicious when reading similar ideas time and time again.
Because despite what everyone says, bots are still very easy to spot, and aren't capable of creating the type of high quality submissions that keeps users there. And because I talk to people IRL every day that still use it. I'm yet to meet anyone in person who knows what the fediverse is.
You gotta love when a shitty company kills itself
Yeah, its just unfortinately the last bastion of searchable-niche-knowledge-from-laymen-and-experts forum. Heres to hoping reddit 2 is not owned by basement dwellers and less authoritarian with their policies.
Thrash taking itself out
Information wants to be free
The odd thing is, if one deletes the app from their phone, they are then able to if for example, search for a reddit subject using Google search, upvote, even comment on the thread, without downloading the app (I've an Android os), but it's due to having used google to sign into my account, that it now functions as being logged in, even without the app downloaded.
It's not going to claw me back, It's done and dusted now, bar the occasional google of something on Reddit.
I guess redlib could use a login cookie with a dumb reddit account ? Less privacy focused but still accesible without all the bload and stupid ads.
There is a fork that also incorporates small browser to scrape reddit directly. No cookies needed but UX gets a hit(poster names censored until opening the post, not all comments loaded at once, search not working, 403 errors).
It would likely have to have a large pool of accounts and randomly pick one per request, to avoid Reddit noticing a too-high volume of requests from one account.
IMO, there might be something to that idea. It would have to be a huge pool, and it would be endless whack a mole as reddit etc get better at detecting automated traffic patterns. The more requests, the bigger the pool has to be.
Reddit is very good at detecting multiple accts using dev fingerprinting, which they could do here too. It might be hard to have a big pool and keep it alive.
In theory, I think it might work. Esp with heavy caching. In practice, IDK. There'd be challenges for sure.
Thousands of people all browsing the site from the same account? Yeah Reddit would pick up on and ban that in a heartbeat.
I dont think that would work. Not a programmer in the least bit but I'm sure Resist would recognize when a single login cookie is pulling and unreasonably amount of request from the website.
I was referring to your own dumb reddit account cookie, but yeah this would take away the whole purpose of redlib however it would still grant access to important stuff present on reddit :). It was anyway inevitable...
There's a fork that does exactly this already. It works but yeah it kind of eliminates the point.
Yah ... I think it eliminates the point if it requires a per-user login. And if they try to put it all behind a common login, then brackled@lemmy.world's point enters the picture. Reddit will cut it off. Or make it so rate limited to be useless for that.
There might always be some way to get a little data out. But it can become so painful, so limited, to be almost useless.
it also contains a huge body of knowledge not found anywhere else […]
only good hits were a reddit thread in a tech sub
so FineCoatMummy, where’s !techtipsfromr@sh.itjust.works? Are you going to let those tips rot? 3-2-1 nothin? Did your online mentors unteach you the first rule of internet browsing?
weird niche info was distributed all over.
wait, so you do know the mirror rule. whe’re your mirrors?
