This article explores the link between AI, cryptocurrency, and Reddit’s current predicament caused by a developer-led protest. It delves into the implications and underlying factors surrounding the situation, highlighting the interplay between these elements.
Reddit is currently facing a challenging situation as was expected. In fact, it’s clear that the development of artificial intelligence (AI) poses a threat to fundamentally alter how people look for information online, posing a challenge to Reddit’s long-standing status as a key source.
In addition, a significant boycott of the social networking site is underway in retaliation for a divisive choice it took to bolster its standing.
Despite having a massive 57 million daily users and enjoying significant success over the years, it appears that none of this is enough for Reddit to keep its reputation as a “tech treasure.”
As a result, Reddit’s current predicament emphasizes how flimsy the platform’s underlying support system—namely, advertising and data mining—has always been.
We can also see that there is a sizable anti-Reddit protest going on right now. Developers specifically started the protest because they feel deceived by a recent strategic choice made by the corporation.
Specifically, charging for the usage of its application programming interfaces (APIs), which are necessary for gaining access to the website and its data in order to build something on it.
As a result, many third-party apps have abandoned the website and hundreds of subreddits have become “private” in protest. All of this occurs as Reddit attempts to go public later this year.
Reddit’s platform is currently in turmoil as a result of the CEO’s most recent moves
Reddit, also known as the “homepage of the Internet,” is a website where users can gather news, memes, and create communities to talk about any subject. It has amassed a considerable amount of relevant data and information that is continuously updated due to its size and the fact that some of its semi-autonomous subreddits have tens of millions of active members.
Reddit has established a beneficial partnership with services like Google by allowing web search engines to scan its discussion threads for numerous years.
This dynamic has been altered by the introduction of “large language models” (LLMs), like ChatGPT. These models can only get better and learn by ingesting massive volumes of data, including all the material on the internet.
Reddit CEO Steve Huffman modified the prior regulation of freely sharing the site’s “body of data” during a Q&A session. Reddit will no longer provide access to app developers for free.
Additionally, it looks that some of the data that users have submitted throughout the years may be packaged and sold, albeit this is simply speculation and cannot be confirmed.
Some of the justifications for this choice were provided by Huffman, while others are obvious.
How much would the boycott of Reddit impact cryptocurrency if it is successful?
But how do the aforementioned points relate to cryptocurrency? We can see that there might be consequences for cryptocurrencies as a social movement, depending on how things go.
Undoubtedly, a movement that supports openness, user control, and transparency may greatly benefit from a company’s power to make unilateral decisions that have a substantial impact on users.
However, if the boycott is successful, the scenario might also act somewhat against cryptocurrencies.
This is due to the possibility that those looking for more security may find it unappealing if platforms like Ethereum only want to serve as the basis of a better Web, which would necessitate the development and upkeep of alternative applications as well as the migration of users to new social platforms and a fresh start.
In fact, it would be much simpler for consumers to pressure businesses like Facebook and Google to address elements like privacy by organizing large-scale rallies.
Last but not least, it is clear that Reddit, as opposed to Facebook, has arguably stayed truer to its origins by enabling numerous communities to self-regulate and by keeping a more lenient position on what users can publish.
In this sense, there has always been a kind of affinity between the world of Reddit and cryptocurrencies despite it being a massive platform managed by businesses utilizing the same data-mining tools created by Zuckerberg.
