First of all, I post this as someone who is only modestly informed about the whole situation. I’m a casual user who moved here from Reddit mostly because of the blackout and I don’t have a super strong opinion about any of it.
I’m curious to learn though! Part of my curiosity is in the title - what’s the single worst thing the API changes have done (or will do)? Is it that they priced out Apollo? Is there another big third party app that’s getting killed?
I am a user and not a moderator. I was lucky enough when I joined Reddit to also discover Apollo and quickly thereafter got added to the TestFlight. For me Apollo was Reddit, and it was an excellent customizable experience. My feed could look how I wanted it to, I could block anyone and any keyword(s) and any subreddits I wanted. I was able to curate an actually positive feed in a world full of negativity and vitriol. No ads or suggestions or other nonsense I wasn’t interested in. The ability to change colors and app icons only made the experience better.
When the change rumblings started and Christian was very positive about it, I was willing to pay a subscription (and switch to public) to continue enjoying such an excellent app for Reddit. I had a mild worry that it was not going to end well, but I had no reason to really believe it.
When shit hit the fan a month ago I was happy to see protesting and hoped we’d see some kind of backpedaling or negotiating in the form of what they really wanted. As soon as the retaliation started I knew the end of what Reddit was had come. Enshittification at its finest. Especially regarding the accessibility issues.
And then in the middle, Spez lied his ass off and Christian provided receipts, and then Spez doubled down. And at that moment I knew I could not support Reddit after June 30. I started with Lemmy yesterday and I’m already happier. I sense a renewed ability to curate a positive feed with people who mostly agree on Reddit’s bullshit. I’m currently bouncing between wefwef and Memmy apps, both of which emulate the Apollo experience.
The thing, in the end, that made me saddest was seeing all the hate from users who don’t care about the API changes and were just angry about the blackouts, the John Oliver and Tim Cook posts, the “power hungry mods.” It invaded nearly every comments section I read over the past week. Of course the users are inconvenienced, that was the point. Reddit is nothing without its users and if such a small margin of people can make such a huge difference to the site, the writing should be on the wall for any average user. Alas, I had too much faith in the Reddit community. I hope they fail hard. I can’t wait to see what happens and be happy I’m no longer part of it.
Tl;dr: the worst thing that came from the API changed was Spez and the mob of average Reddit users showing their true colors.