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Projection
Aye, people that project default to gaslighting because they almost believe it themselves.
Stop trying to gaslight us into thinking that gaslighting has an actual meaning and “our truth” isn’t valid (/s)
This case is a dictionary definition.
I think it's just a lack of financial, economic understanding. For the cost of 6 months of API calls, they could have acquired rights and users for a superior app, avoided most of the blowback, and eliminated all future API expenses.
Of course, the execs really aren't in charge here. They're doing what the money men told them to do.
Why would they buy the app exactly?
If they shut it down they don't really gain the users, and if they continue running it how are they eliminating future API expenses?
It seems to me shutting down 3rd party apps is intentional here, so it would make no sense to spend money to do that when they can do it for free.
Spend $ to keep existing users vs strong-arm 3rd party apps in to closing and losing users. Even Ryan the temp knew that it's better to keep existing customers than court new ones.
Keep the users how? If they buy the app they won't want to maintain multiple separate reddit apps, so they will tell users to migrate to the existing reddit app. Strong-arming the 3rd party apps into closing is free and does the same thing.
Free and guarantees loss of users.
Why not buy the app that's superior to Reddits app (guaranteeing users stay), catch additional revenue from modest charge for API that slowly increases (filters out competing apps and offsets cost to purchase best app)?
Those users are guaranteed to leave either way, unless they maintain all the 3rd party apps they buy, but why would they do that?
I mean this is already what they are doing (without the slowly part).
Buy the best 3rd party app (RIF or Apollo)
They started way too high on the new API charge. It could be some real 4D chess if they started this high just to elicit outrage and offer a lower cost for API thats easier to stomach.
Make best 3rd party app the official Reddit app via acquisition. Slowly increase API to kill 3rd party rivals and ensure user migration to best 3rd party app that is now official Reddit app. Problem solved. I think.
They're not going to kill their own app in favor of Apollo.
From what I understand, they already went the path of buying the best 3rd party app in the past and all they did with it is kill the app and try to migrate their users to their current app.
I don't even believe that. Because this sort of community implosion hurts PR and valuation, this is dumb from a "maximize profit" perspective too.
To me the only explanation that makes sense is that they've just decided to kill the site without straight up saying "reddit is being sunsetted". Maybe they're bored of it, maybe something is going on behind the curtains, I dunno. This isn't money grabbing though.
Modeling the effect of shutting down third party apps is hard. They probably expect some attrition but they really have no idea how much. They've done market research, of course, but it's far from perfect.
If it drives more users to the main app, getting more eyeballs on ads and more Reddit Premium subscribers, they figure it'll come out as at least a wash. And they get to show that all-important revenue increase just before the IPO while explaining that the MAU drop is from people who weren't contributing to revenue anyway - because to the finance folks, it's that black and white.
The truth is more nuanced, though. The value users derive from Reddit (largely) isn't from really anything the site itself provides. It's the scale and breadth of the community creating and contributing. If a solid chunk of users leave and an even larger group decrease their engagement, it'll definitely feel different.
If this is what the finance folks think then they are forgetting the costs side of their product. 3rd party apps are also generating content for free via the APIs.
Let's see how much interaction remains after the 30th.
I think the biggest risk here is moderators leaving. If all the moderators close their subreddits and leave at the same time it would effectively kill most of the communities. Who would step in to pick new moderators and train them?
from what i've been seeing most people that use 3rd party apps are ditching mobile reddit entirely and just using it on a comptuer. which means ad blockers so no net gain for ads.