It's certainly not that, other apps that use only public APIs that don't show ads (e.g. Apollo) are specifically acknowledged and allowed by Reddit admins.
The speculation in the thread appears to be that this is triggered by a part of the app that is not using the public APIs.
But also, I'd bet that this is just FPs from anti-abuse, not some kind of ad blocking conspiracy. Somebody sent a lot of spam using the chat feature, and the fingerprint of that traffic happens to match the fingerprint of this application. And rather than combine both signals derived from the chat message content and from fingerprinting for issuing their bans, they just used the latter.
It's not ironclad, but since Reddit has refused to explain why it's banning people and there's an obvious common thread, the title is a fair belief at the moment, albeit with some uncertainty.
Accurate headlines would be more like “Reddit bans users after they use an accessibility app” or “Reddit users banned after they use accessibility app.”
There needs to be some sort of push in the other direction for this trend of not stating why bans happen, and treating wild speculation as fact because the site owners choose not to provide the user (and the public they tell) info on the ban is a perfectly acceptable solution.
Treating wild speculation as fact just kills credibility.
The headline is simply inaccurate. We don’t know whether Reddit banned the users because they were blind and using an accessibility app (extremely unlikely) or because they were using an accessibility app with extra-API features that may have inadvertently violated some policy or that may have taken actions that resembled those of a banned app or a spam app.
Which is a major reason why the reason for a ban should be required for any ban. There is a basis for investigating intent. The evidence that would be necessary for ascribing intent has been obscured by the same party that made the ban.
There needs to be some sort of push in the other direction for this trend of not stating why bans happen, and treating wild speculation as fact because the site owners choose not to provide the user (and the public they tell) info on the ban is a perfectly acceptable solution.
So far it doesn’t look like there’s even too strong of a pattern establishing the link between the account suspensions.
Even if there was a link just because the app is accessible doesn’t mean Reddit can’t ban it. If the Reddit website isn’t accessible then they have a problem.
Why does no one need to have multiple accounts on Reddit? There are multiple subreddits where people post using throwaway accounts to protect their identity but still engage with the community.
I use multiple accounts on Reddit; one for posts and comments I want associated with my name, one for my more radical political views, and one for general shitposts. Reddit happily supports multiple accounts and RES even makes it trivial to switch between them. While it is possible that nobody needs multiple accounts, they can be useful.
Reddit community guidelines allow you to use multiple accounts, and bans for abusing them are almost always shadowbans on your alts so its votes stop getting counted.
No social media site needs to enforce restrictions on multiple accounts, the primary reason they do is to exert control over their users.
Just off the top of my head a single use case: a reddit account for posts I make for myself, vs. those I make on behalf of my employer (or more specifically in my case, my wife's business).
Then there are bot accounts, users who want to keep their interests and hobbies distinct. Users who have a income based off of activity on social media (and not just sex-workers, but also indie game designers, streamers, social media management folks, etc, etc, etc).
You might not think that you want to keep the different "personas" that you have separate on social media, but most people do, and I say this as a person who uses a single username and profile on most social media sites.
If you are in the business of designing user facing systems I really hope you take some time to learn about how folks use computer systems and user-centric design.
Lots of people use multiple Reddit accounts for reasons other than manipulating the karma system. Unless something has changed recently, having multiple accounts is permitted by the TOS, as is creating throwaway accounts, as long as all of the accounts abide by the TOS.
One of the main reasons for doing this is to separate posting by different subject areas. Maybe you're fine with being loose with your personal details on the local subreddit but when you're commenting on a subreddit about being an abuse survivor, you don't want those posts associated with your other account(s). It's fairly common for people on Reddit who get angry about a post to go digging through a person's posting history to find something unrelated to hurt them with or to try to discover the poster's personal identity.
Having a throwaway account is sort of a reddit custom. Lots of people have one that is linked to them publically where they link to their blogs and work. While having another anonymous account to make jokes and comments about their lifes without people linking it back to them.
Every regular user that I know of has multiple alts. usually 2-3 yes of varying levels of privacy /appropriateness and a few more throwaways for one time use.
I personally have 3 reddit accounts, and each serves a very specific use
>My name was SLJ7 until a few days ago, when that account got suspended. For those who don't know, suspentions are Reddit's answer to the controversial shadowban. I'm still able to view Reddit, but can't interact in any way with my subs. I got a PM alerting me to this fact, and it very unhelpfully referenced the content policy, which I'm 99% certain I haven't violated. So, I went through the fairly easy appeal process, stating that I don't know what I did and would like to have my account back. I received what was certainly an automated response telling me my suspention would not be lifted, and I should familiarize myself with the content policy.
It seems like every year that website just gets worse and worse.
The left and right margins are gigantic. Every headline takes about twice as much space, so it takes longer to read the same amount of headlines and pick out anything worth reading.
Maybe it makes sense on a newer phone, or fullscreened on a desktop. I usually run Reddit at 1000x1000 on a desktop, so it looks like crap.
It's just awful, and has hardly improved since launch. It loads way slower (sometimes seconds vs. consistently hundreds of milliseconds), scrolling feels sluggish, and old.reddit.com shows significantly more content and comments in less space - not to mention the content width maxes out at 740px when my viewport is ~1920px.
On top of this, despite obviously being designed for it, the mobile experience is borderline unusable and still obviously trying to push you towards the app. If I want to read a comment thread on new reddit, half of the comments will be hidden behind "x more replies" or "continue this thread". When I click that link, it might scroll me to a random ass article suggestion rather than the actual comment. Then, when I click back, it will scroll me to the top again, and it will reload all of the comments. Or, alternatively, it'll beg me to make an account and not even let me view the comments.
On desktop I just use "Old Reddit Redirect" extension :)
But yup, I wholly agree with your point. The redesign feels like a mix of product managers trying to get promoted + boosting "engagement" numbers at the expense of all else.
Or perhaps we are the odd ones out - I'm sure there's been a huge growth in new users Reddit since the redesign and I doubt that new users are hankering for a different experience now that they're used to it.
I'm convinced that most people just hate text and that everything we're complaining about is just part of a larger move of the entire internet away from text.
I don't know if it's so much a move away from text but instead an addition of other media. Short form text (tweets) and images enable "snacking" and infinite scroll just feeds the dopamine machine. That's what a lot of people want out of the web.
I don't think there's any less demand for long form text content on the web. It's growth just isn't ever going to eclipse the snack sized content.
In the case of Reddit, there's still plenty of long form text links and discussions in the comments. The current UX doesn't make that as prominent by default but it's there. The Reddit snackers make more money because they see way more ads. As long as there's an affordance for long form text content Reddit has utility for me.
If they go full TweetBook and kill the likes of i/old Reddit then I'm out. I guess I'll try to get a lobste.rs invite or something.
Old reddit gives far more information about each submission on the page and is lighting fast. Nu-reddit wants to be an instagram style mobile first feed app and you can only see one submission at a time. Clicking on the comments is maddening because it doesn't even show all the comments before ending and suggesting other posts from the subreddit. If I wanted to see them then I would click on the subreddit hyperlink. Additionally it only shows the first node of depth for each op content so I can't follow the conversation without clicking again.
When I read the comment that you replied to, I found it so absurd that I am impressed you replied with an informative statement. I hope to achieve your level of kindness and patience.
If you read through my comments I make flippant borderline ban-worthy posts all the time. I'm no saint on this front I was just trying to articulate to myself what I don't like about new reddit.
https://teddit.net/
JavaScript/ad free non-interactive Reddit. You can setup a feed by going to Reddit for a multireddit link then change it to teddit.net/
I’m shocked how bad the site is every time I use it. Both in terms of the user interface and the tone and content of all the default subs. I’m not sure what the exact demographics are but god help us if Reddit users represent the way human beings are going.
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[ 4.2 ms ] story [ 57.9 ms ] threadBut also, I'd bet that this is just FPs from anti-abuse, not some kind of ad blocking conspiracy. Somebody sent a lot of spam using the chat feature, and the fingerprint of that traffic happens to match the fingerprint of this application. And rather than combine both signals derived from the chat message content and from fingerprinting for issuing their bans, they just used the latter.
Notes from when it was released two years ago: https://www.applevis.com/forum/ios-ipados/i-made-fully-acces...
Nevermind reddit changing to a model of choosing what apps can see their content.
Accurate headlines would be more like “Reddit bans users after they use an accessibility app” or “Reddit users banned after they use accessibility app.”
There is just no basis for ascribing intent here.
The headline is simply inaccurate. We don’t know whether Reddit banned the users because they were blind and using an accessibility app (extremely unlikely) or because they were using an accessibility app with extra-API features that may have inadvertently violated some policy or that may have taken actions that resembled those of a banned app or a spam app.
Even if there was a link just because the app is accessible doesn’t mean Reddit can’t ban it. If the Reddit website isn’t accessible then they have a problem.
I use multiple accounts on Reddit; one for posts and comments I want associated with my name, one for my more radical political views, and one for general shitposts. Reddit happily supports multiple accounts and RES even makes it trivial to switch between them. While it is possible that nobody needs multiple accounts, they can be useful.
Sorry. What?
I can think of many valid reasons.
How about simply wanting to keep different aspects of your public persons separate?
Just off the top of my head a single use case: a reddit account for posts I make for myself, vs. those I make on behalf of my employer (or more specifically in my case, my wife's business).
Then there are bot accounts, users who want to keep their interests and hobbies distinct. Users who have a income based off of activity on social media (and not just sex-workers, but also indie game designers, streamers, social media management folks, etc, etc, etc).
You might not think that you want to keep the different "personas" that you have separate on social media, but most people do, and I say this as a person who uses a single username and profile on most social media sites.
If you are in the business of designing user facing systems I really hope you take some time to learn about how folks use computer systems and user-centric design.
One of the main reasons for doing this is to separate posting by different subject areas. Maybe you're fine with being loose with your personal details on the local subreddit but when you're commenting on a subreddit about being an abuse survivor, you don't want those posts associated with your other account(s). It's fairly common for people on Reddit who get angry about a post to go digging through a person's posting history to find something unrelated to hurt them with or to try to discover the poster's personal identity.
Every regular user that I know of has multiple alts. usually 2-3 yes of varying levels of privacy /appropriateness and a few more throwaways for one time use.
I personally have 3 reddit accounts, and each serves a very specific use
It seems like every year that website just gets worse and worse.
Not sure why people are complaining about the new one so much, but it's definitely better accessibility-wise.
The left and right margins are gigantic. Every headline takes about twice as much space, so it takes longer to read the same amount of headlines and pick out anything worth reading.
Maybe it makes sense on a newer phone, or fullscreened on a desktop. I usually run Reddit at 1000x1000 on a desktop, so it looks like crap.
On top of this, despite obviously being designed for it, the mobile experience is borderline unusable and still obviously trying to push you towards the app. If I want to read a comment thread on new reddit, half of the comments will be hidden behind "x more replies" or "continue this thread". When I click that link, it might scroll me to a random ass article suggestion rather than the actual comment. Then, when I click back, it will scroll me to the top again, and it will reload all of the comments. Or, alternatively, it'll beg me to make an account and not even let me view the comments.
Yuck.
You can also append ".compact" to the end of a normal Reddit URL.
I think Reddit's UX anti-patterns need to be taught alongside the Digg v4 follies as ways to ruin a website.
But yup, I wholly agree with your point. The redesign feels like a mix of product managers trying to get promoted + boosting "engagement" numbers at the expense of all else.
Or perhaps we are the odd ones out - I'm sure there's been a huge growth in new users Reddit since the redesign and I doubt that new users are hankering for a different experience now that they're used to it.
I don't think there's any less demand for long form text content on the web. It's growth just isn't ever going to eclipse the snack sized content.
In the case of Reddit, there's still plenty of long form text links and discussions in the comments. The current UX doesn't make that as prominent by default but it's there. The Reddit snackers make more money because they see way more ads. As long as there's an affordance for long form text content Reddit has utility for me.
If they go full TweetBook and kill the likes of i/old Reddit then I'm out. I guess I'll try to get a lobste.rs invite or something.
FYI there's a layout selector at the top that can make it look like the old layout. The "insta" layout is just the default.
Please use the original title from the article.
And I count at least four in the linked page: slj7, Fastfinge, account_needhelp2020 (seems to be a temp account), RJHand