Reddit, the popular social media platform and online community, has recently found itself in the midst of chaos and controversy due to significant API changes.  This led to a series of events that have shaken the Reddit community and its ecosystem of third-party apps.

The API (Application Programming Interface) which allows developers to access and interact with Reddit's data, has been free for the past seven years. 

In April, Reddit announced that it would be charging for API access. 

This is similar to what Twitter did after Elon Musk took over the platform. 

Reddit is highly motivated to increase its profitability. The company has been eyeing an IPO for years. And it recently laid off about 90 employees as it tries to get profitable according to the Wall Street Journal.

API changes shake the users

APIs serve as bridges between different applications, enabling them to communicate and exchange data without directly accessing each other's inner workings. 

Reddit’s free API allowed developers to create third-party apps that could request data from Reddit and use it to build their own applications with unique interfaces and additional features. This model fostered innovation and gave users more choices beyond the official Reddit app.

With the implementation of the paid API, developers now face the cost of making requests on a per-request basis. The more popular an app becomes, the more requests it needs to make, resulting in higher expenses.

 One prominent example is Apollo, a popular Reddit app for Apple products. According to a developer, Apollo could end up paying nearly $2 million per month. And over $20 million per year under the new API pricing. 

This substantial cost has forced Apollo and several other third-party apps, including ReddPlanet, Sync, and Reddit is Fun (RIF), to shut down their services.

In response to the API changes and the adverse effects on third-party apps, thousands of subreddits joined a protest called Reddark, announcing a 48-hour blackout. These subreddits, including some of the most popular ones like r/gaming, r/food, r/funny, and r/aww, restricted access to their content by setting themselves to private. 

This meant that users could neither visit nor engage with these subreddits until they were made public again. The blackout initially aimed to last for 48 hours, but even after the planned end date, over 6,000 subreddits remained private.

In an attempt to address the backlash, Reddit's CEO, Steve Huffman, hosted an AMA (Ask Me Anything) session.

 During the AMA, Reddit announced updates to its API terms but maintained the pricing structure that had caused the uproar. The only exception is for apps using fewer than 100 requests per minute through the OAuth client ID would be exempt from charges.

The company also mentioned that moderation tools and accessibility-focused apps would continue to have free access to the API.

Reddit Blackout Extended

Despite the protests and user backlash, Huffman showed little concern in an internal memo obtained by The Verge. He expressed confidence that the situation would pass. And claimed that the users would adjust.

 The blackout initially aimed to last for 48 hours, but even after the planned end date, over 6,000 subreddits remained private. And it appears that the protests are growing.

Huffman did caution employees against wearing branded Reddit gear in public. And acknowledged some users were angry and over-the-top in their responses.

"Some folks are really upset, and we don't want you to be the object of their frustrations," he wrote.

The ongoing chaos and protests surrounding Reddit's API changes have left the future of third-party apps and the overall user experience uncertain. The potential loss of these apps could drive users toward the official Reddit app, where they would encounter advertisements.

How Huffman will navigate this turbulent period and address the concerns of its passionate communities is an open question. It remains to be seen if Reddit can successfully balance its business goals with the desires and demands of its user base.