Shulou(Shulou.com)11/24 Report--

CTOnews.com June 14, Reddit is a well-known social news site where users can post and discuss a variety of topics in different subreddit sections. Recently, Reddit announced that it will charge higher fees for third-party developers to use its API (application program interface), sparking strong opposition from users and moderators. In protest against Reddit's actions, more than 8000 sub-sections decided to shut down temporarily, affecting millions of users.

API is a technology that allows the exchange of data between different software. many third-party developers use Reddit's API to develop tools and applications that facilitate users to browse and manage content. For example, Apollo and RIF are two very popular third-party Reddit applications. However, Reddit found that some people use their API to obtain large amounts of data for training artificial intelligence (AI) tools. These AI tools have high commercial value, but Reddit does not benefit from it. As a result, Reddit decided to increase the cost of using API from next month to charge AI developers.

CTOnews.com previously reported that the move caused dissatisfaction in the Reddit community, and many moderators believed that Reddit did not respect their voluntary labor. Moderators are the users responsible for managing the content and rules of subsections, and they usually use third-party tools to improve efficiency. If third-party tools stop running because they can't afford the high cost, the moderator's work will become more difficult. As a result, many moderators choose to take the sub-sections they manage offline in protest.

Reddit says it needs to raise API fees to keep the company running. According to an internal memo obtained by technology media The Verge, Steve Hoffman, CEO of Reddit, is not worried about the downloading of thousands of subsections, saying that "it has not had any significant impact on our revenue" and that "like all the incidents on Reddit, this time will pass." "the most important thing we can do now is to stay focused, adapt to the challenges and move on," he said. " He said the company will continue to improve its products and communicate with some third-party developers. He also reminded employees not to wear clothes with the Reddit logo in public, as some people may vent their bad feelings on them.

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