VOA科学技术2023--Why Are Thousands of Subreddits Going Dark?

Why Are Thousands of Subreddits Going Dark?

Reddit is a social media website where people with common interests can have conversations by posting comments, videos and images. Posts are grouped into communities, called subreddits, based on different subjects.

Thousands of popular Reddit communities, including groups about technology, gaming, and music, locked out their users recently in protest. People who organize the communities, called moderators, are protesting the company's plan to charge for access to its data.

Starting next month, Reddit said third-party app developers, people who make apps but do not work for Reddit, will have to pay for its application programming interface¹ (API). It is a programming system that permits a data provider and end-user to communicate with each other.

Costly² to developers

Reddit plans to charge developers that require higher usage limits $0.24 for every 1,000 API calls or less than $1 per user every month.

One such third-party app is the Apollo app. It is popular among Reddit users as a way to get content from the official Reddit page.

Apollo said that with their current usage, the charges would cost more than $20 million a year. And the developer added that the costly charges have "made it impossible" to continue offering the service.

Christian³ Selig, the creator of the Apollo app for Reddit, said that the service will close on June 30.

Why is Reddit making the change?

One of the reasons that Reddit is making the change is generative artificial intelligence (AI). Generative AI can create new content, like images, videos, music, text, or other forms of data.

Conversations on Reddit have a lot of data that can be used to train generative AI tools such as ChatGPT. While some of this data can be collected in an unstructured way, Reddit's API makes it easier for companies to directly find and collect the data.

Reddit chief executive Steve Huffman told The New York Times in April that Reddit's data "is really valuable." And he said he does not want to "give all of that value to some of the largest companies in the world for free."

Who is affected⁴ by the Reddit blackout?

Thousands of subreddits, including r/Music, r/gaming, r/science, and r/todayilearned, are protesting the move. They all have more than 30 million followers⁵.

Unlike most other social media services, Reddit is heavily dependent on community moderators who police their subreddits for free to deal with offensive or illegal content.

And the moderators planned a blackout during which their pages will go private. That means millions of users will be left without access to those communities.

Huffman noted⁶ the anger among many moderators of Reddit communities. But he said the company cannot let companies use large amounts of its data for free and Reddit needs to be able to support itself.

Words in This Story

access – n. a way of being able to use or get something

app – n. a computer program that performs a special function

interface – n. a system that controls the way information is shown to a computer user and the way the user is able to work with the computer

generate – v. to produce (something) or cause (something) to be produced

blackout – n. a situation in which some kind of information are deliberately⁷ kept from the public

substitute – n. a person or thing that takes the place of someone or something else

1 interface   

n.接合部位，分界面；v.(使)互相联系

参考例句：

• My computer has a network interface,which allows me to get to other computers.我的计算机有网络接口可以与其它计算机连在一起。
• This program has perspicuous interface and extensive application. 该程序界面明了，适用范围广。

2 costly   

adj.昂贵的，价值高的，豪华的

参考例句：

• It must be very costly to keep up a house like this.维修这么一幢房子一定很昂贵。
• This dictionary is very useful,only it is a bit costly.这本词典很有用，左不过贵了些。

3 Christian   

adj.基督教徒的；n.基督教徒

参考例句：

• They always addressed each other by their Christian name.他们总是以教名互相称呼。
• His mother is a sincere Christian.他母亲是个虔诚的基督教徒。

4 affected   

adj.不自然的，假装的

参考例句：

• She showed an affected interest in our subject.她假装对我们的课题感到兴趣。
• His manners are affected.他的态度不自然。

5 followers   

追随者( follower的名词复数 )； 用户； 契据的附面； 从动件

参考例句：

• the followers of Mahatma Gandhi 圣雄甘地的拥护者
• The reformer soon gathered a band of followers round him. 改革者很快就获得一群追随者支持他。

6 noted   

adj.著名的，知名的

参考例句：

• The local hotel is noted for its good table.当地的那家酒店以餐食精美而著称。
• Jim is noted for arriving late for work.吉姆上班迟到出了名。

7 deliberately   

adv.审慎地；蓄意地；故意地

参考例句：

• The girl gave the show away deliberately.女孩故意泄露秘密。
• They deliberately shifted off the argument.他们故意回避这个论点。