Reddit

Post is basically the title.

This subreddit is all about a series I quite enjoyed called The Nature of Predators. Or at least the first book . So far I can tell, there really isnt another place to discuss th series other than this subreddit. Over time, people have been making their own fan fiction work (as one does). Some are extremely good, at least I enjoyed it! But they stayed on reddit instead of other platforms to write their stories.

Fast forward to now. Reddit has been shadow-banning peoples accounts. Which makes it next to impossible to read their works. Thankfully some people have been saving some of the works on https://archiveofourown.org/ but its not complete.

Reddit is not a good place for anything you want to keep around. But im preaching to the choir here.

I can't even copy a url without being tracked. When I copy the urls, they get copied with tracking ids, i don't know what they are doing with this data but I think they are creating a mesh table of people, their relatives friends etc. So, I am done, I will delete all the social media in a few weeks, use my phone only with federated apps.

cross-posted from: https://lemmy.world/post/2377145

along with the strong censoring that has occurred on reddit throughout the years, they have now removed r/all from the app and while using a desktop/laptop browser. instead of being able to stumble upon new subreddits you never knew existed, it wants to curate what you're allowed to see

cross-posted from: https://lemmy.world/post/957372

I refused to believe an "artificial intelligence" could write a realistic post title, but then I saw this series of posts. Now I'm 10 feet tall and can move objects with my mind.

cross-posted from: https://lemmus.org/post/21196516

Paul McCartney’s official Reddit account seems to have been banned. The account, u/paulmccartney, had just dropped a set of photos and videos from the first night of his shows at the Fonda Theatre. It went straight into the r/PaulMcCartney subreddit. Then, not long after, the whole thing disappeared.

Browser extension for downloading images and videos from Reddit posts. Supports individual downloads and mass downloading with auto-scrolling.

Since most other Options have stopped working, I thought I'd share this extension I came across. Works fine, although not the fastest

cross-posted from: https://piefed.social/c/fediverse/p/1923069/with-reddit-flirting-with-requiring-age-verification-the-next-rexit-might-be-around-the

With previous Rexit's like the API debarcle etc. many users were left looking for an alternative, but with decision fatigue and bad UX etc. most did not find the Fediverse a viable option.

What needs to still improve, how can we be ready this time?

First they came for the new accounts but I did not speak out because I did not have a new account...

Reddit's AI ID age verification might affect the whole website. Reddit CEO Steve Huffman recently said that he is considering having "face ID" to ensure humanity to combat AI bots on the platform. Reddit may soon require AI facial scans and age checks just to use the website. Let me know what you guys think about this situation in the comments below.

Steve Huffman, Reddit's CEO, said that using biometrics is the "most lightweight way" to verify that it's a human.

CQS or Contributor Quality Score is a hidden, internal rating system that classifies users from "Lowest" to "Highest" based on their likelihood to contribute positively, rather than spamming or trolling. Increasing this requires time and "human-like" account patterns.

This helps moderators filter content and identify risky accounts using metrics such as account age, verification status, and past violations. However it punishes "new users" for simply posting anything falsely flagging them as bot accounts.

Even if a reddit user has been on the site since it's debut, if the CQS is bad then the account is banned outright, so account age or Karma points is useless. This may be the reason why some give up on reddit since it's a metric difficult to combat against outright.

This is just 5 of the links and their about 10+ links on the subreddit asking for the head mod to step down

https://old.reddit.com/r/MtF/comments/1rwlmqj/fixing/_this/_subs/_image/_problem/_is/_long/_overdue/
https://old.reddit.com/r/MtF/comments/1rwmson/another/_mod/_just/_dropped/
https://old.reddit.com/r/MtF/comments/1rwnjz9/its/_pretty/_clear/_cedar/_wont/_step/_down/_and/_drewie/
https://old.reddit.com/r/MtF/comments/1rwl34a/just/_resign/
https://old.reddit.com/r/MtF/comments/1rwnsuq/dont/_move/_subreddits/_that/_just/_disperses/_pressure/

So WHAT HAPPENED?

So a few days ago a user posted about an ex-mod of the subreddit that was a pedophile, https://archive.ph/jg5u2 . They were calling out Cedarwolf for defending the ex mod basically. The ex-mod is a registered sex offender and people understandably angry about it.

One of the users, crystal-lake gave a whole run down I am just going to copy and paste as it contains most of the content of what is happening:

---
Original thread with context

https://archive.ph/jg5u2

Gallery including CedarWolf's replies from original thread:

https://postimg.cc/gallery/G1X5kfZ

CedarWolfs previous response in /MTF:

https://old.reddit.com/user/crystall-lake/comments/1rwmsnf/cedarwolfs/_original/_response/

CedarWolf's new response in /asktransgender:

https://old.reddit.com/r/asktransgender/comments/1rw2jxc/comment/oaxi1u1/ Chat between me and CedarWolf:

https://old.reddit.com/user/crystall-lake/comments/1rwijqq/chat/_log/_between/_me/_and/_cedarwolf/

Mobile Friendly:

https://old.reddit.com/user/crystall-lake/comments/1rwmjy2/chat/_log/_between/_me/_and/_cedarwolf/_mobile/_friendly/

---

The crisis has gotten bad as most of the mod team has left leaving only 2 moderators left on a subreddit prone to transphobic attack waves and trolls. Elon Musk and various other transphobes have also posted about the situation on twitter. Has been posted and deleted about on various trans affiliated subreddits People are calling for the head mod's removal. Complete chaos.

ADDITION:

Head moderator for r /mtf is stepping down after constant action, what does the future hold? Who knows but chaos reigns on mtf
Post by head mod CedarWolf stepping down

Hi, I hope its fine to write about this here.

I recently got PERMANENTLY banned from Reddit on my alt for rule 1 (Hate speech / inciting violence).

Apparently the reason was for writing a slur ? I had no idea it the word I used was even a slur in the first place, because I saw so many others use it before me with no issue, and there were posts using the same word as I did BEFORE and AFTER I got banned and those posts are still up. I have no idea how Reddit AI moderations even judged that my own comment was offensive.

Sadly for me, even my main account, that I have had for 8 years and used to talk to a lot of communities, was also permanently banned.

In just one night, I had lost a lot of the communities I interacted with over the years. Besides, you might hate Reddit (and rightfully so) but atm its too mainstream and widely used, and there sadly isnt a better alternative for a platform where you can access forums for any sort of niche topics, ask questions etc... Many of these are not available elsewhere, not even here.

Anyway, I tried appealing to Reddit but I have been automatically rejected within 5 minutes of writing my appeal (idk if I can believe their "This decision was made without the assistance of automation").

I have now written to them through their reddithelp explaining that I had no idea it was a bad word, that I will be more careful in the future and wish for another chance. But I dont expect a positive response (if I get one to begin with).

I have read how their ban evasion detection works and it seems either impossible or extremely hard to bypass, and I am worried about this because I am scared I will forever be unable to ask questions there ever again, or interact with my previous subreddits.

Almost scrolled by their post because it was so stupid and hateful that I just assumed it was a joke. Apparently it wasn't

Hey all. I'm here to tell you about my experience getting "shadow-banned" on my 8-year-old Reddit account. Short alike others: https://lemmy.today/post/49087735, https://lemmy.today/post/48784920, https://lemmy.today/post/47876190, https://lemmy.today/post/47779751

Almost smart

I basically stopped using Reddit 3 year ago around the whole "Reddit's killing Thirdparty APPS" but, got sucked back in to a niche health/lookmaxing style Sub that I helped Mod for 10 months.

The day of

About a week ago I'm making posts, commenting, Moding, etc, and interactions stop working strangely lets of red error popups, and the "Important Information About Your Reddit Account" notification, saying "after detecting some technical irregularities on your USER_NAME account, we took the extra precaution of locking your account. To unlock your account, reset your password now."

Figuring it out

So, I reset it via my email and log back in. Worried, but it seem top be working.... then a few hours later the same red banner errors when I try to interact with users. So, I view my account on a logged out browser and it says "account suspended"

What to-do?

After filling out both https://www.reddit.com/appeal & https://support.reddithelp.com/hc/en-us/requests/new?ticket_form_id=360000600232 I waited for an email, Reddit notification..... And got nothing about it.

Now, the current non-signed in status is "This account has been banned" & all posts/comments are removed (Mods can still see them as from u/deleted & manually approve them)

When signed in:

• No banner on my account or reason for being banned.
• All public interactions fail with a Red popup error, and my entire history of posts and comments says "Sorry, this post was removed by Reddit’s filters." or "Removed by Reddit"

Why?

What did I do wrong? Only reddit knows that! We can speculate, but, there is no point really. Reddit's TOS allows them to!

How I feel about it

I feel disrespected, gaslit, lied to, and discriminated against. Sad, angry, depressed, etc... :( You all know the stages of grief.

Reddit pretending there's a technical issue to me, but banning me without even saying it, and removing all my past posts & comments is very disheartening. From my personal experience, Reddit has proven to be largely a waste of time, and very much uninvestable.

Moving forward

Well, I'm not gonna make another Reddit account just for the same thing to happen, that would be me participating in (as I see it) a toxic relationship. I still get other random Reddit notifications (modmail, streak messages, etc) I can't do anything with. It's like Reddit is teasing me now. This guy has a good point https://lemmy.today/post/47176601/22123471

A little help?

Anyway, I know there is a lot of hate for conservative/Christian views around here, so any TIPS on where to find a 'safe space' to be me & express my self, and how to limit/block toxicity would be appreciated.

Maybe this is a sign from God, that my time is better offline.

Ever since abandoning ship I've maintained a negative (1 star) review every time there is an update for the app. My review contained no swearing or anything else that I think would break a rule.

This morning I went to update and found my review gone, and trying to submit a new one fails with a "Server error". I was able to review other apps.

Well, it may be a “tale as old as time” but here I am… 8 year Reddit veteran with 660K karma as of last week. I had a hella shock a couple of mornings ago when I refreshed the home page only to see a big red banner saying “this account has been permanently banned from Reddit, see your inbox.”

I check my inbox, and there is nothing there. Great.

OK, I’ve had some experience with weird Reddit moderation over the years. I’ve appealed sub bans and been reinstated, or not bothered. I’ve been permabanned from at least one group for saying sarcastic and critical things about Israel (not about Jewish people per se, about Israel the nation state under its current regime). I’ve waited out a week ban without complaining because I did use intemperate language late one evening, or carelessly broke a rule like “all top comments must include a link to a published paper”.

But a permaban from the entire platform?? That came as a real shock. And there was no explanation. I could see that one of my comments from the evening before had been deleted, but I have no memory of the content of that particular comment; I think I was saying something angry or critical about the US/Israel attack on Iran, but I don’t recall it being particularly fiery or profane.

A day or so later the message finally landed, telling me that my account had been banned because of “repeated violations of policy by other accounts that you own.” (Emphasis mine). This was really baffling — I have never had any other Reddit accounts, just the one I’ve been using these 8 years. I tried an appeal, explaining that I was bewildered and had no alt accounts. The appeal was flatly denied w/in 24 hours. So that was that. No other recourse. I have been excommunicated.

This raises all the usual questions about Reddit governance. It feels very arbitrary and opaque. There is no due process, no jury of one’s peers, and evidence is destroyed (comments deleted rather than just hidden from everyone other than mods and the original commenter). There is no proper explanation of what caused the ban, no debrief. It’s a bit like the cops arresting you because of something they say they found in your car, but they’ve removed and destroyed the thing they claim to have found :-). And you can’t remember every single bit of junk you kept in your car so you have no idea what it was that triggered the arrest.

Anyway, kissing g’bye to 8 years of content — and karma that I earned the hard way, 5 and 10 and 100 upvotes at a time, not by karma farming — is hard, like losing a carefully crafted RPG character after putting in hundreds of hours of campaign. I have enjoyed Reddit over the years and it’s oddly saddening to be thrown out so abruptly and with no explanation.

If anyone’s still reading at this point :-) I’d like to know whether other people have had this same experience. If you have not been posting racist/misogynist/homophobic drivel, threats, obscenities, scams etc — and yet you suddenly got axed for no clear and explicit reason, then we’re in the same boat. Are there any theories about why/how this happens? Is this the malice of specific humans, or some kind of automodding gone badly wrong?

I’m kinda done with Reddit at this point because of this incident. I don’t see the point in creating a new account (which I guess is technically a rule violation in and of itself) only to have to walk on eggshells wondering at what point some random statement of my opinions is going to get me exiled to Siberia again. Hence I’m giving Lemmy a try. The community is much smaller but several of my interests are represented and … perhaps… it’s a more transparent and sensible moderation model?

An investigation into the AI bots that appeared on Reddit after they partnered with OpenAI.

Key points:

• The bots post a lot of links to products and services which appear to be adverts but are not marked as such.
• Many of these links are for Sam Altman’s World ID.
• Reddit added terms on AI advertising to their business page around the time the bots appeared.
• The bots also make up stories about dead mothers, depression, drug addiction, eating disorders, medical conditions and mental health issues.