Is it really? I haven’t been back in the 2 years since the API debacle. But based on how enshittified the rest of the corporate owned web is, I can’t imagine it’s a good experience

[–] UnderpantsWeevil@lemmy.world 5 points 17 hours ago* (last edited 17 hours ago) (1 children)

It's still a major warehouse for data and a central hub for social research.

Case in point, my wife was trying to get her Italian birthright citizenship registered (because America isn't looking so hot right now). There's a sub dedicated to people pursuing the same ends, and they all swap information on which consulates are helpful, what forms you'll need, and how to otherwise navigate the byzantine Italian bureaucracy.

Absolutely invaluable. Nothing else like it on the Internet. But yes, the website still sucks ass.

[–] dil@lemmy.zip 1 points 14 hours ago* (last edited 14 hours ago) (1 children)

its only "invaluable" because it existsx, if it didnt exist the information would still be on the internet elesewhere

ppl would have simply asked and answered elsewhere

[–] UnderpantsWeevil@lemmy.world 4 points 5 hours ago

if it didnt exist the information would still be on the internet elesewhere

Where, though?

[–] chunes@lemmy.world 2 points 15 hours ago

More active than ever but for how long? They are permanently hemorrhaging users by banning them for stupid stuff and fingerprinting them to hell and back so they can't make new accounts.

[–] fodor@lemmy.zip 3 points 15 hours ago (1 children)

That's a fine claim, my friend, but maybe you don't have the facts to support it. Who says that Reddit is more active than it ever has been? How are they measuring that? Many of us who left Reddit over the past few years did so partly because of the increase in bot traffic ... And certainly Reddit corporate does not want to admit that a large percent of the posts are automated, certainly they would never want to actually measure that, because it would likely undercut the perceived value of their company to the AI folk.

Similarly, if it's more profitable because it's selling data to the AI people, that doesn't actually mean the company is producing any value ... I think most of us with half a brain already realized that the AI bubble is exactly that. Rich people are speculating, and they're going to keep on doing that as long as they can. So, if I were predicting when Reddit will totally collapse, I would predict that it will when the bubble bursts.

Finally, Reddit used to be producing results that would show up on search engines, and now it's not. In other words, they sold the medium run for the short run. That could pan out, but I don't think it will. I think it just means they will get fewer people crawling to their website, fewer people linking to it.

[–] UnderpantsWeevil@lemmy.world 1 points 5 hours ago

Who says that Reddit is more active than it ever has been? How are they measuring that?

Statista, Semrush, and GummySearch all coorborate Reddit's self-reporting. I don't have their methodology on hand.

And certainly Reddit corporate does not want to admit that a large percent of the posts are automated

I mean, this is the billion dollar question. If you can find reliable ways to sift real humans from bot activity at the scale of a social media behemoth, you should just do that for a living rather than shitposting incredulity on a Reddit knock-off site.

But by all available measures, Reddit (a website that's always been plagued with bots and spam accounts) has the most real live active users in its history today.

Finally, Reddit used to be producing results that would show up on search engines, and now it’s not.

Google's been fully in bed with Reddit since at least 2022. One could argue that their habit of front-paging Reddit posts was what goosed its activity of late.

[–] Vanilla_PuddinFudge@infosec.pub 10 points 1 day ago (1 children)

Reddit: I don't even know who you are lol

[–] UnderpantsWeevil@lemmy.world 17 points 1 day ago

They know who Lemmy is. That's why they need to swing the ban hammer at every mention of it.