When over 8,000 subreddits participated in a 48-hour blackout to protest Reddit’s impending API changes, there were immediate indications that the action was impacting the platform. On the first day of the protest, Reddit experienced a “major outage” that affected its desktop and mobile websites, as well as mobile apps. Following this, CEO Steve Huffman launched a media offensive, attempting to portray the disgruntled users and moderators as unreasonable individuals who were upset because they were no longer receiving something for free. In an interview with The Verge, Huffman stated, “These people who are mad, they’re mad because they used to get something for free, and now it’s going to be not free.”
However, it was difficult to determine the practical effect the protest had on website traffic. Fortunately, we now have a clearer picture. Internet analytics firm Similarweb provided data to Engadget, revealing that the impact of the protest was noticeable, albeit small. On June 12th, the day before the blackout began, Similarweb recorded over 57 million daily visits to Reddit via desktop and mobile web clients. By the end of the first day of the protest, daily visits had dropped to under 55 million. Then, on June 13th, Similarweb reported fewer than 53 million daily visits. In comparison to the website’s average daily volume over the past month, the 52,121,649 visits on June 13th represented a 6.6 percent decrease.
During the same time period, Similarweb also noted a more significant decline in the amount of time Reddit users spent on the platform. The average session duration on the day before the protest was approximately eight minutes and 31 seconds. One day later, this metric decreased to seven minutes and 17 seconds, marking the lowest stat in the past three years. Engadget reached out to Reddit for comment, but no response was received.
Looking ahead, a temporary drop in daily traffic is unlikely to have a substantial impact on Reddit’s immediate prospects. However, as numerous subreddits continue to protest the company’s plans and its leadership considers policy changes that may alter its relationship with moderators, the platform could experience a gradual decline in daily active users. This potential decline does not bode well for Reddit, especially in anticipation of its planned IPO and beyond.
Denial of responsibility! TechCodex is an automatic aggregator of the all world’s media. In each content, the hyperlink to the primary source is specified. All trademarks belong to their rightful owners, and all materials to their authors. For any complaint, please reach us at – [email protected]. We will take necessary action within 24 hours.
Alex Smith is a writer and editor with over 10 years of experience. He has written extensively on a variety of topics, including technology, business, and personal finance. His work has been published in a number of magazines and newspapers, and he is also the author of two books. Alex is passionate about helping people learn and grow, and he believes that writing is a powerful tool for communication and understanding.
