Hello, /r/aww subscribers!Unless this is your first visit to /r/aww in over a month, you've likely noticed that all recent posts have featured John Oliver in some capacity. This was due to a rule that was put in place to continue the protest against Reddit's unreasonable API changes after Reddit threatened to remove the moderators of subreddits wishing to remain private.While the community voted overwhelmingly in favor of the John Oliver rule, it was never intended to be permanent. More than a month has passed, and as things on the internet go, the passion for the protest has waned and people's attention has shifted to other things. This rule did reduce our subreddit traffic, and similar rules had the same effect on other large subreddits, but it was not enough to make Reddit care. Now that subreddits like /r/pics and /r/videos have returned to normal, there's little point in our continuing this alone.What now? If this is as far as you'll read before skipping to the part about Reddit Premium, all you need to know is that the John Oliver rule is no more and minimum karma requirements are back. If you're interested in the future of the subreddit, a recap of the past two months, and where we're at now, then please read on.The goal of the John Oliver rule was to reduce the traffic and fresh content /r/aww was generating; solely in that regard, it was succesful. After an initial spike to normal levels when the subreddit reopened, overall subreddit traffic fell to between half and a third of normal, though the influx of subscribers paradoxically grew more than the number of people unsubscribing. It's unlikely that it had any significant effect on sitewide traffic, as other subreddits just filled the gaps in the endless feed of content most users consume.What about the protest, though; did we win? The short answer is no. The long answer is also no, as Reddit's minimal attempts at positive outreach remain overshadowed by the plethora of depressing developments. Remember those threats sent by the faceless /u/ModCodeOfConduct admin account? They followed through on them, but not without demonstrating how little they care about the communities that make up their platform. Their actions have been consistently reckless with little consideration of who subreddits are handed to and the potential consequences. The relationship between Reddit and its unpaid moderators has been a strained one for many years, but it's fair to say that these past few months have set a new low. As a result, the general vibe in mod teams and shared mod spaces has shifted from exhausted frustration to a sense of apathy. Reddit recently shared their intentions to improve their communication with mods, but calling the reaction to it skeptical is an understatement, which is fair considering how many times we've heard the same promises. Time will tell how things turn out, but personally I would like them to start by addressing some of the lists of issues other moderators have compiled.Reddit's CEO Steve Huffman also stated that they "will do better" in terms of ensuring their first-party apps are accesible, but a month later Reddit's apps have regressed in accessibility according to the mods of /r/Blind. Reddit also drove the Transcribers of Reddit project to shut down, which was an incredible community effort that transcribed over a quarter million images for the visually impaired. It was the closest thing Reddit had to an alt-text feature, something that is present on most other social media platforms.At the end of the day, Reddit's API changes have gone into effect. They did not extend the transition period or reduce the exorbitant prices. They granted exemptions to a few apps and moderation tools, but that's about it. The best thing I can say is that they did honor their commitment to ensuring the continued functionality of some mod tools. Moderators have been given access to Pushshift again, but that's not without its own issues. When the rollout of their changes broke toolbox, they resolved the issue within a day. Despite some reassurances and promises from Reddit, their conduct and these changes have driven away many developers, leading to the shutdown of some tools and an uncertain future for others. One of the biggest losses to /r/aww was the discontinuation of the Bot Defense project, which was a significant help in curbing spam. Spam has been a persistent issue across Reddit, with larger subreddits being targets for less obvious spam. The spam we struggle most with attempts to pass for genuine content. The main objective of that type of spam is to produce seemingly legitimate accounts, which are then sold or used for more nefarious purposes. While we didn't foresee this effect, the John Oliver rule also doubled as a convenient barrier to spam, albeit only for posts. Now that the subreddit's content is returning to normal, we will be experimenting with other measures to make the subreddit less attractive to spammers. We have decided to start by reintroducing a minimum karma requirement to participate in /r/aww, initially it'll be set to a minimum of 1000 combined karma. The requirements to post non-OC will also be increased. We will be monitoring the effects of these changes and adjusting them as needed.Now it's time for the part about Reddit Premium. Another unpopular change that wasn't mentioned above is the coming Thanos Snap of Reddit Awards and Coins. We have no idea what will replace that feature, but we do know all unused coins that users have purchased or received will disappear without compensation on September 12th. Over the years, /r/aww has accrued a lot of community coins, enough to give out decades of Reddit Premium. While it will soon lose any perks related to coins and awards, it will still offer an ad-free Reddit experience. So how are we handing them out?Starting this Monday, the previous week's top 5 posts will each receive a community award that grants a year of Reddit Premium. There are only a few rules:Posts must be original content and include OC in the title to be eligible.Only accounts created before this post are eligible.Each person can only win once per week and twice total.The top posts of the previous week will be determined each Monday at noon Eastern Time by checking /r/aww/top/?sort=top&t=week. Ineligible posts will be skipped and the next post will be awarded instead. This contest will run until either September 12th or until we run out of coins, whichever comes first.Whether you read all that or not, thank you for being here.The mods of /r/aww and most importantly via /r/aww https://ift.tt/DCNT8Xt
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