rMichael Buckner/Penske Media via Getty Images
Reddit communities, including some of the largest, went into private mode on June 12th, meaning that even in some cases they are not open to the general public or members. The unrest sparked by new fees for app developers continues. But there was a twist, as images of John Oliver now populate the platform.
A number of major message boards with huge R/Pics focused on the host of HBO’s “Last Week Tonight,” and moderators currently only allow photos of the multiple Emmy winner on their so-called subreddits. Oliver’s show was darkened by the WGA strike that began May 2nd. He ran with Reddit’s recent protest.
“Dear Reddit, excellent work. Warning: r/pics turn on…” he tweeted, firing off images of himself – as a magician, in pyjamas, in a green bodystocking, holding a giant fork.
That came after the r/pics forum started posting “a friendly reminder” — “that r/pics will now only show pictures of John Oliver looking sexy.” A recent poll that explained in response to Reddits Preference for everyday users to have more direct control over their communities showed overwhelming support for the change, which was therefore implemented.”
“If John Oliver looks sexy in your post, you can ignore this message.”
Other subreddits that only feature Oliver’s images include r/gifs and r/aww.
When protests hit the site last Monday, users reported widespread content loading issues. From r/videos and r/reactiongifs to r/earthporn, tens of thousands of communities in blackout mode had over a million subscribers. Some have since been active again, but many still aren’t. Some subreddits dependent on third parties may be closed permanently. Other times, moderators insist they can’t do what they need with the tools available through the official Reddit app. Reddit plans to charge third-party developers.
Steve Huffman, CEO and co-founder of Reddit, said in a (Reddit) post that “there was a lot of confusion” about the changes announced in April. They include updating access to the API (Application Programming Interfaces), “including premium access for third parties who need additional features and higher usage limits.” Reddit needs to be a self-sustainable business, and to achieve that we can use commercial businesses, that require large-scale data usage will no longer subsidize them,” he said.
Non-commercial, accessibility-focused apps and tools will continue to have free access under the new rules, which are expected to come into effect in July.
Separately, there was also concern about Reddit policy changes regarding explicit content, as the company announced it would begin “restricting access to adult content through our data API, as part of an ongoing effort to provide guidance on how how explicit content and communities are discovered and viewed on Reddit.”
“PS old.reddit.com is not going anywhere and explicit content is still allowed on Reddit as long as it adheres to our content guidelines,” Huffman said at the end of his post.
The company did not comment on the John Oliver photo festival today.
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Dear Reddit, excellent work. Attention: r/pics – turn it on…
— John Oliver (@iamjohnoliver) June 17, 2023