Ask Lemmy

I voluntarily quit Reddit when the API fuckery happened. Deleted all of my posts, comments, etc. after 16 years, and millions of useless points. I don't and never will give a fuck. Also a refugee from Digg before that, Fark, /. etc. I'm pretty happy with the fediverse so far, and will likely stand up my own server(s) in the next year or so.

Oh, you want a story? I'll give you a story.

I was banned for using a MVNO while on holidays. A MVNO (mobile virtual network operator - aka a phone company) often has changing IP endpoints.

I was in Japan (using Rakuten) which has dynamic endpoints in Hong Kong, Japan, Singapore. To the reddit bots, that seems like someone stealing or spoofing your account.

Reddit flagged my account and forced password change to confirm identity "for my safety". I complied. They then silently shadow banned my account after I did so. Like, immediately.

I followed the appeals process (such as it is - basically howling at the moon). I provided logs, GPS co-ords and even details of my flights / boarding passes.

Auto mod basically replied "lol, get fucked". (Its an auto mod, BTW. Their entire appeal process.Very easy tell).

OK then.

I then used their takeout service to at least grab my old posts, which have some niche technical know how that is worth preserving.

In the course of that, I notice reddit has set up their system in such a way that unknowingly (?) breeches GDPR rules and privacy laws.

Well, well, well....

At this point, I'm stunned at what a cluster fuck reddit really is. Like...wtf?

I then emailed them directly and basically said "listen.I know the laws that govern this. You have 48hrs to email me XYZ or I escalate"

A few days later, Reddit legal emails me saying "hi...we're not sure what your complaint is. Please clarify".

So I do - with forensic level detail. Politely. Professionally.

No response.

I send a follow up email a week later saying "look, one way or another this issue needs to be resolved and my complaint answered. I'll give you 3 days. If its still radio silence, I escalate".

I fly home yesterday (a full 7 days after the fact). Still radio silence.

Perfect! Today I launch GDPR and OIAC complaint, with full evidence trail, screenshots, logs - the whole works. Takes me 5 minutes.

Will that get me unbanned? Don't know, don't care.

Will it cost reddit time and money? Very likely yes.

For those not in the know, breech of GDPR and OIAC laws carry pretty significant penalties for the service provider (to the tune of several million pounds)...and reddit is registered in a EU country. Oops.

The moral of the story (if there is one) is this:

Reddit is rented land. Lemmy is too...but at least with Lemmy, if you really wanted to, you could set up your own instance, with n=1 users and turn off new sign ups, effectively creating a sovereign, unbannable island, where you actually own what you post.

I suppose I should thank Reddit, really. This is the second account in as many years they killed like this, for this very reason.

I was going to set up my own homelab anyway: this just pushed me to do it faster and create a telecoms stack to replace cloud based social media services.

What gals me the most is I spent a fair bit of effort rebuilding my fake internet points over the course of 3 months, to satisfy their "yo, is this a human?" algo....all the while watching bots and stolen accounts spam and flourish.

TL;DR: fuck reddit. You owe them nothing - not your knowledge, time or efforts. Let it enshittify.

Meanwhile, Reddit: I hope your lawyers cost $5k/hr.

... Every single person on Lemmy is a Reddit refugee. You're not going to find a single person here who has not used Reddit before.

Same here. Permanently banned from all of Reddit, and I was never told why. I suspect it was my criticism of the Orange One. I appeal every day, just to give them a little more paperwork.

Truth is, regardless of how fucked that platform is, I still resent being banned and the insane extent to which they prevent you returning. The use of throwaways was entirely normal back in the day, now it's called 'ban evasion'. It's nearly impossible (or at least super-tedious) to get back on once they kick you off. It just seems like such an extreme over-reaction. Permanent bans are insane. I've seen people get barred from pubs after drunken violence, but that's usually only for a year or so. This is basically forever.

I was on there for over a decade and posted in multiple communities all the time. Had a load of karma and rarely got into any aggressive arguments. Then one day I upset a mod for complaining about a removed post, that apparently contravened some petty rule. I'm banned from the sub. I use another account, they found out it was me I'm permanently banned. 12 years of contribution just forgotten, all because of some vindictive little basement dwelling prick.

I came here and leave Reddit forever because I am trying to use less US products and services. Right now I don't know how to bypass Microsoft and Google. Everything else is easy (like forgetting about Reddit or not drinking Coca Cola).

I'm also here from the API thing. This scratches the itch for me and that's more than enough in this day and age.

I got banned for low key implying there's a genocide going on in Gaza.

Not even stating it.

Just implying it.

"antisemitism, permaban"

That was in 2023 iirc

They killed 3rd party apps, I didn't wanna use their app, so I switched to something else and that something else happened to be Lemmy. Turns out, Lemmy is even better than Reddit in many ways.

Dozens of us!

I think the majority of Lemmy users are Reddit refugees, not because they got banned, but because of the Reddit API changes that forced 99% of the third party apps to shut down.

They killed 3rd party apps. I left when my app stopped working and lemmy conveniently worked with some of the same clients that reddit was breaking.

When Reddit killed Apollo, I no longer had the means to use Reddit— I’d rather not have Reddit than use the Reddit app.

Unlike so many people here, I have nothing against centralized social media, and I actively miss it— I miss having a large user base to talk with, I GREATLY miss all the specialize niche communities I followed. But it’s not good if I can’t access them.

Yes, the centralized nature of Reddit means that one person can fuck up the entire community… but decentralization means I have no one to talk to about the things I want to.

Anyway. I’m here hoping that enough people will eventually join that I can have MY Reddit back. I’m frustrated that the place is so tankie infested though, and fear that’s greatly holding it back.

I quit the big R when they killed third party apps.

Would have paid them a monthly fee to use my app,but the way they killed them really soured me on Reddit. Burned my account, and moved on

Another one here for the API exodus 👍

Since the API exodus, yes.

I made a very conscious choice to leave reddit at that time, due to that particular bullshit, and I don't regret it.

Doesn't mean I don't miss reddit though, because I do. Reddit has a lot more traffic which obviously means a lot more content in the sort of niche communities I really love.

But I made the right choice. I don't want to be part of that any longer. And the more of us make this choice, the better things will be for us all.

Yes, I'm a Reddit refugee.

The site changed so much over the ten years I used it. When I started, there was plenty of good discussion and the most informative comments got voted up. Then power users started playing the same games with karma that rich people play with money. Near the end the negativity and superficiality were overwhelming. Then the API business happened and I realised Reddit was in the last few stages of circling the drain. I learned about Lemmy from a comment by someone who announced they were leaving for good, and I followed them.

If you look at Reddit today... the posts and comments share the same quality regardless of whether they're human or AI slop.

Yes and no, I was on Mastodon long ago, peaked into Lenmy, watched other Fediverse prokects with interest.

I'd not used Reddit for many years, before I actually made a Lemmy account, then when I saw Boost was available for Lemmy, I started using that.

I am odd though, old and have a differnt view of the internet based around it being a space for enthusiasts and tinkerers and corporate can and will only ever eventually enshitifiy whatever their fingers touch, so I dont use things like FB, Reddit, Apple products, Microsoft products, WhatsApp, Insta, Light room etc

I think the better question is to ask who isn't a Reddit refugee. As in, who here never had a Reddit account and just showed up on Lemmy one day?

Same here. My reddit account kept getting banned without any warning and i didn't even do anything lol. Honestly reddit has been really weird now. If you had an account which is more than 4-5 years old, then they won't do anything. But they basically just ban all new accounts if you post or comment anything. I am still new here so i am having a hard time understanding this platform. If anyone can help mei navigate it better, i would be grateful.

Leaving all US-American platforms, meta first, then Reddit, now google. No reason to support US businesses.

I would probably even say: Who wasnt?
You either came from Twitter, Reddit or some other major social media as a primary user.
I don't believe someone just was old enough to join the internet world and decided to just join lemmy/fediverse at first sight.

I still consume on Reddit, but won’t post or contribute there anymore.

I'm here because Reddit started buying CBP adds. Fuck collaborators

I left during the api bullshit, fuck spez

I left with the disabling of API.

Today, I went back in to my account to delete every single comment I have ever made, one by one, then deleted the entire account. Should have done it ages ago, but better now than never.

I was reading about bans and stuff and all sorts that I didn't care to understand, so instead of using a third party apps to change/delete/etc my comments, I did it manually. It felt pretty satisfying.

My last "fuck you, r/jailbait Spez". I'm not letting them use my comments or account for anything. Hopefully, I've done it right.

I am here from reddit but I wouldn't call myself a refugee. More like an immigrant. I wasn't banned. I just tried this, liked it better, and since I disagreed with the API changes I settled here. I still browse reddit when I can't find specific stuff on Lemmy, and very, very occasionally (like once or twice a year) I post there in subs that aren't as developed here.