Tell HN: Reddit mandatory login to see sensitive pages
If you try to look at reddit.com/r/nsfw and you’re not logged, you‘ll see now a log in button to see the content of the page. Until yesterday it was just a simple button with I’m over 18 text.
Makes me wonder, why do they keep the functionality? Did they forget about the page?
Is this a joke? Participation is assumed to be only on the basis of anonymity. If the baker requested your name, there would be something very wrong around your parts.
Intrusive requests would mean refusal of participation.
It is not intrusive only if you can give a random address. It would be intrusive if all you had available was an address already used for other services. It is intrusive to ask you for, or coming to know, your name.
Honestly, it's not so much of a trick, but that the form is a dark pattern.
IMHO, they probably really, really want to require email addresses to register, but are trying to avoid the backlash from power users (aka their content source) that would happen if there wasn't a workaround. Every time someone gets ticked off about this, there's probably a comment within 5 minutes with instructions, and all outrage energy drains away.
@grumple pointed out that throwaway accounts that can't be easily linked to the poster are essential to some reddit communities, which may play a part in why this feature is still available.
And there is also a signup button, didn't have to go for any special page
Firefox and Chrome both have old Reddit plugins that will do it automatically.
Unfortunately it's not compatible with newer Firefox android .
Users aren't equivalent though. IIRC, "the vast vast VAST majority of people" don't comment or post, either.
It's also sad because even though the old reddit is available, it's not the same. Since all the users are using the new UI, you get a totally different type of user engagement than you used to get I feel. Nowadays it's rare to have any sense of community or long discussion and every subreddit has moved along the spectrum to shallower interactions, image posts, and less distinctive character.
They still run i.reddit.com, which probably only has a tiny fraction even old.reddit.coms users. Also, I'm pretty sure that quite a few power users still use the old site and they probably want to keep them in. Someone has to buy gold and repost all the content, after all ;-)
It's absolutely fascinating that they have both versions. To me it illustrates so perfectly what the Internet was vs. what is has become. There's probably more money to be made from the infinite scrolling and dark patterns, but it's also completely unusable and comments and discussions seems to be of less concern. Just keep scrolling.
Basically the 90% / 9% / 1% split between people reading, people interacting and people creating. I would be very surprised if the 1% contributing and creating on reddit wouldn't be using old reddit for the most part.
I'm using it on Firefox Android... Mozilla just made it hard to use most addons. You have to create an addon collection, add the extensions that you want to it, and then use that collection on Firefox Android: https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/kb/how-use-collections-add...
Then tell us we should implement them as an addon.
Then handicap addons. <- now
Then remove addons. <- future
Sounds a bit like "embrace, extend and extinguish"...
Note: I switched to Firefox when it came out because of addons...
still waiting for mozilla to release more than 5 extensions on android. they are too busy with other things apparently.
So, it's easier to switch to browsers like Kiwi Browser (privacy concerns aside so be cautious!) if you want a better extension support experience. Bromite and Vivaldi also have great built-in adblockers but sadly no full extension support.
So, I dropped Firefox on all my devices and moved to Vivaldi + Kiwi Browser and that works like a charm.
Redirects Twitter, YouTube, Instagram, & Google Maps requests to privacy friendly alternatives - Nitter, Invidious, Bibliogram, & OpenStreetMap.
When the time comes that addons do not get around such things, then I would suggest BlockSite [2]
[1] - https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/privacy-redir...
[2] - https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/block-website...
[1] https://libredirect.github.io/
[2] https://libredirect.github.io/faq.html#why_forking_privacy_r...
[1] - https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/libredirect/
Unfortunately logging in is also a nightmare on Reddit, with distracting content continuously flying in your face.
The reddit app used to but they are pushing everything into the new media player (including photos) and it takes you into algorithm content hell. Not even restricted to your subs.. just whatever they want to throw at you. It is enough that I cannot use the reddit app anymore (or hardly use it).
How does this work?
Edit: seems only for FF nightly so far?
I generally prefer teddit.adminforge.de, which uses the same Teddit code but runs on a much less loaded server and thus performs much better.
What I want: a federated, self-hosted/pay-to-play, anonymous, active community.
I've tried mastodon. I never liked twitter and I prefer long form, threaded discussions. Do you want to make the next social media company? Figure out a way to do reddit without needing adds. If you can, FOSS/ federated. Remember when reddit users covered the cost of reddit server time with donations? It can be done.
It's nice not to have to wade through the people who identify with a website on a personal and intimate level -- when all i really want to do is scroll a news aggregator, and potentially have light-weight conversations.
I wish I hadn’t discovered this because it was a great way for me to realise I was time-wasting and should just read a different site.
Or maybe call it propaganda. I mean, it's a public conversation. But when you selectively reveal and censor. That's a narrative sculpter.
And of course "sensitive" means whatever reddit wants it to mean.
what is actively being censored, there?
r/undelete has some things and there were other sites created to catch the stuff that was pruned outright, especially comments. If you don’t support the ‘hivemind’ echo chamber, and talk about forbidden things (+govts) you get censored.
For what it's worth the reddit admins acknowledged it's non-functioning a few weeks ago but I don't think anything has come from that yet.
iOS: https://apolloapp.io/ Android: https://github.com/Docile-Alligator/Infinity-For-Reddit
that may be why you see that behaviour inconsistently.
Also, this is just a personal anecdote, but ditching Reddit was one of the best ideas I've ever had. There's good stuff in there, but also a lot of obvious and hidden advertisement and it's very easy to get lost and spend hours just scrolling.
Here are a few because I know someone will ask:
/r/personalfinance
/r/TropicalWeather
/r/homelab
/r/homeserver
/r/datahoarder
/r/Bogleheads
/r/pizza
Edit: Now, will someone post some BS on one of those subs? yes, sometimes. But the mods tamp it down pretty quick.
It still does have the important distinction from true “social media” sites that are based around who you add/follow, but they have made some incredibly poor decisions with the platform trying to be less of what made it great and instead trying to blend in with the trendy influencer platforms du jour
Facebook went in much the same direction. Rather than focusing on interactions between people the focus shifted to just keep people scrolling and reducing interactions to easier "Like", "Hate", "Love", share, anything that could be conveyed using a screen tab, rather than a full keyboard.
My theory: Interaction and the quality of the content on a site goes down, way down, when the primary users switch from desktops to phones.
Careful self-moderation on Reddit, Facebook, and Youtube can provide a lot of positive influence and information in your life, but it takes some work, and a lot of awareness.
The defaults are bloody awful. Yet for myself, I read awesome spooky fiction on r/nosleep, I get great and almost instant advice on my truck on Facebook, and YouTube is teaching me how to make shelters with tarps and how to tie bowline and trucker hitches.
I think, well I know, there is high quality content on social media out there. That it is being used to manipulate people and misinform people is a problem that will have to be solved. Or maybe it collapses and decentralizes like how it was before 2004. I'm sure we'll manage.
old.Reddit works for interacting but the UX on mobile is terrible.