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.

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.

… 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.

I left during the api bullshit, fuck spez

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.

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.

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

I left Reddit in 2023 when they decided to mess with third party apps. I went to kbin initially and then moved over to here.

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.

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 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

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.

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 after I read spez wanted to paywall subreddits.