r/steam (maliciously) complies with the call to open again

The subreddit r/steam, about the digital game storefront, received as many other subreddits a notice to open the community again, or else the mods would be replaced by those who abide.

The mods followed suit posting the following automod message under every new post:

As ya'll likely know, we've been dark to support the blackout against reddit's antagonistic behavior towards its own userbase. The admins sent us a message today saying we must open or get removed, so here we are.

For those of you browsing this subreddit on non-official apps (Reddit is Fun, Apollo, Sync, Boost, etc), they will break on July 1st due to reddit's new policies. We're opening back up but will leave permanent stickies in the subreddit and threads to keep folks in the know.

Our Discord [contains link to https://discord.gg/steam] server is active, don't forget to check it out.

Good luck and god speed.

I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please contact the moderators of this subreddit if you have any questions or concerns.

On visit, you quickly notice there is a community wide effort to focus on the literal topic of the given name and post about vapors, steam trains, and kitchen appliances. While posts about the gaming platform get downvoted.

hoshikarakitaridia,
@hoshikarakitaridia@lemmy.fmhy.ml avatar

It's brilliant.

wolfeh,
@wolfeh@lemmy.world avatar

This is absolutely hilarious.

bill_1992,

Would be nice if along with that link to Discord, they had a link to an alternative! I'll try not to spoil a good thing though.

CorrodedCranium,
@CorrodedCranium@lemmy.fmhy.ml avatar

This is going to be interesting in the long term for a lot of subreddits when people sort by top posts. Similar to when ever sub had a net neutrality post stickied

DudePluto,

Nothing better than looking for some good NSFW content, going to the top of all time, and seeing nothing but net neutrality posts

I'm glad those were there but they did lead to some funny situations

_Hyperion,

Why funny, this just gives Reddit noise and numbers regarding blackout and numbers

c2h6,

Any noise the users can make is good.

whyNotSquirrel,
@whyNotSquirrel@sh.itjust.works avatar

well, people tend to make weird faces when my noises hit their noses

Aurix,

u/spez tries to paint it was just mods trying to be powertripping and not standing for the communities. This refutes the sentiment along with the reactions of /r/pics and the likely coming r/aww action.

LittlePrimate,
@LittlePrimate@feddit.de avatar

That though process won't even cross their mind. More like "See? The reopened communities are very active and actually generate MORE clicks now. We were right to force them open!". Only if the new direction would produce less clicks or advertisers are bothered by it ("I wanted to advertise my camera in r/pics but the new direction makes it unprofitable") they might look into where that "sabotage" is coming from and care about it.

kadu,
@kadu@lemmy.world avatar

Keep in mind, this is being done by the users. The sticky post actually contains a moderator being against this reaction, claiming if they keep "maliciously complying" Reddit will punish them.

So once again, the users are actually onboard - the mods are scared of losing their fake title. And I say that as a previous Reddit moderator that loved the community I had helped grow. I even hosted Reddit Talks, one of their failed experiments.

Aurix,

https://lemmy.world/pictrs/image/1624e7d2-59ca-475f-8f75-83902d129b71.png

Is that so? Looks to me this moderator is in on it. Or which post do you refer to?

kadu,
@kadu@lemmy.world avatar

https://lemmy.world/pictrs/image/1981f4ac-2580-43aa-b046-9aa467eb8b35.png I'd say he is not onboard, but will not interfere immediately as to not anger the users. Many comments are directly asking what's even the point of the effort to keep the current moderators if they're not going to act any differently, and he doesn't reply to those.

Aurix,

We will see how it will turn out. This is the full context of the screenshot for those interested. https://www.reddit.com/r/Steam/comments/14bvwe1/rsteam_and_reddits_new_policies/johwd3x/?context=10000

kadu,
@kadu@lemmy.world avatar

Hey man, replying just to let you know I'll remove my comments from this chain, but I'll keep the screenshot and as you've said, users can follow the link to read the context. I realized my post history was becoming way too Reddit focused today, while my previous usage of Lemmy was not related to Reddit at all - and I prefer things that way. Cheers!

Chetzemoka,

I mean, looks like no matter what the current mods do, Reddit is determined to silence the organic community-driven protest. Eventually mods will have to play ball or be replaced, but this current attitude of "look admins, we're doing what you want, it's the users who are not" delays that inevitability in a way that does in fact support the community users in their desire to protest. All the mods quitting right now in anger would just be replaced with new boot licking mods who would ban these protest posts immediately.

I don't think there's any way for the community to win in the long run, but the current mods half-ass playing ball is allowing the protest to continue for now

Haan,

Love it

sin_free_for_00_days,

On one hand, I really wish there was a RES add-on for Lemmy. Just so I could filter out the cascade of posts about reddit. I left the site and don't give a shit if it burns or not. On the other hand, this is pretty funny to read about.

Spacecraft,

I've been considering making something like RES for Lemmy. Not sure if I really have the time, but if nobody else steps up to it in the next couple of weeks, I'll see if I can.

sin_free_for_00_days,

I kind of figured something like that would pop up. I don't have the skills to even know where to start.

dack,

Why not just contribute the features you want to Lemmy itself?

Spacecraft,

I'll probably do both. Not everything from RES would be accepted into lemmy-ui, I think.

Steak,

RES was so fucking good. You could do pretty much anything you wanted with it the features were endless.

Tywele,
@Tywele@feddit.de avatar

I think as long as you implement features as options it shouldn't be a problem.

Spacecraft,

I'm not well practiced in Rust, but that is a good idea. I have been meaning to learn Rust. Although an extension does allow for features that may not be accepted into Lemmy.

ewe,
@ewe@lemmy.world avatar

Exactly. We don't really need RES for lemmy because we have lemmy-ui project. It's all out of my wheelhouse, but with community contributions, there's a lot of awesomeness that could be added to it as optional elements.

BasicWhiteGirl,
@BasicWhiteGirl@kbin.social avatar

Those beautiful, beautifil soldiers on the frontline.

pruwybn,
@pruwybn@discuss.tchncs.de avatar

"It's an Albany expression" - so good :D

Aurix,

I didn't know the reference, it was to this: https://youtu.be/4jXEuIHY9ic

DesTeufelsAvocado, (edited )
@DesTeufelsAvocado@feddit.de avatar

It makes me sad to see what happens on Reddit, but actions like this keep my hopes up. Not for Reddit itself, but for the community and its people, wherever it will be. :)

UnicornKitty,
@UnicornKitty@lemmy.world avatar

It's good to see people are still willing to fight any kind of bs in droves like this. I was worried that would fade when the stress of the pandemic did. But it hasn't. We need people to fight to make the changes happen that we've known needed to happen years ago.

a_crappy_pirate,

lmao that's fucking beautiful and gives me a few ideas .....

LinkOpensChest_wav,

This blackout has really shown which subs have actual in-touch moderators, and which ones are just the admins' puppy dogs

A while ago, I had a comment auto-removed on WPT and got a message it was because my account was "not in good standing." When I messaged the WPT mods, they explained that they were test piloting a new tool the admins plan to use. For example, if you have a throwaway email address, no email address, or are connecting via VPN, you may be "not in good standing."

With things like that on the horizon, even if they roll back on what they're doing now, we're still not likely to have a very good time on that site.

I can't blame the mods who are trying to make change through protest (and who may not even be aware of the "not in good standing" BS), but I don't plan to stick around, and I don't foresee a very bright future for reddit at all.

Cynosure,

Honesty I think the big political subs are incredibly bot infested. Political content is an amazing way to make people mad and get them to spend more time on a platform, increasing engagement and letting reddit deliver more ads. It's not like it would be the first time they used bots to drive engagement and make communities look bigger.

linearchaos,
@linearchaos@lemmy.world avatar

Worse than bots. Active foreign influencers.

Cynosure,

The bot problem is probably domestic. Reddit has much more to gain from artificially driving engagement than any "foreign adversary".

ramennoodle,

why not both?

TWeaK,

Don't forget that for many years reddit was the home of the most inciteful Donald Trump propaganda platform with r/t_d.

goat,

and dont forget reddit is also the home of the most inciteful Chinese propaganda platform with /r/sino

LinkOpensChest_wav,

The whole site is bot infested! Especially the large subs, but I've personally had scambots pop into my posts even on smaller subreddits.

People who say they won't leave reddit because "there's no good alternative" really have their head in the sand about how bad it really is. Nearly every alternative I've seen suggested is at least better than reddit (except for the really far-right ones like voat).

enragedchowder,

Pretty much any big sub is totally unusable. The only reason to be on Reddit is for the niche hobby subs

SgtAStrawberry,

And unfortunately, those are the ones most difficult to find alternatives for.

Reoru,
@Reoru@lemmy.world avatar

I absolutely resonate with both your comments, it's the best function reddit served imo. The big mainstream subs were just content factories to create posts to doomscroll through.

jeremy_sylvis,
@jeremy_sylvis@midwest.social avatar

Can confirm. You don't need to go far to find dog-piling groupthink ruining discussion.

onepinksheep,
@onepinksheep@kbin.social avatar

Ah. So basically China's Social Credit system, but for Reddit.

Spirou,

Finally putting all that karma to good use.

Serdan,

https://merics.org/en/comment/chinas-social-credit-score-untangling-myth-reality

Often, the SoCS is merely invoked as a metaphor: either to depict some technological threat at home or to portray a techno-dystopian China.

This is symptomatic of a tendency to see China not as a real place with real people, but as an abstract “negative opposite” of “us”.

melonplant,

It's important to identify these arbitrary lines in the sand, thanks.

minimar,

https://lemmy.world/pictrs/image/f1e58203-f7d5-40b7-865b-474a1a604581.png

e8d79,

Interesting article, but according to it there where some pilot studies that tried to penalize citizens based on their social score. So I don't think the meme is entirely wrong.

QuestioningEspecialy,
@QuestioningEspecialy@kbin.social avatar

A while ago, I had a comment auto-removed on WPT and got a message it was because my account was "not in good standing." When I messaged the WPT mods, they explained that they were test piloting a new tool the admins plan to use.

I'mma need some sauce for dat pasta. That's too wild to not post screenshots.

LinkOpensChest_wav,

https://i.imgur.com/U79L2kV.jpg

There ya be

Synthaxx,
@Synthaxx@kbin.social avatar

That reddithelp link clickable.

LinkOpensChest_wav,

Thanks. I should have done that myself.

QuestioningEspecialy,
@QuestioningEspecialy@kbin.social avatar

@LinkOpensChest_wav
And the AutoModerator notification link: https://i.imgur.com/7Yzm2IS.jpg

Thanks. Shit's deliciously wrong.

edit: But you know what... having recently watched The Blackenning (2023)... it honestly feels very... White.

cokedragon,

When did this happen? During the blackout? You say "a while ago" and I'm just curious.

LinkOpensChest_wav,

This happened 3 weeks ago, just before things really started to get ugly on reddit

quortez,
@quortez@kbin.social avatar

I can't imagine a website so anti-CCP it utterly internalized the social credit meme (despite it being somewhat more nuanced in reality, I still don't approve of it, just learned it gets exaggerated in the west) would take well to an invisible 'reputation system' that demands data collection and punishes privacy actions.

The vibes continue to deteriorate.

zalack,
@zalack@kbin.social avatar

To try and be charitable to the WPT mods: that sub is a magnet for bots and bad actors. All those measures sound like a shotgun approach to combating spam to me.

I really don't envy having to moderate a large politically oriented sub like that. I imagine it burns you out fast to being open and fair-minded in how you approach moderation due to the sheer avalanche of bullshit you're confronted with cleaning up.

LinkOpensChest_wav,

I do understand that point of view, but the fact that they're piloting a really invasive tool on behalf of the admins and subsequently refused to go black -- these make me feel far less charitable

Nepenthe,
@Nepenthe@kbin.social avatar

Combating bots by banning anyone without an email is understandable and seems doable for the near future, but like it would mostly be a hiccup for the people churning them out.

Google ignores any periods in an email address, so if you want to sign up with the same email all you have to do is fill it with differently-placed periods. What are they gonna do? Ban everyone who shares your name from having a reddit? Ban Gmail? If they did, there's still the plus trick that isn't specific to gmail

TechnoBabble,

The plus and period thing isn't difficult to filter out in their email check.

But I do agree that requiring emails is a non-issue for spammers.

I mean, look at any other platform that requires email, and they're all covered in spam.

LilBagOfBunnies,

The mods of r/NBA continued using the sub during the blackout and discussed the NBA finals and Denver's parade.

LinkOpensChest_wav,

The moral fortitude of most pro sports fans is abysmally low, so that tracks with my expectations

Gradually_Adjusting,
@Gradually_Adjusting@lemmy.world avatar

What a great idea. Just use an algorithm to ban any unprofitable user. Can't lose!

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