Reddit: open /r/pics or else. Mods: OK but you didn't say how

I honestly don't know if this is allowed here but I thought this is malicious compliance at its finest.

If you don't want to drive traffic there I'll repost what the mods posted below:

POLL: Decide on the future of /r/Pics!

Hello, /r/Pics subscribers!

Boy, what a whacky time we've all had lately, huh? Reddit decided to kill off third-party applications, a protest got planned (and possibly exploited by bad actors), the site showed up in the news, various communities started opening back up, others decided to stay inaccessible, and then the CEO of Reddit implied that a bunch of moderators would be removed from their positions!

Crazy, right?

Anyway, we – the so-called "landed gentry" – definitely want to comply with the wishes of the "royal court," and they've told us that we need to run the subreddit in the way that its members want. To that end, we figured that the only reasonable thing to do was directly ask how you'd like things to progress from here.

Which of the following should we do?

  1. Return to normal operations
  2. Only allow images of John Oliver looking sexy To be clear, if people choose the second option, screen-grabs from videos will be allowed (provided that there aren't any visible logos, inserted graphics, or other digital elements present). You could – if you wanted to – look through episodes of Last Week Tonight on YouTube, find moments featuring John Oliver at his sexiest, then post images of those moments here.

It's entirely up to you! Whatever the /r/Pics community decides is best, we'll respect!

Vote, friends! Vote now!

(You can vote by upvoting either of the comments in the thread below.)

Voting has now closed.

Our final tally is as follows:

Return to normal operations: -2,329 votes

Only allow images of John Oliver looking sexy: 37,331 votes

It would seem that the community has spoken!

Henceforth, /r/Pics will only allow images of John Oliver looking sexy.

(Said images must adhere to all of the community's other rules, including those mandated by Reddit.)

Happy posting!

JoeKrogan,
@JoeKrogan@lemmy.world avatar

He will probably get wind of this and cover it on his show 🤣

setsneedtofeed,
@setsneedtofeed@lemmy.world avatar

And then people will go check it out.

Ironic engagement is still engagement.

dystop,
@dystop@lemmy.world avatar

I personally think the best "maliciouscompliance" act mods can do in the long term is to switch up all the subs.

So technology will be used for gardening, gardening will be used for android, android will be used for coffee, coffee used for pcgaming, etc. It'll make everything really confusing for new users and help slow their growth.

kiwifoxtrot,
@kiwifoxtrot@lemmy.world avatar

Ahh, the old /r/trees and /r/marijuanaenthusiasts switcheroo.

rammer,
@rammer@sopuli.xyz avatar

Ahh, the old /r/worldnews and /r/anime_titties switcheroo.

dystop,
@dystop@lemmy.world avatar

hold my bong, I'm going in!

Debaucherella,

/r/johncena and /r/potatosalad

setsneedtofeed,
@setsneedtofeed@lemmy.world avatar

No this all seems too clever by half and is just putting more eyes on Reddit. People are drawn to drama. If mods were serious, they’d delete or pull all of their custom plug ins and delete their accounts. Let Reddit have the subs. Unfortunately a huge number of mods won’t actually endanger their positions, which means Reddit corporate has the ultimate leverage in the end. Just go. I respect the mods who have left. If more of them did it would leave a true void.

Image being Reddit corporate and waking up tomorrow and 5000 subreddits were open but all the mods and their mods tools were gone. No big dramatic pranks or drama from the mods, just a classy exit.

aceshigh,
@aceshigh@lemmy.world avatar

i agree. this is kind of a temper tantrum coming from the mods that will result in more eyes on reddit... the only way to win, is to not play.

girthero,

How about sexy John Oliver promoting Lemmy? Make reddit delete the post instead of the mods.

AFKBRBChocolate,

The problem with that is, someone else who doesn't care about the issues would take over as mod, and the sub would go on more of less normally. This way, it will eventually kill the sub without trying to delete it or take it private (both things Reddit can undo).

ilovefluffyanimals,

Only if it shows John Oliver looking sexy while marrying a cabbage :-)

NoIWontPickaName,

My cabbages!

dystop,
@dystop@lemmy.world avatar

Will his mother-in-slaw be at the ceremony?

Vex_Detrause,

Dad, get out!

dystop,
@dystop@lemmy.world avatar

OK, I'm now posting from my phone while standing on the lawn. Is that better?

xyphon,

https://www.reddit.com/r/pics/comments/14bal8p/john_oliver_getting_hot_and_steamy_with_his/

JoeKrogan, (edited )
@JoeKrogan@lemmy.world avatar

Now videos should do the same but with rick astly..."you know the rules and so do I"

eee,

You know, if more subs do this, I might actually go back to reddit for a bit hahahaha

JoeKrogan,
@JoeKrogan@lemmy.world avatar

😄 I'd rather not give them the traffic

eee,

that's fair.

Plenty,

https://lemmy.world/pictrs/image/13a96836-4454-4684-aa68-3343ced86b97.png

minimar,

Is this real?! What episode is it from!

yoichi,

It's edited

LambdaDuck,

no, it's actually not edited. that exact frame appears at 23:03 in the episode on coal from june 2017: https://youtu.be/aw6RsUhw1Q8?t=1443

delfinom,

"Bob" was replaced with "Spez"

Yes it was edited. But the base image is real. It also resulted in a lawsuit.

Aaron_Davis,

Where they SLAPPED each other.

LambdaDuck,

oh, i don’t notice that, thanks!

LambdaDuck,

yes, it's real. it's from the episode on coal from june 2017: https://youtu.be/aw6RsUhw1Q8?t=1443

minimar,

Ah, probably my favourite episode! I've never been a big fan of john oliver purely because I find him aggressively unfunny, but showing everyone the ridiculous cease and desist letter with "Let us neither cease, nor desist" is amazing.

raltoid,

Update on the vote results, for people who don't want to go there:

  • Pro John Oliver: 61.7k
  • Return to normal: -13.7k.
NotYourSocialWorker,

I like the malicious compliance but I find that to be a bad way to do a poll. Better would have been one comment with the text "Upvote if you want John Oliver pics, downvote if you want it to go back to normal".

The way they did it if one group only upvote their alternative and the other also downvotes the opponent then the result isn't representative. Or at least could be claimed not to be.

lich_hegemon,

Let's assume that everyone who upvoted their option also downvoted the alternative.

The group A, has |A| number of individuals. Group B has |B| number.

Option A: |A| - |B|
Option B: |B| - |A|

Option A = |A| - |B| 
         = -(-(|A| - |B|))
         = -(|B| - |A|)
         = -Option B

The results would be opposites of each other and would highlight the opinion of the majority anyway.

cloudwalk,

r/theydidthema-- oh.

Right.

ramennoodle, (edited )

you can't both upvote and downvote the same item. the last option you selected is the only one that's counted at any given moment.

edit: wait, i see. if they're separate comments, you could just upvote the comment you like and downvote the comment you don't. i was assuming one comment that said upvote or downvote.

solarvector,

It would exacerbate the swing but wouldn't change the result

And I don't think maliciously compliant mod is interested in statistical representation.

NotYourSocialWorker,

I agree with you, it would legitimate the results though. Not that I believe that Reddit cares about that either.

Tsunami45chan,
@Tsunami45chan@lemmy.world avatar

The redditors have spoken. Also r/gifs do this as well.

TheRealJefe,

Spez really should have read r/maliciouscompliance a bit before he bit off more than he could chew

CookieJarObserver,
@CookieJarObserver@feddit.de avatar

Spez is peak r/choosingbeggars wanting free work to be done but oh, not with your own tools that actually work, no you need the ones that are inside his Basement for the last 10 years and barely work at all.

eee,

That's how billionaires make their money isn't it? Get everyone to pay them while they themselves pay others as little as possible.

LenticularTorsion,

A-fucking-men

thedarkfly,

That's a classic reddit moment. There's such a good community on that website, it's tragic that reddit wants to use that against itself.

These kind of protest won't reduce the traffic on the platform though. They might even gain traction and increase it. If it's not linked to reduced ad revenue, I'm afraid it's counter-productive.

raoulvolfoni,
@raoulvolfoni@kbin.social avatar

Look at the alternatives. It's either this kind of protest, or returning to normal operations or losing their sub.

Freesoftwareenjoyer,

Another alternative: redirect people here

c2h6,

Yeah they should have tried to get people out.

VoterFrog,

Yeah they should've gone with something even more specific - like pictures of Joe Biden eating ham sandwiches. Something with limited content options so that the sub is essentially forced to become inactive.

AFKBRBChocolate,

I think their way was better. It lets the giant number of subscribers have fun and engage, while also screwing the Reddit execs. They'll eventually get bored and it will be the same result.

seeCseas,

the odds are stacked against the mods and the users, but any little bit of resistance is useful.

DrGunjah,

I think it will reduce traffic at some point, when the lurkers are getting tired of John Oliver pics

metaStatic,

who the fuck could ever get tired of that? idiots and losers that's who.

MargotRobbie,
@MargotRobbie@lemmy.world avatar

Only having pictures of John Oliver is definitely an improvement over normal r/pic.

LenticularTorsion,

I thought so too. Such a big default sub is pretty useless.

Idreamofcheesy,

You didn't like "I haven't beaten my wife in 6 days!" With a picture of a thumbs up, no face or anything?

exixx,

This is actually the reason I'm here on Lemmy now. I love John Oliver but with all the other dark subreddits it was a bit much, and already had been looking into it. Led to Lemmy by too much sexy John Oliver.

rob_t_firefly,
@rob_t_firefly@lemmy.world avatar

Stupid sexy Oliver!

dystop,
@dystop@lemmy.world avatar

like porn, sexy John Oliver pics are the gateway to Satan.

deviant,

On my way to post sexy feet pics because nobody's seen John Oliver's sexy feet, or have they...

kadu,
@kadu@lemmy.world avatar

You know, this reminds me there's a literal WikiFeet for cataloguing information and pictures of feet from celebrities and sub-celebrities.

I honestly can't decide if I like the internet or not.

LenticularTorsion,

Er.... Whut

megane_kun,
@megane_kun@lemmy.world avatar

Well then, there's still no entry for John Oliver there.

https://lemmy.world/pictrs/image/1dcc7ca0-3adf-4e60-8082-44258e7acdfb.png

Not sure whether or not it's a good thing.

seeCseas,

Cataloguing? Er... Like people are sorting celebs' feet by size, color, shape and whatever else? I don't know how to respond to that....

LenticularTorsion,

Every time you view a John Oliver pic, God kills a kitten.

not_woody_shaw,

Who is this god person anyway?

greybeard,

Oh, so we have a way to deal with the wild house cat population destroying birds.

JollyBrancher,
@JollyBrancher@lemmy.world avatar

"I want to see a sexy picture of John Oliver." "We have a sexy picture of John Oliver at home." Sexy picture of John Oliver at home: Adam Driver

cats,
@cats@lemmy.world avatar

Hey now, that’s Adam Driver slander

JollyBrancher,
@JollyBrancher@lemmy.world avatar

The only rational way to be upset would be if you were dead set on the steamy John Oliver exposure! I just had to do a role-reversal of John and the man whose foot was on his neck for over a season, daddy Driver.

00Lemming,
@00Lemming@lemmy.world avatar

This may be the best highlight of spez incompetence 🍿 For everyone talking smack on the moderators, this is exactly what they should be doing. Malicious compliance. Make it hard for Reddit to know what is going on. Love to see it.

raspberriesareyummy,

Glorious :) I hope John Oliver picks this up in his show...

aceshigh,
@aceshigh@lemmy.world avatar

the writers are still on strike. don't know where they are in the negotiation process.

Perhyte,

Can't wait for that first episode after the strike though. It's going to be glorious, I just know it!

Perhyte,

Can't wait for that first episode after the strike though. It's going to be glorious, I just know it!

tburkhol,

Plot twist: John Oliver is secretly a mod of r/pics.

raspberriesareyummy,

I wouldn't be the least bit surprised if he was. That's totally in character for him :)

DocMcStuffin,
@DocMcStuffin@lemmy.world avatar

archive.ph link for those who don't want to give reddit traffic.

LenticularTorsion,

Btw I edited my post to link to your link instead

LenticularTorsion,

Thanks, didn't think of that!

demvoter,
@demvoter@kbin.social avatar

30,052,708 John Oliver Enthusiasts - Lolol

curiosityLynx,

Has John Oliver already had an episode about spez's enshittifying of reddit? Because if not, I guess this is one way to make him at least mention it on Last Week Tonight. xD

LenticularTorsion,

That's probably the goal.

Why John Oliver and noone else though?

STUNT_GRANNY,

Last Week Tonight is mainly known for taking deep dives into things people ought to be more concerned about, whereas most other late-night shows tend to focus on politics and pop culture stuff.

grue,

I'd argue that what John Oliver does is more legitimately political than the "focus on politics" horse-race bullshit the other shows have.

wilberfan,
@wilberfan@lemmy.world avatar

Unfortunately, no new LWT episodes until the Writer's Strike is settled...

Rogue_General,
@Rogue_General@lemmy.world avatar

Glad you posted this - its the epitome of malicious compliance! And a fantastic form of protest too. With Reddit admins threatening to demote mods unless they re-open subreddits, this move takes away that ammo. Additionally, after the initial boost in activity due to novelty, the sub will get stale quickly and users will think of migrating to other platforms like lemmy or kbin. I'm all for it!

Edit: This is what I'm talking about. Here is one of those Reddit refugees now!

https://lemmy.world/comment/273363

Welcome, @exixx!

exixx,

Thanks! It still feels weird, I had my account for a long time and have a fair amount of karma, but the site has been going to shit for a while and enough is enough. This feels like the very early web or fidonet and I’m stoked to be here.

Nerogar,

Looks like a few other subs have joined. r/gifs and r/art did the same poll

kiwifoxtrot,
@kiwifoxtrot@lemmy.world avatar

I've never been so happy to browse old.reddit /r/pics with an ad-blocker on.

concealmint,

Incredible move. But I doubt it'll last. Reddit is going to became 9gag and iFunny very soon. Rest in peace old reddit. It was fun while it lasted.

Squizzy,

I visited 9gag last week for the firdt time in maybe 8 years...wow the boomer humour and aggressive bigotry rivals Facebook

girthero,

Wow you ain't kidding! Its White nationalist this, and White nationalist that! They're going to replace us! /s

darkmugglet,

The point is to hit reddit where it hurts - ad revenue. There will be a slight spike in interests as people laugh, then the lack of original content will cause people to be bored. New subreddits will have to be created and built from the ground up. Moderating a subreddit with 40m subscribers is hard.

Spez needs to realize that going to war with the users is a dumb move.

orcrist,

He will not realize that, because he wants money and he'll get it. On the one hand, Reddit was fun. On the other hand, it's archaic for the reasons we're experiencing right now. Progress.

Squizzy,

Spez is thick as fuck but reddit will likely IPO and be just fine, this was a battle that didn't need to be fought.

Spez is a bad leader and his goals lie contrary to reddit's mission statement.

I left last time, I think it was the Victoria thing, and I joined Voat and that quickly went to shit. Reddit will get what they want from this which is more mainstream use.

darkmugglet,

I would argue that this whole thing will delay or devalue the IPO. Institual investors will look at this rather public fight and question his leadership. And the whole attempt at damage control makes him look bad. The only investors that will look past this fiasco are those who are doing the long play, and even then, they likely won't want Spez involved.

From a risk perspective, Reddit has just highlighted it's biggest risk: the volunteer moderators. The only way Spez will be able to fix that is to replace moderators with AI or paid moderation teams. At an estimated value of $3.4M, and a company that is not profitable, that increases the risk in terms of the business model.

In general, social media is inherently flawed for profits. The path to monetization is ads and data, and the fact that Spez is now squeezing the users make me think that the value of the data and the ads is not producing the returns to compensate for dumb ideas like the NFT project.

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