The Quiet Allies and Hidden Casualties In The Reddit War
To a sub of only 100k members, the Reddit war is about a principle that hits close to home and could harm many of their own.
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It feels appropriate to begin a story about Reddit with an acronym ripped directly from the thread-based site: ELI5, explain like I’m five.
Although tech media outlets have covered the fast-paced action leading up to Reddit backlash over API price increases for third-party developers, here’s the ELI5 version:
Big company rips off app maker.
It’s like a Silicon Valley episode come to life.
Ok. That might be a gross oversimplification. If you count yourself among the tech community or are tech-adjacent (whatever that means), you’re likely anti-big executive in the Reddit battle.
In this case the executive does have a name but, in solidarity with Reddit users who have tagged, called out and memed him, I’ll refer to him only by his username, u/spez.
There are enough photos of “spez” circulating, so, for context, I’ll refer you to his campaign for apocalyptic warlord.