For interest’s sake I asked ChatGPT…

• Implementing heavy-handed censorship: If Reddit were to significantly increase censorship and suppress user-generated content without clear guidelines, it could lead to frustration and a loss of trust among users.
• Allowing unchecked harassment and hate speech: If Reddit fails to address or take action against harassment, bullying, or hate speech, it could create a toxic environment that drives away users who seek a more inclusive and respectful platform.
• Manipulating voting and rankings: If Reddit were to manipulate voting algorithms or rankings to favor certain posts or opinions, it would undermine the platform’s integrity and erode user trust in the democratic nature of content discovery.
• Selling user data without consent: If Reddit were to compromise user privacy by selling personal data to third parties without explicit user consent, it would breach trust and potentially result in a mass exodus of users concerned about their privacy.
• Implementing excessive and intrusive ads: If Reddit were to inundate the platform with excessive and intrusive advertisements that disrupt the user experience, it could lead to frustration and cause users to seek alternative platforms.
• Neglecting community feedback and suggestions: If Reddit fails to listen to user feedback and suggestions, and ignores the needs and desires of its community, it could lead to a sense of disconnect and disengagement among users.
• Engaging in biased or politically motivated moderation: If Reddit’s moderation practices become heavily biased or politically motivated, favoring certain ideologies while suppressing others, it could alienate users who value a fair and impartial platform.
• Ignoring widespread harassment campaigns: If Reddit were to turn a blind eye to coordinated harassment campaigns or fail to take swift action against them, it would harm the safety and well-being of users, prompting them to seek alternatives.
• Neglecting transparency in content moderation: If Reddit were to lack transparency in its content moderation practices, such as unclear guidelines or inconsistent enforcement, it would lead to confusion and frustration among users.
• Disregarding the needs of niche communities: If Reddit were to neglect the needs of smaller, niche communities that rely on the platform for specific interests, it could result in a loss of engagement and diminish the diverse range of discussions.

Thanks!

One of my favourite books is Hamlet’s Blackberry by William Powers.

“The essential idea is simple: to lead happy, productive lives in a connected world, we need to master the art of disconnecting.”

Relevant meme…

Oh yeah, I’ve forgotten about Mxit! Wow, that brings back memories. 😁

Cellphone network fees have historically been ridiculously expensive, when I was young a single SMS message cost about 80c, whilst for 10x that fee I could get enough data to send hundreds of WhatsApp or similar data-based messages.

In time providers tried to draw more subscribers to their networks by making the data used by messaging apps like WhatsApp free, so even if you had no prepaid airtime (in Africa most people use prepaid airtime) you could still send messages with these apps even though you couldn’t SMS.

These days messaging apps like WhatsApp and Telegram (the latter especially) are just simply more feature-rich than SMS, and you’re not locked into a specific hardware platform such as iPhone & Mac with iMessage.

I think this is mostly an issue in the US. The rest of the world uses a variety of messaging apps instead of text messaging. Here in South Africa WhatsApp and Telegram are prevalent.