Reddit's CEO announced that the protests associated with Reddit's API charging ``does not adversely affect revenue'', and notified employees to ``hide the fact that they are Reddit officials to protect themselves''

Since the online bulletin board Reddit announced that API will be charged in April 2023, it has been severely criticized by developers and users of third-party applications, and the server has been down for several hours due to user protests. I'm here. Meanwhile, it was revealed that Reddit CEO Steve Hoffman had sent a message to employees that ``no significant impact on revenue due to protests has been confirmed''.

Reddit CEO tells employees that subreddit blackout 'will pass' - The Verge
https://www.theverge.com/2023/6/13/23759559/reddit-internal-memo-api-pricing-changes-steve-huffman

Reddit's API charging itself was announced in April 2023, but as of April, the details of the pricing system had not been clarified. After that, in June 2023, it was found that the API usage fee was `` $ 12,000 (about 1.7 million yen) for 50 million requests ''.

In the case of Reddit's popular third-party application `` Apollo '', which generates 7 billion requests per month, API usage reaches about $ 1.7 million (about 236 million yen) per month and $ 20 million (about 2.8 billion yen) per year As a result, Apollo has been forced out of service.

Third-party application 'Apollo' announces service termination due to Reddit's API charge - GIGAZINE

Users who object to the high API usage fee have implemented ``private subreddits (equivalent to 'boards' on major Japanese bulletin boards)' as a protest against the Reddit management team. The deprivation of thousands of subreddits left Reddit's system in an unstable state, and on June 12, 2023, the server was down for three hours.

Reddit's server is down for 3 hours due to protests due to API charging - GIGAZINE

On June 9, 2023, CEO Hoffman held ``AMA (Ask Me Anything: CEO of Reddit but have any questions?)'' to calm down the successive criticisms and protests. However, in addition to a large amount of F-words being thrown at CEO Hoffmann, there were also many harsh opinions such as `` He is a coward who only aims for IPO (initial public offering) ''.

Reddit is on fire due to API charging, CEO responds to the question 'Do you have any questions?' Plan access block of - GIGAZINE

Newly, the overseas media The Verge has obtained and published ``Message sent by CEO Hoffman to Reddit employees on June 12, 2023''. In addition to the claim that `` no significant impact on revenue has been confirmed at this time, '' the message says, `` To protect yourself, do not imply that you are a Reddit official in public. It also included advice for The Japanese translation of the full message is below.

Hi Snoos.

About 1000 subreddits have gone private since last night. Like many people, we expect the private subreddit to be back by Wednesday. We knew this was going to happen, but it's still a big deal and we're having a hard time. Many snoos are working around the clock to respond to infrastructure failures, engage with the community, and deal with the high volume of issues related to this blackout. thank you.

At this time, no significant impact on earnings has been confirmed. We will continue to monitor.

This issue is making the loudest noise I've ever experienced. We are continuing to work on this issue in the same manner as the Reddit blaze. The most important thing for us now is to stay focused, meet challenges and keep moving forward. We need to make sure we deliver the products we promise. The long-term solution is to keep improving the product. We also have several tools coming out in the near term that we need to pull off.

Several apps, including the two giants of third-party apps, Apollo and RIF, have announced the end of service at the end of 2023. We are in ongoing dialogue with multiple app developers. Also, as I mentioned last week, we plan to exclude applications 'RedReader' and 'Dystopia' that specialize in accessibility (from the target of the new API system).

I hate to say this, but please refrain from wearing Reddit merch in public. Some people are in a state of turmoil and their grievances shouldn't be directed at you.

Once again, we can get through this situation. Thanks to everyone who contributed.