The largest private Reddit community, r/malefashionadvice, with over 5 million subscribers, is now redirecting its users to Discord and Substack amidst ongoing protests on the platform. Instead of accessing the community, visitors are greeted with a page recommending Discord and Substack as alternative platforms. While r/malefashionadvice has been a valuable resource for fashion discussions and guides, the community believes that Discord and Substack offer better alternatives. The Discord channel allows members to engage in conversations, share fashion inspirations, and seek advice, while the Substack platform hosts a multitude of guides. The mod team of r/malefashionadvice expresses satisfaction with the Discord community, stating that it has a stronger self-moderation system due to the high ratio of regulars to new members.
The Role of Discord and Substack
The transition to Discord and Substack was not solely driven by the desire to create subscription-based content. Instead, the mod team intended to transfer the subreddit’s guides to Substack while maintaining their formatting. The most popular guide, “Building a Basic Wardrobe,” has garnered over 2,000 views, primarily from the Discord community. However, it is important to note that both Discord and Substack have significantly smaller user bases compared to r/malefashionadvice, with the Discord channel having over 2,000 users and the Substack platform attracting nearly 560 subscribers.
Reddit’s Tensions and the Demand for Reopening
The recent protests on Reddit stem from the introduction of new API pricing, which led to the shutdown of some popular third-party apps. At the peak of the protest in mid-June, more than 8,000 communities turned private. However, many communities have since reopened, with some doing so after receiving warnings from Reddit that their moderator teams would be replaced if they didn’t comply. Reddit expressed its dissatisfaction with r/malefashionadvice’s continued closure and issued a message to the subreddit’s moderators, urging them to reopen the community within three days. Failure to do so would result in the removal of the current moderator team and the formation of a new one.
The Mod Team’s Response and Expectations
In response to Reddit’s message, a mod named Zach clarified that the community had only been closed for 13 days, despite Reddit’s claim of a month-long closure. Zach further highlighted the team’s active moderation efforts, emphasizing their continuous monitoring and addressing of content in the moderation queue and messaging system. However, Zach also acknowledged the likelihood of the mod team’s removal and expressed gratitude towards the community for their contributions over the past 14 years. Despite the possibility of new mods reopening the community, Zach believes that most regular users will not return due to ongoing issues with bots and bad actors that plague r/malefashionadvice on a daily basis. Without adequate moderation tools, it will be increasingly difficult to keep these disruptive elements at bay.
Continued Protests and Alternative Communities
While r/malefashionadvice seeks refuge on Discord and Substack, other communities are pursuing different avenues of protest. For instance, r/AccidentalRenaissance, a subreddit focused on images resembling Renaissance paintings, has gone private after its moderators resigned. They are now encouraging users to join offshoot communities on Reddit alternatives such as Kbin and Lemmy. Additionally, r/PICS, a subreddit exclusively dedicated to posts about comedian John Oliver, is inviting Oliver himself to join the moderation team. The ongoing protests have resulted in over 2,000 subreddits remaining dark, as reported by the Reddark tracker.
In summary, the largest private Reddit community, r/malefashionadvice, has redirected its users to Discord and Substack as part of a wider protest against the platform. Discord offers a more engaging and self-moderated space for fashion discussions, while Substack serves as a repository for the community’s guides. Despite Reddit’s demand for reopening, the mod team anticipates their removal and expresses concerns about the proliferation of bots and bad actors. As protests continue, other communities are exploring alternative platforms and inviting notable figures to join their moderation teams. The impact of these protests is evident, with thousands of subreddits still remaining dark.
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