I just found out reddit sold everything we wrote to AI companies… and honestly I don’t know how to feel

I just found out reddit sold everything we wrote to AI companies… and honestly I don’t know how to feel

So I was reading about Reddit’s API controversy from 2023 and fell down a rabbit hole.

Turns out every post, every comment, every opinion you’ve shared here - reddit licensed it to openai and google. No opt-out. No warning. Just. - done.

And that’s just reddit. Meanwhile Google, Meta, and basically every major platform are quietly building a profile on you — your interests, your political leanings, your daily routine, your insecurities. All from things you said or clicked on “anonymously.”

The wild part? We already knew this was happening. It’s not new. Yet here we all are, still posting.

So I’m genuinely curious — why do you still use reddit (or big tech in general) knowing this?

Is it because:

  • The alternatives (Lemmy- kbin- etc…) just aren’t there yet?
  • You’ve accepted it as the price of the internet
  • You actually don’t think it’s that big a deal?
  • Or you simply never thought about it until now?

Not judging anyone — I’m still here too. Just want to hear honest answers.

  • Red0ctober@lemmy.world
    84·
    15 hours ago

    I think you will find that most people posting here are not posting on Reddit these days. A see a few saying they still do, but mostly on niche subs that don’t have the critical mass needed here.

    The Fediverse has a ton to offer, I personally abandoned Reddit and haven’t looked back when the API lockdown happened. Even though a lot of the niche communities that I was a part of aren’t here, I prefer posting to a platform that doesn’t disrespect its users.

    Edit: whoosh. I did not realize this was a post on reddit OP screenshoted.

    • Obi@sopuli.xyz
      7·
      11 hours ago

      After cutting it out completely for a while I started lurking Reddit again because honestly while I love Lemmy for general discussion/politics/memes it just doesn’t have anything related to my more niche interests. I do however refrain from ever posting/commenting there because fuck giving them any more data from me or helping drive their engagement metrics.

      • BilSabab@lemmy.world
        4·
        11 hours ago

        i quit cold turkey because reddit nuked my account and it’s been four months since i last peeked into that wretched place and no love lost i guess. reddit been progressively more bad for me ever since 2022 russian invasion and lots of mentally unstable harrassing me because “fuck ukraine you nazi” wasn’t what i was looking for on the platform. just so many aggressive tankies.

        the last thing i did on reddit was digging through yet another wave of bots reporting every post on my subreddit as violence or threats and then the next day - bam you’re banned for 7 days, no 30 days, no permabanned no appeal fuck you.

    • chemical_cutthroat@lemmy.world
      17·
      15 hours ago

      Same for me. The only thing that’s awkward is when I try to explain something I saw “on the Reddit alternative I use.” I still can’t get my friends to understand Lemmy.

      • BilSabab@lemmy.world
        5·
        11 hours ago

        i just tell everyone “if Lemmy from Motorhead was a forum” and it makes way better impression that “reddit is what happens if metafilter was the shits”

      • darkdemize@sh.itjust.works
        11·
        14 hours ago

        Shit, most of my friends don’t even get Reddit. Lemmy would probably make their heads explode.

        It should go without saying that I don’t work in tech.

    • abbadon420@sh.itjust.worksOP
      16·
      15 hours ago

      I’m pretty much in the same boat. But I do lurk on Reddit sometimes when I’m looking to doomscroll, but I often find that the ads and bots prevent me from enjoying the doomscroll mindlessness.

      I thought it’d be funny to share this post, because it looks like some people are becoming fed up with reddit for all the reasons that have been glaringly obvious for years now. Eventhough this is likely a bot post. Which might make it even funnier.