Link: https://techcrunch.com/2026/09/30/reddit-is-killing-rss-feeds-ending-public-api-access-because-of-ai-bots/

Reddit is killing RSS feeds and ending public API access because of AI bots

Yes.

TBH I'm not convinced enough real humans still use reddit for a new exodus to happen.

there are some bots but they only make up a small percent and are easy to spot

not really. Anyone who relied on the API has already left

Probably some. I would guess that it would be less-significant than the influx with the third-party-client fiasco.

It usually comes in waves whenever reddit does this. We'll see a modest bump. Some will stay, some will go back. It's just on us to welcome those who come over and hope they stay.

No.

Those people will show up and see all the soapy tiddy memes and know that this is home

Nope. Reddit appeals to the same type of people that use AI. It’s army of bots will tell them exactly what they want to hear, and the authoritarian clowns that mod that shithole will ban anyone for speaking out against the hive.

So, as long as you agree with everyone and are okay with everyone agreeing with whatever you say in subs that don’t allow anyone to speak freely, you’ll be fine.

Basically, it’s the social media equivalent of a HOA nightmare.

well, i literally just spun up a instance because of it

Some nonzero amount, sure. But there's never going to be a mass exodus where the entire userbase jumps ship.

Look at how many people still use Twitter even now.

found the bot /s

here in an overview to the thrediverse defederations. Maybe its a bit to much at first to show this but now its an opportunity to use a bookmark so im gonna use it

https://sopuli.xyz/post/49459437

Hopefully they don't get scared off by one of our resident trolls

I'll make a wild guess that you too came here from reddit. That makes you one of those people. We're all just redditors telling ourself a comforting story about how we're better than those people over there.

Interesting side effect that this will probably kill off some of the Reddit repost bots over here

Back in my day we had the Digg to Reddit exodus.

it's gonna bring over a few more techie folks. yay?

Nah, I don't really think so. People who use Reddit don't use RSS or the API.

I kinda like that they're becoming more openly hostile. It's fun to watch.

I think a handful but, not a another max exodus.

Sanitation and his army of bots operate through a Firefox extension so I think we'll still get the trash posts from reddit, at least!

They’re going the way of Twitter and Facebook. They started with rich, open, and supported developer platforms. They actively courted devs. Once they hit critical mass (thanks to devs making the platform good and attracting users), they rug-pulled and became what they are now. Same thing is happening with Reddit.

It’s pretty impressive how effective and total that migration was. I don’t think it could ever happen these days.

God bless you, Lemmy.

Definitely toyed with doing the same when I joined

It's much bigger now.

During the first migration it was mostly techie people and college kids who all could keep up. But now there's completely non-tech aware people on Reddit daily and exceptionally niche forums without another real alternative.

Part of me hopes so, part of me does not.

On the one hand, I'm finding that the turnover for new posts doesn't seem to be as great as on Reddit; once I go through my digest here: that's it. Of course, with an influx of new people come the riffraff.

Maybe they'll feel more like at home

I certainly make no bones about it, I miss parts of it. Reddit had fervent hobby subs that just aren't here or are barely here. Memes are cool, and news is important, but unless gaming or Linux are your primary hobbies, this place is severely limited. And I've heard the old "be the change you want to see" adage , but I have no interest, no idea how, and no time for starting or moderating a community. Hell, I can barely make myself post when I think I have a subject of interest because I might have to answer too many replies/comments. But man, what I would give for an active bonsai or diy electronics comm.

Is there anywhere to track him?

Not entirely. I tried to leave when they enforced the initial API changes, but there's just not enough content on Lemmy to satisfy me. I ended up finding Relay for Reddit which uses the API and costs me a couple dollars a month. I still won't contribute to Reddit anymore (no voting, posting, or commenting), but it was a great way to get content from my long curated lost of subreddits. Now I won't be able to use the Relay app anymore. I'm never using the Reddit app, so that leaves browsing on mobile using Firefox with uBlock Origin and Reddit Bouncer to cut through all the shit. I'm not sure I'll actually browse that way, but I didn't think I'd go back at all after the initial API changes either.

I'm happy with how it is now. There's still a bunch of power mad mods here, but, by and large, it's so much better than that cesspit.

A dev team that is serious about growing the platform.

SMCF posted a list not too long ago but I'm not sure where it is.

Sanitation, Time2lose, oldmanalex, grumpus_maximus, mustachio_grumpus (or something), noralenderbee, liquorice. Those are the ones I remember

With revanced/morphe it's possible to patch an app like Sync to be able to use reddit for free.

Seems unlikely. If someone is invested in making those bots, they'll find a way. Running a browser in a VM and simulating clicks is totally doable. If that's what it takes to make money, they'll do it.

Agree that mods are more of a problem here than Reddit. Never been banned from a sub on Reddit in +15 years, here it took a couple months, but everything else is still better. The constant ads made to look like posts was the last straw for me.

Saved. I'll see if I can find the whole list some time. It's amazing he tried to deny he's the same guy yet talks in such an idiosyncratic way...

redreader still officially works too

It's not just the API (and rss) that is getting axed, automoderator and old reddit have also officially moved to the chopping block.

I kinda like that they're becoming more openly hostile. It's fun to watch.

I still can't believe they just came out and said that new users switching to Old Reddit is a problem that needs to be fixed, by removing their access to Old Reddit. You'd think they'd try to word it in a more deceptive manner at least. Or just keep it to themselves.

Yeah I've been doing this since the API change and it's the only reason I still use reddit.

I think most of us transplants here took the less content on Lemmy as a sign to reduce how much scrolling we do, because of reddit.

Another great example : )

Some ppl might say that a company whose product is user generated content would try to be more like honey and less like vinegar.

Is a rat fleeing a sinking ship still a ship's rat? A fair few people moved to reddit from Digg, and 4chan once the /pol/ cancer metastatised all over it a bit later on. I preferred forums personally until reddit ate most of them, and now reddit is a shithole I'm on Lemmy and have nothing to do with reddit, don't even lurk there now. The kind of people with a low threshold for moving aren't necessarily representative of the group they're leaving; I don't think we'll see a really massive migration from reddit, and I don't think we'd actually benefit from it either.

You have to enjoy a place while you can, either outright failure or Eternal September awaits every online community eventually. One day people will bang on about this being Lemmy's golden age, before the legions of dopamine jockeys found it. Personally I quite like how discussions taking place over days rather than hours makes Lemmy genuinely pretty different from reddit, even if it's mostly made up of ex-redditors.

Man i was so confused, my first run in with the soapy tiddies memes was some Sheila with cambells soup cans over her boobs talking about soapy tiddies.

Then I scrolled further and it all came together.

It's the new beans

i think people will relent, and make a account to login instead. tiktok, instagram,fb did this.

some will move here though.

the only other way is reddit starts banning alot of people again, but then they will just lose too much USER-generated content for AI again.

its the niche content, i had some niche questions recently that really isnt on lemmy at all, and reddit had already asked and answered the quesiton.

when they fully force a login from lurkers, people might come.

things like, your sports related content is all on reddit, movies/shows, individual series all on reddit, reality shows. the "largest draws" are the askreddits and adjacent subs. also your "whattodo subs"