I left when they blocked third-party APIs to force people to use their app

Reddit shadow banned my account for posting this diy candle idea on witches vs patriarchy. They won’t respond so I guess I’m barred from participating forever.

I'm not banned, but I'm here because Reddit essentially in active decay. It's old. All the community names are taken. Some taken years ago. The site is too big to be effectively maintained by admins, leaving many communities badly-run, half-abandoned and being swamped by bots, trolls and whatever else. You can't grow anything there.

You can on the Fediverse. Community discoverability is by far much better on here, and the federated structure of it means that no-one can camp on communities to stop others from making it. You can just be replaced by someone else if you run it poorly.

There are many other problems too such as the site using AI to ban people, buggy notification system etc.

Been here since the Reddit API shutdown in July of 2023.

Lemmy is a federated clone of Reddit, and Reddit has more users, so most likely, everyone here has either rejected Reddit, or been banned by Reddit, or they are using both platforms at once to reach a bigger audience.

I am here because I was very dissatisfied with Reddit's administration and moderation and with the way they screwed app devs.

I'm concerned that Lemmy uses the same basic moderation techniques as Reddit, and so it could fall into the same ruin as Reddit. But for now, the moderators I've interacted with here have been straight up legit good people. So I stick around.

10+ years on Reddit. Never banned on any subreddit or Reddit itself, ever. First came here during the 2023 API controversy. Went back to Reddit since the anime community was pretty small here, and I could still use my own API key for 3rd party apps.

Came back to Lemmy a week or two ago due to this bullshit. I'm not affected yet as I still have my own API key, so I'll be hopping back and forth between Reddit and Lemmy. But I know my time on Reddit is limited.

I just hope Lemmy and the rest of the Fediverse is polished up by the time of the next Reddit exodus. But based on the most recent API change, I think Reddit has learned to make smaller changes over long periods of time over one major change that angers everyone all at once.

R-word emigrant, checking in.

The day the API changes went into effect, I logged in here and never looked back.

I'm here since the reddit API changes, which lead to the app I used being shut down (I don't remember the name anymore).

Im still lurking on reddit, but haven't logged in ever since.

Not me, I'm here since the reddit API disaster, and Lemmy is my replacement for reddit. I deleted my reddit account. I'm happy to have left. I feel like this is a nicer place. Healthier discussions. Calm. Not as much heated name calling.

Although some people have been rather rude as of late, so I try to remind them of how to act. But obviously there will be people who are still going to be assholes for no reason.

I wasn't banned, I just hate the official app and the overwhelming number of bots and ads. So I gave it up, and Lemmy fills that commenting niche for me. My account is still live on reddit, though. There's like 12 years of old comments and sometimes I like reading through them to see how stupid I used to be.

left when reddit went public. nothing good happens when you have to answer to stockholders….

I left when they fucked over 3rd party apps.

Here since deleting Reddit post history at the time of 3rd party app api. I only go back (via RedLib) for niche communities.

Used to love Reddit but the drop in quality over there is shocking, the same shit reposted ad nauseum & bots galore. Much prefer it here, though still hoping niche communities will grow & become sustainable.

A small number of communities here have got a foothold & i find them better than the Reddit equivalents dispite far fewer posts so there's hope.

I did use to be a Reddit user. Now I'm a bot on Lemmy, according to the admins of ttrpg.network.

Like many others, my journey was Digg --> Reddit --> Lemmy.

Hopefully the federated design of Lemmy means I never have to update the graphic above.

One of my reddit accounts was perma-banned for commenting “good” under the announcement that the queen died. Another one was banned because I said I dislike theocracies in a thread about Israel.

Humanity will never be free until the last king is strangled with the intestines of the last priest.

Not banned. I just like the idea of the fediverse. And also to have more "real people" in the comments.

Isn't everyone on here as an alternative to reddit?

I am not here on lemmy/the fediverse just because it is an alternative to reddit, I am here because I intend to contribute as much as possible to destroying reddit by being here and contributing.

It makes me sad seeing the blanket cynicism people have towards the potential of social media as if we tried everything and social media is just inherently toxic when all we have tried is for-profit social media run by massive corporations full of sociopathic ultra rightwing upper management that demand endless growth.

Reddit has to go, it is far too centralized a replacement for forum/message boards, but the good news is every meaningful contribution we make here on Lemmy/the fediverse pushes the knife deeper into reddit's chest :)

Reddit can only win at forming an unavoidable corporate silo we are compelled to endure if it projects an inevitability to it, we are here to destroy that inevitability.

Reddit has become unusable for me at this point. I will see 2-3 posts from my local subreddits and then everything else is "because you've shown interest in a similar community" of random cities I've never been to/ never will visit. It also won't stop showing me trainwrecks. I don't look for this content, and I mute every community it promotes and as someone who commutes by train everyday I really don't want to see that shit.

I got banned, for evading a ban. (I didn't know I was banned, was just using one of my 3 alts for different hobbies and made a comment, instantly banned all 3, no appeals)

I think social media should not be connected to big tech billionaries. Call me crazy. :)

I was using Reddit Sync. When the API nonsense went down, the Dev announced that they were switching to Lemmy. I've stayed on the app and now feel like I'm part of a much richer community. I'm glad to be here.

Ever since Apollo shut the doors I’ve not had a user there. I still keep tabs on a few communities that don’t really have a presence here, but only lurking, no participation.

I'm totally banned so here we are.

I joined when Apollo for reddit died.

I can’t straight up “quit Reddit” for Lemmy yet. There’s not enough of the content I want to see here, yet.

A while after Reddit practically blocked the Apollo app, I realized just how much I loved that app. It was the perfect Reddit interface. Not long after, I discovered how great Voyager did of replacing the experience, and that’s what ultimately brought me here “permanently.”

So, Reddit has lost browsing time from me big time, and that time is now shared with Lemmy.

Also, I love a good Rust project 🦀

The answer to your question is "essentially everyone". Either hated Reddit, hated the changes, hated the app restrictions, and/or got Permabanned over nothing.

Was perma banned in Reddit a few years ago for discussing ACA compliance. I saw it coming for awhile, the any comment I made no matter how inauspicious was flagged over the course of a few weeks.

After banning I was unable to post on any of my accounts. But I could change prior comments so I used an app to generate AI gibberish and replace years of comments and participation with AI bullshit to salt the earth for Reddit.

Before you leave I recommend doing the same.

Fuck spez the 2023 canvas was the last time i used a account over there and when a search engine leads me there it makes me sick to see the new ui and overall culture.

Lemmy is lacking content badly, but noway I'm going back there.

I came with the mass exodus in the spring of 2023 (used a .world account for a while before making this one). The handling of app developers was just a final straw for me; I had been a pretty prolific commentor, but the experience was getting worse and worse over the years. I started thinking about finding another place after that time Russia disconnected the country from the Internet for a day and Reddit was wonderful. Political discussions were friendly, trolls largely disappeared, and the whole site became much more left-leaning. I hate the feeling of being manipulated.

I'm here because I got perma banned for saying trump needs punched dead in his shit.

I left Reddit for good a few weeks ago when I got a 3 day autoban for directly quoting Worf from Star Trek…in response to a post asking for quotes. I think it was an autoban because a couple years previous I got an auto-warning for quoting a punk song in a punk sub…appeal rejected.

I appealed the 3 day ban…but no idea if it would have been accepted because I deleted my account and the Reddit app after 2 days when I snapped out of my Reddit addiction and finally realized how enshitified it’s become.

Bot infestation at Reddit is out of control, with no real way to fix it. Many Mods are high on "authority" and ban for incredibly asinine reasons, then make you susceptible to the dreaded (not so much) "Ban Evasion." Oh man, F off. Way too many rules now. Jumped the Shark long ago.

I used to exclusively browse Reddit via apps. I retired relatively young, and as such, no longer sit in front of a computer all day. Being able to browse Reddit from my phone or tablet was essential.

Then the whole API thing happened a couple years ago. Reddit started charging app developers for every use of their data, which would cost the larger apps millions of dollars for something that was previously free. It was Reddit's attempt to squash all mobile apps, so they could push their ad-riddled garbage app. Or make tons of money off any third-party apps that were too stubborn to quit hosting Reddit content. Win/win for Reddit.

I'm extremely anti-advertisement and am not going to be forced to use an app that shoves ads in my face every few posts or comments. I immediately started looking for alternatives, and Lemmy was the most common suggestion for an alternative to Reddit.

I made an account here and spent some time poking around. It was like Reddit, but not as many people, so the content seemed more focused. I could actually comment here and not be drowned out by thousands of other comments. Even if I was late to a thread, I'd still get noticed and be able to share in a conversation, not just shout into the void.

People were generally nicer here too. On Reddit, there were always haters in every thread. Always contrarians who had to argue with everyone. I rarely see people being assholes here. Not to say they don't exist, but they're more rare.

I started subscribing to communities here (the Lemmy version of subreddits), but eventually decided to just keep browsing by "All," since there wasn't as much regular content. That means I still have a full news feed, but I also don't get stuck doomscrolling forever.

It seems jumping to Lemmy was a good choice because soon after I left, subreddits started losing their mods if they spoke out against the CEO or fought against site-wide changes. They were replaced by Reddit admins or bots, who did a terrible job moderating. Lots of communities started crumbling, especially the popular subreddits whose mods were replaced by bots.

I've fully abandoned Reddit now. I wouldn't be surprised if my account got auto banned from a bunch of subreddits at some point for some innocuous comment I made years ago. I still get emails every now and then stating that someone found an old comment and replied, but besides people asking for help or advice, I just ignore it. Reddit is dead to me.

I'm sure at least 25% of us are here because all of our years old accounts were permabanned for "inciting violence" which they use as a blanket term for posts they don't like against the administration.

My account appears to have been blocked instantly from the public eye just because I intermittently shared in /r/Milwaukee a weekly board game group that I run, so, yeah, this is a nicer place.

I'm here since the API stuff on Reddit, haven't posted a lot there, haven't posted a lot here but at least I'm not supporting Reddit through my daily use anymore. Though when I really need some information that I can only find on Reddit I'm not gonna not use it.

My current Reddit account I carefully curated and built is unbanned but associated to a different email, but my primary email is actually receiving new emails as of this week that my old accounts are permabanned. That alone is not noteworthy, but over the past couple months some of my other alts have had their passwords reset at random, with emails asking me to verify. These are not phishing emails, but actually from Reddit. I think they're on to me and trying to get a confirmation, but not clicking those links so they can do their IP identification. Sociopathic, vindictive, people run Reddit apparently. Like sorry for dissenting and calling out specific employees that have bullied me, your operation is surely not corrupt. /s

Never banned but I disliked the corporate capture and astroturfing that infested Reddit. I moved here so no corporation could own my community.

I stopped using entirely a few years ago, I kept getting banned (esp after 10/7) and spinning up new accounts just felt like a waste of time. Now this is pretty much my only social media aside from XHS.

I much prefer temp bans, but it does depend on the context

I was banned on Reddit in June of 2024 for saying that I hoped that the libs of TikTok monster would get hit by a bus. I found out about lemmy at the end of last year and I’m still happy to be here.

I'm also initially here because of a reddit temp ban for speaking ill of Israel, and I've been followed here, and when I joined lemmy, record setting ddos attack on cloudflare occurred, so I have to be careful what I say here as well. I've also gotten really sick of the reddit algorithm and I always felt like I was baited into bad conversations. I do wish lemmy was more active and spread out though. Right now, it's really only scratching my political talk itch, so I guess I'm thankful I don't have to take it elsewhere.

We also have bans here. And they're also rather arbitrary. Just never defend europeoids (they are guilty by default, no matter what happened) and always defend minorities of any kind (they are always right in their rightful rights). Simple? Not quite. You will still be banned from time to time even from the communities you never heard about(local moderators love that).

But overall, it is much nicer here. Moderators are fewer and lazier, and some people can sometimes even read your arguments before calling you a racist or something.

banned.

I mostly don't use Reddit anymore. I can speak my mind on Lemmy, which is refreshing.

🤚 yo.

I came over in 2023, like so many others, in protest of the API changes. Originally, I was sad that there were so few users here, but actually it pretty quickly started to feel more comfortable. I still maintain an account over there, but I haven't posted there in ages. I like it better here.

I'm here as an evolution from Reddit. I still use that for a web search result source if needed, but I don't really find myself wanting to go back there.

Lemmy is an alternative to Reddit to me the same way a smoked turkey and pepperjack with tomato and lettuce on lightly toasted sourdough is an alternative to a cigarette for lunch.

Im here from reddit after being wrongfully banned . Loving lemmy lot more

Am I the only one on Lemmy who isn't from Reddit

I'm kinda young, won't specify more than "teen"

I sometimes browse Reddit without an account (some more niche meme/funny subreddits), but have never had an account.

I don't actually remember how I originally heard about the fediverse. (adhd be like)

I joined Lemmy after the API fiasco in 2023. Was hoping more would follow but they did not. I still maintained an account here and on reddit for a while.

Then, my original reddit account of 12 years got banned for saying mean things about Nazis. Reddit admins really don't like when you are mean to Nazis. I made another account which miraculously lasted for another 13 months before getting whacked for ban evasion.

I continued to scroll on my banned account via Infinity because fuck the official garbage app. Now that reddit has quietly changed API privileges again, no more new accounts can request an API key so my read-only forays there will likely come to an end soon, when my banned accounts key stops working. I'm done with reddit after that. I'm fine with chilling here waiting for others to figure out they're in a cycle of abuse, and making the right choice by leaving reddit in the dust.

Not as an alternative, but as a supplement. Both experiences have massive problems, some shared, some not.

I'm too "violent" for spez.

FUCK YOU SPEZ.

I am, but there's such a strong focus on American news and politics that I still jump back to Reddit a lot though

I moved from reddit to hexbear a while back, spent a month or two lurking and occasionally commenting then decided it was time for a social media detox. A year later I signed up for db0, knowing reddit was absolutely not the place, and liking what I saw as far as admin politics and moderation style.

Its been almost a year, I haven't caught any bans or had any particularly toxic interactions, so either I'm in the right place or I've become increasingly good at self censoring.

yea, lemmy is kind of an alternative for me. but in essence it's completely different. people don't argue with bots for one. and the community is smaller so if you make an ass of yourself without being banned you're still known for being an ass :)

yeet reddit

I deleted my main Reddit account and jettisoned about 14 years of memories etc. Had a new account. Prolly still have it but I’m not going back. There’s just no reason to.

I use both for different reasons, different communities

I gradually weaned off my Reddit usage and fully stopped by 5 months after I opened my Lemmy account.

There are echo chambers, there are ideologues, and there are jerks, compulsive contrarians and trolls, but I really do loving having more indepth conversations with people on Lemmy, even with whom I disagree.

I am. Was super optimistic too until October 7 made it clear that this place is just quinoa reddit.

Fuck reddit. They deleted my nsfw content even though it was not breaking any rules.

Not even sure what their problem was since they don't give a reason - just banned!

Oh well maybe Lemmy is a better place for me.

Hope you all enjoy me over here!

Pics and erotic fiction on my profile.

Same here. I’m still on Reddit, but the moderation can feel unpredictable, and it’s discouraging when normal comments get flagged. Finding Lemmy has been refreshing, and I’d like to see the community grow into something sustainable and balanced.

I'd argue it already is an actual alternative so long as you're following more general technical content rather than niche local stuff. Most of us the people here have Reddit's API shutdown for third party apps to thank including myself. At least for me the last time I tried using the first party app it had major issues playing gifs on my Galaxy A52. Combine the bugs with the general closing of the platform and it was quite an easy switch. Lemmy is certainly smaller, but this isn't necessarily a bad thing. I waste less time on it than I used to on Reddit which feels more healthy.

For what it's worth, the start of my bans were bans from leftist subs for moderate positions. I used up one strike for joking that Trump supporters would voluntarily bury themselves with Trump to guard him in the afterlife ("inciting violence"), then i got simultaneously banned from r/workersstrikeback and r/latestagecapitalism because i said something to the effect of "voting against fascism shouldn't be seen as a loss, and it was a perfectly fine way to spend a tuesday ("neoliberal propaganda"), and then finally i posted on r/unpopularopinion that: "as bad as shit can be sometimes, i still don't think i'd do all that much differently", and then when people commented on it, if it was insulting, i insulted them back ("harassment").

The truth is, organizations just have a way of getting all fucked up, and you rise and retain your position by being fucked up. So, yeah, once something like reddit becomes a hot commodity, run by people with too much to lose, they wind up strangling the thing to death. (I hope that phrase isn't "inciting violence").

Oh, that reminds me of another of my list of repeated violations (12 years without any, then all of that shit in like 6 months).

I used the term "lame duck" in describing what you could reasonably expect from Biden when Israel started going after Biden, and i got a bsn for "ableist language".

Now, whether that one was a false flag?... i mean, it could go either way. I've definitely encountered that type of crap with leftists before as well...

For what it's worth: i'm pretty far left. I probably occupy a similar space as Bernie Sanders (in the sense that he's probably even farther left than he says, but he knows that nobody is going to completely dismantle the whole system just because he hot on a podium and told them to.)

i have been shadowbanned on my last account. so basically im here. Reddit is very pro-right wing now so any accusation or "impliying" physical violence is a instaban in some case.

unless u are planning to use a new device/ip address and a new browser theres very little chance to get back in, if you are banned.

Exactly 7 people are

I was never banned, but they banned the app I used and their own app is hot garbage. If I need to Google something, I'll still use Reddit, otherwise I'm off it completely.

I left reddit because they're pro Nazi, no, I'm not kidding. They will perma ban you for saying "I should be allowed to punch nazis" you know, in an Indiana Jones/Captain America kind of way

Came here after I got permabanned for reporting a user that followed me from subreddit to subreddit to call me slurs, and hopped on alts so I couldn’t even just block them. Not wanting to be harassed is a grievous crime, I know.

Also another reason to leave reddit is age verification!

Huh?

Reddit is leftwing lemmy us hard left. Anyone right of moderate are the ones that get banned here for no reason. Any platform that doesn't allow true actual free speech of all political perspectives is doomed to die as an irrelevant echo chamber.