the best feature of the modern web
wed, 03 jun 2026, 05:07pm utca month or so ago, i was browsing r*ddit when i noticed that my r/all link was somehow redirecting to r/popular instead. i deliberately avoid popular since it accounts for region, specifically country, in deciding what posts to present you, and the german population at large is among the whiniest, most insufferable demographic on the internet. the amount of german rant subreddits that land on popular every single day with one of the same three societal or political issues on a national level looked at from every possible angle is at the same time somewhat impressive, deeply alienating and the seed of a faint ambition to escape
anyway, turns out that reddit the company has decided to wipe r/all from the face of the earth, and since i live under a rock, i didn't hear about it in time to prepare myself. while r/all still exists on the old version of reddit, a feature that i'm sure will live to see another two years, said version is not optimized for mobile, and i'd argue most people consume reddit on their phones these days, me included, so i have three options: deal with german bickering culture and browse r/popular, limit myself to certain subreddits i usually seek out anyway or get the app, make an account and customize the feed myself to exclude the bs. i don't really have staple subreddits i like to visit anymore, and number three is unattractive due to my core desire for anonymous browsing, so i went for the worst one, browse popular. but what if, valued visitor, the choice was all an illusion?
after making sure that you as the company curate the content any given user sees with your nifty algorithms, the next natural step on the road of making the UX as horrible as possible for users without an account is to wall the content, so reddit now locks up your scrolling process after a set amount of time per session and presents you with an offensively intrusive pop-up, or slide-in-from-the-bottom rather, that takes up 40% of the screen real estate and informs you that further usage now requires getting the app. naturally, my ad blocker, the only thing keeping me sane on the internet, won't work when using the app, and coincidentally, you also require an account to use it. perhaps for targeted ads and the sale of my data, i wonder? truly mystifying
it's an interesting approach. i'm aware big tech is all about disruption, so why not permanently disrupt the consumption of the content your users post to even keep your worthless company alive? there are entire start-ups that sell people apps and subscription services to help them take control of their social media habits, and now reddit just provides the same service free of charge for their own product. nine out of ten venture capitalists hate this one simple trick
naturally, it's not just reddit. twitter has gated their "community" for multiple years now, their login wall asking you the really tough question of "how much discomfort are you as a person without an account willing to wade through just to see this barely interesting post you've been linked?". the answer is zero discomfort. instagram wants me to log in to view zohran mamdani's post in my mobile browser? keep your secrets, i no longer care. it's genuinely the antidote to social media addiction for me
now, i am more convinced than ever that the internet as it exists must die a painful death, but until it does, it seems that most of these tech powerhouses will support your unhooking process to the best of their abilities. and for that, i extend to you, dear silicon valley et al, my deepest gratitude because i no longer have to browse popular on reddit