Reddit is actually a pretty great platform for all kinds of information. Namely because pretty much all the posts on Reddit are by people genuinely sharing their thoughts, opinions, and experiences. So if you’re after actual feedback, it’s a pretty good place to go. However, in the future, you might need to have a Reddit account to view its content.
Reddit account might be needed for future content
According to a report from Axios, the company confirmed that in order to access Reddit content, you’ll need a logged in account. This means that if you’ve been browsing Reddit without registering for an account, you’ll need to sign up for one to keep browsing most of its content.
However, at this point in time, it is unclear how this will work. According to Reddit CEO Steve Huffman, the company is still finalizing those details. This includes what kind of content users without an account can access. Also, it seems that it is a test where it will only apply to users outside of the US.
That being said, it’s not the worst thing in the world. If you’re someone that browses Reddit often, why not just sign up for an account anyway? Or you might have one already, just log in and you’re good to go. In fact, there are several platforms that already have something similar in practice.
If you try to view Facebook on the web via a mobile browser, you might be prompted to log in or download the app. It’s also the same for Instagram, where you might be able to view a post directly, but browsing a profile will require a login. X also puts up similar roadblocks depending on what you’re trying to view.
Why is Reddit doing this?
So, what made Reddit change its mind? The simple answer is AI. Because of its open nature, Reddit has been subject to scraping by AI companies trying to train their models on human-made content. But don’t mistake Reddit’s decision as trying to protect your content. It’s definitely about the money.
Reddit already has deals in place with both OpenAI and Google that allows both companies to use its data for training. So this move is more about locking its content down to make it harder for AI companies to train its models, unless they’re willing to pay for it.
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