After all this time I still had one Reddit tab left open to r/Ukraine, to see updates on the war.
Today I noticed that they have removed the option to use new.reddit.com to see the site as it was before the latest update. The current site design is so bad and slow that I immediately closed that tab.
old.reddit.com still exists for those diehards.

    • Chozo@fedia.io
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      18 days ago

      I’d like to think so, but part of me suspects that a large amount of the current users are on mobile exclusively. The old layout isn’t mobile-optimized at all, so those users are probably on the current UI.

      • kia
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        18 days ago

        Fair, but I’d be willing to bet that most of the content producing users use the old layout as they’ve likely been using the site for a while. These users leaving would be a big deal.

        • doctortran@lemm.ee
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          18 days ago

          I’d take that bet.

          I would love to believe the situation is as you believe it is, but I just don’t see it.

          As others have said, the usage on old reddit appears to be exceedingly low, around 1-2% if developers are seeing it accurately.

          We know that the vast majority of all usage nowadays is mobile, or at least hybrid. And at least half of those mobile users are on iphones, where they have no choice. The only thing that keeps old.reddit working on my phone is Firefox extensions.

          The unfortunate truth is the reason reddit and so many other platforms get away with rampant enshitification is that the overwhelming majority of users are either incapable or unwilling to find ways around it if it requires a modicum of effort or results in a slightly less polished experience. They just accept it and become increasingly angry and frustrated with the platform, but refusing to do anything else except continue to use it.

          Developers see these numbers and they plan for it. They getting extremely condescending about it, too. Why listen to the “vocal minority” of technically inclined power users when you can pay attention to the majority of silent people who accept literally anything because they have to.

          Gone are the days where the majority of your users are going to be tech savvy. When your user base was made up of informed, technical users on desktops, what you did with your software or your site would directly affect your numbers. Those users knew how and were willing to try other things if you fucked around.

          Nowadays, with phones in everyone’s pocket, your user base is everyone, and unfortunately for all of us, that everyone includes the majority of people who will drink a shit sundae over and over again before they will even consider going to different restaurant.

          It’s not actually a captive customer base, but it effectively is. They’re just held captive by their own tech illiteracy and lack of patience. What those people do determines the future of the industry now.

          • sigmaklimgrindset@sopuli.xyz
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            18 days ago

            Agree with you but confused about

            And at least half of those mobile users are on iphones, where they have no choice.

            I use old.reddit on iPhone on Safari and it works just fine? I even have an extension to make it appear mobile friendly, so I’m really curious as what you mean by this.

            • Beaver
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              18 days ago

              May I ask for the name of the extension?

              • sigmaklimgrindset@sopuli.xyz
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                18 days ago

                Sink it for Reddit, which someone posted here on Lemmy (ironically). I can’t seem to link it from the app store, but the icon is an anchor with a red-orange background! It’s also completely free.

      • lefty7283@lemmy.world
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        18 days ago

        Probably varies a bit from sub to sub, but old reddit users are a clear minority. The vast majority use the app

          • lefty7283@lemmy.world
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            18 days ago

            It’s definitely real, at least for the amateur astronomy subs I (used to) mod. I suspect a lot of the traffic to askastrophotography or telescopes is from people googling stuff and browsing though mobile web, but since /r/astrophotography is just photos, most are just on the app

          • edric@lemm.ee
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            18 days ago

            Yeah it’s wild that a lot of users likely don’t even know reddit is a website. They only know it as an app on their phone.

      • Carighan Maconar@lemmy.world
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        18 days ago

        Yeah exactly, it’s all mobile nowadays, anyways. By and large “nobody” is here for the desktop experience. Sadly.

    • GeekFTW@lemmy.zip
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      18 days ago

      I wouldn’t say huge as by most estimations that have been stated over the last 3 or 4 years, old Reddit accounts for only 1 or 2 percent of Reddit users (assuming that’s accurate), but there’ll definitely be an exodus

      • Blaze@feddit.org
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        18 days ago

        I know quite a lot of people who still use old.reddit, and would look for an alternative should they kill it

      • kia
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        18 days ago

        Oh there definitely is.