Reddit’s legacy experience may be under threat.
The internet’s home page is constantly undergoing little changes here and there, but as Engadget reported, there’s reason to believe Old Reddit might not be long for this world in its current state variation.
The legacy version of the message board website, which some users prefer to the modern interface, will see unspecified “changes” over time, according to an official blog post. The idea is to combat AI scraping, which has been rampant on Reddit over the last few years.
Reddit has already made some changes to Old Reddit in this regard, as you currently can’t use Old Reddit without being logged into a real account.
One Reddit admin admitted recently that the company variation “can’t promise it will be around forever.” However, that doesn’t necessarily mean a total shutdown; CEO Steve Huffman also recently said Reddit is looking into limiting access or rebuilding it with modern tech rather than getting rid of it wholesale.
So, not only is AI making everything more expensive, but it’s also making it harder for older websites to exist. At a certain point, one has to wonder if it’s all worth it.
Source: https://mashable.com/tech/old-reddit-chopping-block-ai-scraping