I just found out reddit sold everything we wrote to AI companies… and honestly I don’t know how to feel

I just found out reddit sold everything we wrote to AI companies… and honestly I don’t know how to feel

So I was reading about Reddit’s API controversy from 2023 and fell down a rabbit hole.

Turns out every post, every comment, every opinion you’ve shared here - reddit licensed it to openai and google. No opt-out. No warning. Just. - done.

And that’s just reddit. Meanwhile Google, Meta, and basically every major platform are quietly building a profile on you — your interests, your political leanings, your daily routine, your insecurities. All from things you said or clicked on “anonymously.”

The wild part? We already knew this was happening. It’s not new. Yet here we all are, still posting.

So I’m genuinely curious — why do you still use reddit (or big tech in general) knowing this?

Is it because:

  • The alternatives (Lemmy- kbin- etc…) just aren’t there yet?
  • You’ve accepted it as the price of the internet
  • You actually don’t think it’s that big a deal?
  • Or you simply never thought about it until now?

Not judging anyone — I’m still here too. Just want to hear honest answers.

  • chemical_cutthroat@lemmy.world
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    4 days ago

    Same for me. The only thing that’s awkward is when I try to explain something I saw “on the Reddit alternative I use.” I still can’t get my friends to understand Lemmy.

    • darkdemize@sh.itjust.works
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      4 days ago

      Shit, most of my friends don’t even get Reddit. Lemmy would probably make their heads explode.

      It should go without saying that I don’t work in tech.

    • BilSabab@lemmy.world
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      4 days ago

      i just tell everyone “if Lemmy from Motorhead was a forum” and it makes way better impression that “reddit is what happens if metafilter was the shits”

    • foodandart@lemmy.zip
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      3 days ago

      I’ve been explaining lemmmy as a communication platform that’s run by tons of different people that have their own servers all around the world and they can connect with each other, so you can’t get randomly banned from the platform. If you get bumped (which is really unlikely) from one server you can sign up on another and pick right back up where you were.

      NGL, few of my friends used reddit so they just smile nod and go “yeaaahhh.”

      But, I do not give up on sharing about it.