It’s to make censoring the front page easier, as /popular is sorted by sub popularity, not post popularity. /all was sorted by post popularity, weighted by how many users were in a sub vs how many interacted with the post. For instance, on /all, a post with 1k/1k active users upvoting it (a 100% upvote rate in the sub, but posted in a small niche sub) would get sorted above a post with 5k/25k (a sub with literally 25x as many active users and 5x as many upvotes, but only a 20% upvote rate).
/all has pretty consistently been a thorn in the admins’ sides, because wide scale censorship is really difficult when a tiny niche sub can hit the front page of /all. In fact, /all was fantastic for new subs trying to get off the ground, for this exact reason. If you were trying to start a new subreddit, one of your biggest sources of new users was likely going to be /all users. But it also means that wide scale censorship was difficult for the admins, because any splinter movement could start a small sub and start hitting the front page. Admins delete the sub? Users just make a new sub and repeat.
Removing /all (and forcing users to /popular instead) allows the admins to direct their focus to only the big subs. Because /popular is sorted by subreddit popularity, not weighted popularity. So small subs have basically no chance of appearing there. By pushing users to /popular, they can focus their attention on the large subs (which largely have mods who are cozied up with the admins already) instead of having to moderate a thousand tiny ones.
It’s no mistake that they removed /all right before the midterms, as they can more easily push a certain narrative if they only have to focus on a few subs. It’s also an advertiser thing, as /all doesn’t filter out NSFW or controversial subs by default, but /popular does. Advertisers tend to complain when their ads are shown alongside NSFW or controversial posts, so directing users to /popular allows them to tell advertisers that they’re not accidentally showing their ads next to porn or political posts.
Such an odd decision, as far as I can tell.
It’s to make censoring the front page easier, as /popular is sorted by sub popularity, not post popularity. /all was sorted by post popularity, weighted by how many users were in a sub vs how many interacted with the post. For instance, on /all, a post with 1k/1k active users upvoting it (a 100% upvote rate in the sub, but posted in a small niche sub) would get sorted above a post with 5k/25k (a sub with literally 25x as many active users and 5x as many upvotes, but only a 20% upvote rate).
/all has pretty consistently been a thorn in the admins’ sides, because wide scale censorship is really difficult when a tiny niche sub can hit the front page of /all. In fact, /all was fantastic for new subs trying to get off the ground, for this exact reason. If you were trying to start a new subreddit, one of your biggest sources of new users was likely going to be /all users. But it also means that wide scale censorship was difficult for the admins, because any splinter movement could start a small sub and start hitting the front page. Admins delete the sub? Users just make a new sub and repeat.
Removing /all (and forcing users to /popular instead) allows the admins to direct their focus to only the big subs. Because /popular is sorted by subreddit popularity, not weighted popularity. So small subs have basically no chance of appearing there. By pushing users to /popular, they can focus their attention on the large subs (which largely have mods who are cozied up with the admins already) instead of having to moderate a thousand tiny ones.
It’s no mistake that they removed /all right before the midterms, as they can more easily push a certain narrative if they only have to focus on a few subs. It’s also an advertiser thing, as /all doesn’t filter out NSFW or controversial subs by default, but /popular does. Advertisers tend to complain when their ads are shown alongside NSFW or controversial posts, so directing users to /popular allows them to tell advertisers that they’re not accidentally showing their ads next to porn or political posts.
How did you get so wise in the ways of Reddit?
dammit
I think the curated front page is a death knell. It certainly was for Digg.
And Facebook. They killed the wall and replaced it with an Instagram style feed full of garbage.
My Facebook is full of piracy tier adverts. If that’s not a sell signal for Meta then I don’t know what is.