Reddit is ????? ????? ??????? ????????killing Reddit Gold, along with its entire coins and awards system, so you might have to start looking within yourself for validation.
As spotted by The Verge, Reddit has announced it's overhauling how it rewards contributors, and ending its current system in the meantime. Previously, redditors were able to purchase Reddit Coins and spend them on awards for others. Awards can bestow a variety of perks upon the recipient, such as granting them access to exclusive subreddits, removing ads, or granting them a few Reddit Coins of their own.
However, as of Thursday, Reddit users are no longer able to purchase coins. Those who already own Reddit Coins have until Sept. 12 to spend them, at which point the currency will disappear into the aether. Awards also won't be available after Sept. 12, while Reddit Premium's paid subscribers will stop receiving Reddit Coins every month.
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"While we saw many of the awards used as a fun way to recognize contributions from your fellow redditors, looking back at those eons, we also saw consistent feedback on awards as a whole," wrote Reddit product team member u/venkman01 when announcing the change. "First, many don’t appreciate the clutter from awards (50+ awards right now, but who’s counting?) and all the steps that go into actually awarding content. Second, redditors want awarded content to be more valuable to the recipient."
Reddit hasn't shared any details regarding exactly what its reworked rewards system might look like, nor when it aims to roll it out. It's fair to say it will probably be simpler than the dozens of badges bloating its current system. But while Reddit figures it all out, it seems as though the website's retirement of coins and awards will leave it entirely without a rewards system, unless you count upvoting.
The news of Reddit's changes hasn't been warmly received. Thousands of Redditors have complained, particularly those who have already paid for a Reddit Premium subscription or loaded up with coins.
"Killing features without replacements ready, yep sounds like Reddit to me," Redditor u/4InchesOfury wrote in the announcement's top comment. The comment had 331 awards at time of writing.
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These changes come in the wake of Reddit's decision to start charging developers for access to its application programming interface (API), effectively killing popular third-party apps such as Apollo and BaconReader. This phenomenally unpopular change in policy sparked widespread protests across numerous subreddits, some of which are still ongoing in various capacities.