Reddit will allow you to cover posts, feedback and NSFW exercise out of your public profile

Reddit will now enable its customers to do one thing it by no means earlier than has permitted: to selectively “curate” their public-facing profiles a few of their posting and commenting exercise from different customers.

To this point, Reddit has included customers’ full commenting and posting exercise in profiles. So whereas most customers are nameless, others might simply try their submit historical past and see what communities they’re energetic in. The characteristic, which many customers see as a key a part of Reddit’s openness, has helped Redditors ferret out trolling, mendacity and quite a few different sorts of unhealthy (or ) conduct on the platform.

With the replace, nonetheless, Reddit customers will be capable of “curate” their profile. The extra management will enable individuals to cover all their public posts and feedback from their profile or cover public posts and feedback in particular subreddits from their profiles. There may be additionally a “NSFW” toggle, which might cover posts and feedback in NSFW subreddits. The setting will not cover a remark or submit within the subreddit the place it initially appeared, but it surely will not be seen on a consumer’s profile.

The corporate notes that there might be some carveouts to those settings for moderators, who might depend on customers’ previous exercise to suss out rule-breakers or resolve who’s eligible to affix their neighborhood. “When you submit, remark, ship modmail, request to be an authorized poster, or request to affix a non-public subreddit, that mod group may have entry to your full profile content material historical past for 28 days after the interplay – no matter your settings,” Reddit says in an FAQ.

Regardless of that concession, many Redditors aren’t precisely pleased in regards to the adjustments, which might alter a few of the core dynamics of the platform. “This looks as if it is going to result in unhealthy actors with the ability to extra simply cover their conduct from the common consumer,” one of many most-upvoted on Reddit’s submit says. “Except you are a mod, you will not be capable of see that they are posting inflammatory misinformation throughout a dozen completely different subs, for example.”

Others have famous the characteristic additionally implies that creating an alt or throwaway account is considerably much less essential, because it’s simpler to cover posts you do not need linked to your presence on the app. Whereas which may be an added comfort for some, it additionally raises questions in regards to the firm’s method to creating new accounts. Throughout the firm’s most up-to-date earnings name, CEO Steve Huffman that Reddit was contemplating methods to “evolve” its “traditionally permissive account creation” course of. Huffman did not elaborate on what which will appear to be, however stated adjustments can be essential to battle AI-powered “abuse or manipulation” of the platform.