cross-posted from: https://lemmy.world/post/37402366

This is the main reason I completely ditched Reddit, if you use the new Reddit interface instead of the old one (old.reddit.com), you’ll see a constant request being made to “https://www.reddit.com/svc/shreddit/events” (open your DevTools > Network tab, can’t see on Firefox idk why).

The problem is, if you add this to your Ublock Origin filters the website won’t load properly, that’s why UO team didn’t block it already.

You’ll notice this request isn’t only being made from a interval but also when you do basically any action in the site, like pausing or resuming a video (send timestamps of when did you pause or resumed).

It sends other kind of data like what subjects you’re seeing when closed a tab or the related subjects of a post you click, this all can be used to trace a perfect profile of you and things you like.

You can avoid that using the old.reddit but it still has the same kind of tracker, even tho you can block it here without major issues.

By my analysis, old Reddit interface does the same but to a random URL path that always starts with “reddit.com/api/something”. Ex.: reddit.com/api/friends So you can block anything that starts with “www.reddit.com/api” in your custom filters (after all you’re using old.reddit.com), then you’re mostly free from Reddit trackers (more or less). Side effect is, you won’t be able to use the chat in the old interface.

  • Tyrq@lemmy.dbzer0.comEnglish
    14·
    2 hours ago

    I dunno if it interests anyone out there, but if the real thing you like reddit for is the answers to weird problems, and you have a couple terabytes to spare, you can get a torrent that has all of it to store locally, and they get updated every now and then. I haven’t tried it yet, so YMMV, but the actual use of the platform for me is answers to obscure questions, so maybe worth a shot if you have the space

      • Tyrq@lemmy.dbzer0.comEnglish
        8·
        1 hour ago

        I can’t vouch that everything on the site is 100 percent legit, but if you search academic torrents and look up reddit, you’ll find different repositories for them on there

  • irmadlad@lemmy.worldEnglish
    39·
    3 hours ago

    I just use reddit as reference anymore, usually through redlib. Reddit became a seething cauldron of festering carcasses a long time ago, and I have no desire to jump through all their hoops just to use their servers, much like YT and a growing number of other sites. I just don’t have the patience to reconfigure my network just so I can use those outlets. Sad tho. It used to be a decent social media platform until it wasn’t. C’est la vie. Such is the way of the internet.

    • turdcollector69@lemmy.world
      3·
      2 hours ago

      I feel much the same, I want to completely unplug more and more with each passing day.

      It may just be low blood sugar fueled pessimism but I don’t see anything actually replacing these massive sites.

      It’s like trying to get into old multiplayer games where the few players left have a massive experience advantage that makes the barrier to entry impossibly high.

      I think the best response is to just not participate anymore.

      I’m far from that goal, hopefully enshittification will force my hand and push me offline for good.

    • frongt@lemmy.zip
      3·
      3 hours ago

      Such is capitalism. Plenty of stuff is still running fine without turning a profit for the shareholders.

  • pivot_root@lemmy.world
    1·
    36 minutes ago

    You can block it with a carefully-crafted userscript that hooks the fetch API and returns fake responses for the svc event, but then Reddit starts flagging your IP address as a bot and demands you log in to an account to prove otherwise. You can’t win.