在周三发布的多项关于版主和开发者的更新中,对于那些支持更开放的网络环境的人来说,却传来一个坏消息:Reddit将停止对 RSS(Really Simple Syndication,即简单内容聚合)的支持。
Amid a number of updates for moderators and developers announced Wednesday, comes bad news for supporters of a more open web: Reddit is ending support for RSS feeds.
Reddit 表示,RSS 已经成为“大规模数据抓取和自动化滥用行为的工具”,因此决定逐步淘汰其平台上的 RSS 功能。该公司在公告中写道:“我们知道 RSS 长期以来一直是开放网络的重要组成部分,我们感谢所有使用它来保持与 Reddit 互动的用户。”公告还提到了 RSS 功能将于 2027 年 3 月被彻底关闭。
Reddit says RSS has now become a “common surface for large-scale scraping and automated abuse,” which is why it’s made the decision to wind down RSS feeds on its platform. “We know RSS has been a beloved part of the open web for a long time, and we’re grateful to everyone who used it to stay connected to Reddit,” the company noted in its announcement, where it also shared a March 2027 shutdown date for its public API. Reddit said RSS support will cease on November 13.
RSS 允许用户和应用程序以标准化格式获取网站的更新内容。这种格式在博客时代尤为流行,因为它为新闻阅读应用提供了获取网站新文章的便捷方式。谷歌曾运营过最受欢迎的 RSS 服务,但在 2013 年停止了该服务,市场份额随后被 Feedly 等独立应用程序接管。
RSS, or Really Simple Syndication/Rich Site Summary, is a web feed that lets users and applications access updates to a website in a standardized format. The format became particularly popular in the blogging era, as it offered a way to to a site’s new posts in a news-reading app. Google once operated the most popular of these, but shut it down in 2013, ceding the market to companies like Feedly and other indie applications.
Reddit 决定停止 RSS 支持,正值其论坛中用户生成的内容成为公司盈利来源的时刻——这些内容通过人工智能许可协议被商业化利用。在第二季度的财报中,Reddit 表示其广告以外的“其他收入”同比增长了 24%,达到了 4300 万美元。难怪 Reddit 不想免费分享这些数据。
The decision to kill Reddit’s RSS feeds comes at a time when the site’s treasure trove of user-generated content in its forums has become a profitable side business for the company in the form of AI licensing deals. During its second quarter, Reddit said its “other revenue” beyond advertising had grown 24% year-over-year to $43 million. It’s no wonder that Reddit doesn’t want to give any of that data away for free.
对于那些依赖 RSS 来接收通知的版主,Reddit 建议他们转而使用 Discord 的 Relay Devvit 应用程序。公司建议版主及其团队在 11 月 13 日的关闭日期之前检查自己的设置并迁移工作流程,以确保不会出现任何中断。不过,Reddit 明确表示,对于那些非版主社区使用的 RSS 功能来说,目前还没有合适的替代方案。
For moderators who have relied on RSS channels for their own alerts, Reddit is now recommending a shift to the Discord Relay Devvit app. The company suggested that moderators and their teams review their setups and migrate their workflows before the shutdown date of November 13 to ensure there’s no disruption. However, Reddit said that there’s no replacement for the use of RSS feeds that were being used for feeds outside of the moderators’ community.
版主们已经表达了对这一变化如何影响他们工作流程的担忧。当 Reddit 早前暗示它正在为网站上 RSS 的终止做准备时,许多人回应称 Reddit 将变得无法管理。与此同时,许多用户强调 RSS 是他们获取 Reddit 内容的方式。
Moderators have already expressed worry about how this shift would impact their workflow. When Reddit hinted earlier that it was preparing for the end of RSS on its site, many responded by complaining that Reddit would become unmanageable for them. Meanwhile, many users stressed that RSS was how they enjoyed accessing Reddit’s content.
这次 RSS 更改是公司周三发布的多项更新之一。另一项重大变化将是其公共 API 的终止。
The RSS change was one of several updates issued on Wednesday by the company. Another big change will be the end of its public API.
公共 API 的访问也将在 2027 年 3 月结束,这将影响任何使用它进行程序化访问 Reddit 对话的工具,包括社交聆听产品、研究人员使用的工具以及 AI 产品,例如 AI 助手。如今,这些助手可以使用 Reddit 来回答问题,但在关闭公共 API 访问后,它们将需要与 Reddit 商议商业协议以获取数据。
Public API access will also end by March 2027, which will impact any tools that used it for programmatic access to Reddit conversations, including social listening products, those used by researchers, and AI products, such as AI assistants. Today, those assistants can use Reddit to answer questions, but after closing public API access, they will need commercial deals with Reddit for its data.
此外,Reddit 更新了其 Rules Hub 的进展和自动版主(auto-mod)更改,并表示正在为其经典、以文本为主的网站版本 Old Reddit 添加“安全措施”。后者将包括限制已登录版主和近期用户的访问——Reddit 还表示这些更改是因为“滥用抓取和自动化流量”所必需的。Reddit 表示,在接下来的几个月内,它将把已登录用户的访问限制为过去 6 个月内使用过 Old Reddit 的用户。
In addition, Reddit provided an update on its Rules Hub progress and auto-mod changes, and said it was “adding safeguards” to its classic, text-heavy version of its site known as Old Reddit. The latter will include limiting access to logged-in moderators and recent users — changes Reddit also said were required because of “abusive scraping and automated traffic.”Reddit said in the next few months it will limit access for logged-in users to those who have used Old Reddit in the last 6 months. (The company changed this from 90 days to 6 months, just as their news went out.)
(公司将此期限从 90 天改为 6 个月,正好与其新闻发布同步。)公司还提醒正在构建已获批准的第三方应用和机器人(bot)的开发者,在 2027 年 1 月 12 日之前与公司完成协议,以避免中断。到那时,Reddit 将取消任何未完成协议的开发者的 API 访问。
The company also reminded developers building approved third-party apps and bots to them with the company before January 12, 2027, to avoid disruption. After that date, Reddit will remove API access for any developer that hasn’ted.