A timeline of a web forum site

|                     A Timeline of Reddit
| 
| 2005   Reddit is founded by Steve Huffman and Alexis Ohanian as a
| simple link-aggregation site.
|
| 2005 Reddit rewrote its entire platform from Common Lisp to Python
| in December 2005, just six months after the site initially launched.
| 
| 2008   Reddit goes open-source, allowing the public to see its code.
| The platform positions itself as an unmoderated haven for free speech.
| 
| 2011/2012   The platform experiences massive growth. Subreddits are
| entirely managed by volunteer moderators with almost no corporate
| oversight.
| 
| 2015   Steve Huffman returns as CEO. Reddit makes the controversial
| decision to shut down its open-source code repository, shifting toward
| proprietary software.
| 
| Content Bans   Reddit begins actively banning subreddits that violate
| hate-speech rules or generate negative press, marking the first major
| shift toward making the platform attractive to mainstream corporate
| advertisers.
| 
| 2018   Reddit launches its comprehensive desktop redesign. The clas-
| sic, text-heavy interface is replaced by a modern layout optimized
| for infinite scrolling and native inline advertisements.
| 
| Algorithm Shifts   The home feed algorithm begins prioritizing
| high-engagement, video-heavy content over traditional text posts 
| to keep users on the site longer for ad exposure.
| 
| 2021   Reddit hires its first Chief Financial Officer and raises
| capital at a $10 billion valuation, officially signaling its intent 
| to launch an Initial Public Offering (IPO).
| 
| App Pushes   The platform begins aggressively restricting mobile
| browser features, forcing users toward the official Reddit mobile 
| app where advertisements cannot be easily blocked by extensions.
| 
| April 2023   Reddit announces it will charge exorbitant fees for
| access to its Application Programming Interface (API). The move
| effectively forces beloved third-party apps like Apollo and Bacon-
| Reader out of business.
| 
| June 2023   Thousands of subreddits go dark in a massive user protest.
| Reddit corporate responds by threatening to strip volunteer moderators
| of their positions if they do not reopen, proving that corporate con-
| trol takes precedence over community self-governance.
| 
| Data Monetization   Reddit restricts its data access to ensure AI com-
| panies must pay millions of dollars to license user-generated text for
| model training.
| 
| March 2024   Reddit officially goes public on the New York Stock
| Exchange (NYSE: RDDT). The platform is now legally beholden to
| maximize shareholder value rather than user satisfaction.
| 
| Search Wall-Offs   Reddit blocks major internet search engines from
| indexing its pages unless those engines sign multi-million dollar
| data-sharing agreements, frustrating general internet users who rely
| on Reddit for organic search results.
| 
| Algorithmic Disconnect   Users complain of an explosion in program-
| matic spam, AI-generated posts, and highly intrusive advertisements,
| rendering the front page less authentic than in previous eras.
| 
| June 2026   Reddit corporate announces that the beloved legacy desktop
| interface, old.reddit.com, will officially lose its anonymous browsing
| privileges. The platform mandates that anyone wishing to view the site
| via the old design must be actively logged into an account.
| 
| The "Scraping" Justification   Management defends the decision by
| claiming that the unauthenticated classic site is a primary source
| of automated data extraction (scraping) by external tech firms.
| 
| The Underlying Impact   By forcing a login wall, Reddit attaches a
| distinct user ID to every single page view. This eliminates anonymous
| reading ("lurking") on the classic platform and further restricts the
| public's ability to view user-generated content without participating
| in their data-tracking ecosystem. Alongside the announcement, repre-
| sentatives warn that they "cannot promise" the legacy view will remain
| online indefinitely.

  Lines marked with "| " come from my editing, where I start by writing
  prompts for the chatbot and then edit the generated texts and format
  them for USENET. Chatbot might make mistakes and misrepresent or hal-
  lucinate facts.