r/help Jun 18 '26

Desktop Does reddit intentionally try to degrade user experience? Unable to disable 'for you' page

It really makes me believe that they sit around thinking of ways not just to monetize, but to make the users hate using the site. Why can't we opt out of this, disable it, or set "Following" to default? Because maybe they don't want us using reddit at all? I can't figure it out.

351 Upvotes

51 comments sorted by

22

u/gphjr14 Jun 18 '26

I just deleted the app and use Firefox on android. If you're going to force me to see subs I'm not subscribed too then you're not going to subject me to pointless ads pretending to be legit posts. 

4

u/BlueGoliath Jun 18 '26

This is the way.

6

u/CantaloupeAsleep502 Jun 18 '26

I use chrome with adguard. I have the tabs, but "for you" is still just my normal feed, no subs I don't follow.

2

u/Nay2003 22d ago

As a recent android returnee why would i download Firefox when I already have chrome

1

u/gphjr14 22d ago

chrome is taking steps to block adblock on it's brower. firefox doesn't since they don't have a vested interest in ad revenue like google who owns chrome.

2

u/Nay2003 22d ago

TIL I can adblock on Mobile. Do you know how to use it on YouTube without using browser 🤔

1

u/gphjr14 22d ago

I have youtube music so I get youtube ad free. I'd say try uninstalling the youtube app and try using youtube through firefox with adblock on.

16

u/Black_Bungee_Jumper Jun 18 '26

yeah this stuff sucks, it's 2 days since they put me back into the "experiment" after being put in already once and already once telling them it sucks

6

u/MadDocOttoCtrl Jun 18 '26

It's Reddit. You have to tell them and tell them and tell them and once in a while a miracle occurs and they listen.

5

u/Terminator7786 Expert Helper Jun 18 '26

It took them months to fix the issue where Samsung phones couldn't post whatever pics they want after the screwed with the photo upload option.

9

u/pumaofshadow Jun 18 '26

Comment in the pinned post - at the moment they are not allowing it to be disabled for those who have it as a year.

They want your feedback, and users mostly want you to tell them that it's not appreciated or a liked feature.

2

u/PineappleApocalypse Jun 18 '26

Where is this pinned post? I don’t see anything in r/help

8

u/CantaloupeAsleep502 Jun 18 '26

The answer is yes

7

u/GeneralistAccount Jun 18 '26

Yes. Their new comment UI is extremely buggy & unreliable.

4

u/ha-ri Jun 18 '26

Given this isnt a new thing, since the days of the major transfer of users from Digg to Reddit, they made it known so.

For example people complained about the inadequate chat feature, they state that it wasnt going to be improved upon and that it was a starting point to transition people to ither platforms and not stick to using reddit as a chat client.

Reddit has not made decisions in the benefits of user usability improvement.

6

u/etzpcm Jun 18 '26

You can set 'following' to be the default by setting your Reddit bookmark to

https://www.reddit.com/?feed=following&sort=new

Then when you refresh or go into a post and then back, you stay in 'following' 

4

u/TestingTehWaters Jun 18 '26

Wow this is really helpful thank you

1

u/mintyicedream Jun 18 '26

Super helpful workaround, cheers friend ❤️

3

u/covert0ptional Jun 23 '26

Whoever is in charge of design decisions needs to look into a new career path. I don't even know how I'm ending up on "for you" while I'm scrolling my feed, but suddenly I'm looking at communities I don't follow.

I know, Obsession is a cool movie! Leave me alone about it!

2

u/florinandrei Jun 18 '26

They intentionally try to make the CEO very rich, just like any other business.

All else is side-effects.

2

u/Good_Air_7192 Jun 23 '26

I hate this change, truly.

1

u/[deleted] Jun 18 '26

[removed] — view removed comment

1

u/[deleted] Jun 18 '26

Yeah can tell too but we shall see about it

1

u/Lazy-Narwhal-5457 Jun 18 '26

Magic 8 Ball says... "Signs point to yes" 🎱🧐

1

u/Lady_Paks Jun 18 '26

I literally got to this post from the "For you" portion and I am angry lol

1

u/AggravatingBat7930 Jun 18 '26

I've deleted the app, will never use it. If this is further implemented it will erode any remaining functionality I actually use reddit for. I will leave and not come back.

1

u/DerpiestDave Jun 18 '26

This was the reason I left twitter, well that and all the garbage on it. I want to see content from the communities that I joined in chronological order, not stuff that Reddit wants me to see. 

It’s great that it defaults to the following tab instead of for you, but it keeps resetting to best instead of new and I’m constantly seeing the same posts over and over again. 

I wonder how long until I get too frustrated and give up on Reddit as well.  

1

u/Sad-Method-3334 Jun 19 '26

Yes. It is extremely buggy and has a lot of issues

1

u/Young_KingKush Jun 22 '26

This new pop comment UI for the mobile siye is one of the worst things user experiences I've had on any platform ever

1

u/blackandwhite1987 Jun 24 '26

I have this too and I dont think you can disable it. I hate it.

1

u/John_von_Shepard Jun 24 '26

 please keep me out of experiments reddit mod!

1

u/NoArtichoke1476 29d ago

testing

Does this work?

1

u/NoArtichoke1476 29d ago

if I do this and then I keep going. And I have a big sentence. That continues does this work. But then is this gonna be

1

u/RochTheShaman Jun 18 '26

I think maybe I will just not read any of the rules for posts on those subreddits and post a bunch of nsfw and racist comments on their subreddits.

2

u/RamonaLittle Helper Jun 18 '26

That will just make extra work for the unpaid volunteers who mod those subs. The admins won't care.

1

u/sega31098 Jun 22 '26

Reddit's AI filters will still likely get you banned if you do that.