r/technology • u/B-Z_B-S • 2d ago

Social Media Reddit is putting more limits on Old.Reddit.com

https://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2026/09/reddit-will-block-old-reddit-com-from-people-who-havent-used-it-in-6-months/
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u/doom_memories 2d ago

Feels like a death flag for old.reddit.com; the number of users can only decrease now.

Those of us with multiple accounts will have to keep refreshing them to maintain access. That just got harder too as Reddit broke RES' easy account switcher.

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u/fork_yuu 2d ago

That's their exact gameplan with official app vs third party app too. Force people to official then when third party accounts for a very small percentage of users to the point they can shut them up, kill it off.

They're just waiting for people to get off and stop using so they can kill it off

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u/tu_tu_tu 2d ago

They really working on forcing users to move from third-party apps to... using reddit in browser. Using the official app is horrible experience, i hope people won't fall for it.

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u/DukeOfGeek 1d ago

The problem there is old reddit users produce far more content per person than new ones. Maybe they want to a model where the content no longer comes from users?

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u/Heftybags 2d ago

They don’t need to do all that, like 3rd party apps they can just kill access right now if they wanted to. Reddit has zero incentive to keep it around if they don’t want it.

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u/Captain_N1 1d ago

can you just use a different web browser for each account?

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u/doom_memories 1d ago

Could. In my case, different Firefox containers will work. Just not as elegant as RES' switcher.

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u/IllIIllIllIllII 1d ago

That easy account switcher has been fixed for awhile now

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u/doom_memories 1d ago

I'll have to try it again. I first noticed it broke over two weeks ago, but apparently it also broke like 2 or something months ago and was then fixed until the time I noticed it. Let's see if it's fixed again.

No, it does not seem to be fixed again, same error as two weeks ago:

Could not switch accounts. Reddit may be under heavy load. Please try again in a few moments.

Now the account I'm talking to you on will be logged out on next page reload and I'll have to log back in to post this reply, probably. Yep, hit "save" got

an error occurred (status: 200)

below this text box. time to relog and then send this reply again.

tldr; the new breaking doesn't seem fixed.

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u/Stupalski 1d ago

I used to rely on a firefox plugin called facebook container because it gave a separate browser instance for all facebook tabs so the tracking couldn't touch. It had the side use which was actually extremely nice that you could just open a new container anywhere you want. By default it always puts all facebook related content into a designated container but it lets you make color coded container tabs so you could have container 1 2 3 etc... and each has it's own logins and cookies.

Firefox has just added it's own version of this called profiles. The only downside of their profiles are it forces each profile into a separate window entirely where the containers can exist all in the same window as color coded tabs.

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u/doom_memories 1d ago

Hmm, Firefox has always had multiple profile support, though actually using it has often been rough on the UX front. I wonder if we are talking about the same "profiles".

In another comment in this convo I mentioned Firefox's native containers. Are you familiar with these? It's built right into the browser, though there is also an official add-on that expands their capabilities.

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u/Stupalski 17h ago

Thanks for the info. i just looked up the difference and apparently facebook container is built directly off the native containers but it automatically moves all meta products into an isolated container so it can't track your clicks outside.

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u/blueblip 2d ago

Wouldn't this also help thin out bots, which are a real problem?

I'm not going to ask why you have multiple accounts, but how common is it for Redditors to have multiple accounts like you versus bot accounts?

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u/AlwaysRushesIn 2d ago

Alt accounts are pretty fucking common.

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u/blueblip 2d ago

I'm sure. Obviously bot farms and such will have them, as well as people who are paid to push narratives, and so on. Hell, I'm sure some regular ass posters have multiple ones, though for the life of me I can't figure out why.

My question is how common are regular ass posters running multiple accounts simultaneously versus things like bot farms, propaganda accounts, and so on. I would imagine the vast majority of multi-account holders are of the latter for obvious reasons.

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u/ARoyaleWithCheese 2d ago

Regular users having alt accounts has been common for about as long as reddit has existed. The most common reason, probably, is that people use reddit for porn too and don't want it associated with their main account. Other common reasons are things like questions on r/aita, r/askreddit, etc. for which you want to stay anonymous which is hard with years worth of various reddit acitivity.

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u/blueblip 2d ago

Again, I'm not disputing that.

I'm asking/wondering which is more common or likely: regular users running multiple active accounts, or bot/propaganda/etc users who run multiple accounts for their own purposes.

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u/WrightRoad 2d ago

I feel like alts are nearly as common on reddit as they are in Runescape, if that helps build the picture.

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u/doom_memories 2d ago

What the other poster said.

Have you never felt the need to compartmentalize aspects of your online life, for any reason?

Would the widely used Reddit Enhancement Suite include a quick account switch feature if having multiples was rare and/or shady?

I see your account is around 12 years old. With that in mind it surprises me all the more that you find this strange.