- Over 7,000 subreddits are on a 48-hour blackout to protest the platform's new charges to developers of third-party apps.
- Discord — a popular group chat app — is poised to pick up some slack from Reddit during this time.
A 48-hour blackout on Reddit is underway, but those suffering from withdrawal symptoms could tap into alternative platforms — such as popular group chat app Discord.
A list of alternative platforms, including Discord servers, are available for Redditors who still want to stay in touch with the community while the protest rages on, according to a post by u/SpicyThunder335, a moderator.
These servers include The Positivity Network, Unexpected Friends, and Luna's Lobby.
The Unexpected Friends server is the largest so far, with over 19,000 members currently. It's unclear how many users joined since Reddit's blackout, but Discord had already been competing against Reddit even before the current blackout.
And while Discord — which now has 150 million monthly active users — was originally developed for gamers in 2015, its scope has broadened beyond the gaming community.
It now attracts a wide range of forum users: including those interested in writing and K-pop.
Discord, like Reddit, is organized into channels for specific topics and supports text, video, and voice chat, Insider previously reported.
Starting Monday, Redditors are staging a blackout to protest against the platform's new charges to developers of third-party apps set to kick in on July 1.
7,266 subreddits are taking part in the blackout at the time of publication, according to a Reddit post. The blackout stands to affect over 2.6 billion Reddit subscribers and more than 28,000 moderators. The number of participating moderators and affected subreddits is rising.
Some on u/SpicyThunder335's Reddit thread said they would join alternative discussion forums, others questioned if the blackout would work.
"Boycott and spread the word...to Reddit's competition! Stay off Reddit entirely on June 12th through the 13th- instead, take to your favorite non-Reddit platform of choice and make some noise in support," a user named u/Toptomcat said in a separate June 2 post.