Reddit announced in a post by co-founder Steve Huffman that the site will gradually become a “logged-in service,” offering limited access to visitors without accounts.
For the past 20 years, the discussion platform has let users browse almost all its content without logging in, but according to Huffman, Reddit has now grown to a size where this is no longer sustainable.
The two main points for this upcoming change are the need to offer users more personalization and to address the increasing problem of content scrapers.
To tackle this, a new pilot test will begin in selected markets outside the United States in the coming months, requiring users to log in to access the site’s full content.
However, what content will be restricted, what countries will be impacted first, and rollout timelines have not been determined at this time.
Huffman said they currently believe it’s important to keep the front page accessible to all, and allow people arriving from search results or other external sources to see at least the page the URL points to.
With users logged in, Reddit expects to gather more data from upvotes to help users find relevant content, join communities, and participate in discussions.
“Our goal is to help you find what’s most relevant to you and drive the community, connection and belonging that makes Reddit, reddit,” explained Huffman.
“This change will do that, helping surface what’s most relevant to you and quickly getting you to where you want to go—whether that’s your favorite subreddit, a game you want to play, or a thread you’re looking for.”
More logged-in users will also let Reddit deliver more relevant ads to each member, supporting the platform’s revenue stream.
One of the bigger problems this change is meant to address is content scraping.
Reddit says most unauthorized data access happens through its logged-out pages, so limiting access will help on that front. For AI platforms and search engines that want access to the data, Reddit will continue to license it under commercial agreements.
For those concerned about privacy, Huffman said they will not require users to submit their real names or identification documents. To further strengthen privacy on the platform, Reddit will also re-release a read-only incognito mode in its app.
Users will also be able to opt out of personalized advertising, which will presumably disable some internal tracking and profiling.
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