- By Vikas Yadav
- Sat, 15 Jul 2023 12:39 PM (IST)
- Source:JND
JE Technology Desk: Reddit was recently under fire after introducing API changes on its app. This led to the closure of several third-party apps that did not adapt to the sweeping changes. As these events settled down after a fueled drama, the company is now making changes that are removing private messages of users that were sent before 2023, according to Mashable.
For several past weeks, many users have reportedly lost their private chat interactions with other Redditors. The news outlet confirmed the inaccessibility of the messages.
"I lost EVERY.SINGLE.ONE. of my Chats - 7 years of history I was saving. I just discovered this and I am devastated," a Reddit user posted. "Met my wife on Reddit...disappointing we lost those first messages," another one said.
The social media platform confirmed to the Mashable that one-to-one and group chats would not be available if they were made before January 1, 2023. "In an effort to have a smooth and quick transition to this new infrastructure, we will migrate chat messages sent from January 1, 2023 onward. This change will be effective starting June 30th", Reddit said in the changelog. This update was buried in a long changelog, which was difficult to track.
How To Recover Reddit Messages?
Reddit users can download the old messages by submitting a request from the data request option within settings with the affected account. Moreover, users can use the old version to access chats older than 2023. But live chats will remain inaccessible here.
Also Read: Reddit Blackout: Why Reddit Communities Go Private In Response To Third-Party Charge
However, a user must note that this is not a full-proof way of getting your data back. Several users reported that this request worked. But others were left in a lost state. In some cases, not all messages were recovered, and it took up to 30 days to recover the files and the data. However, Mashable reported that the process took "a few minutes."
Besides the chats and API updates, the company continues to win backlash because of the scrapping of the Reddit Gold reward mechanism.