Session replay tracking might be what you were thinking of. WTF.
I've been on there for 10 years with 60k+ karma and I mod some subs also. I spend much less time on there now because of this crap. If I wanted FB or IG, I'd go there.
Edit, ps. I've come to realize that Reddit is all about the community, not the software, and it's still there (for now). Recent example: one of the Marvel subs (/r/thanosdidnothingwrong) is going to ban half its members, ~200k, as a fun joke, and they're all excited about it. But if the UI and the monetization pisses them off enough, they will flee.
Wow. I think it says something about how the community has already been altered or manipulated that this wasn't on the front page of the site. The reddit I joined years ago would have gone apoplectic. The new site is such a javascript spaghetti dish it won't even function without JS enabled, and with it enabled all of your keystrokes and mouse movements are collected. It really is frustrating to see the admins post time and again about "transparency" at reddit and then not clearly disclose a change like this to the community. Which, as other posters pointed out, fits the course for the redesign at large and the site's management over the last couple years.
Aside, I think it shows how much the growth of sponsored content on the front page and the death of IAMA has jaded me that when I saw multiple front page posts about "working with the admins" to ban half that Infinity War subreddit I assumed it was advertising related.
I was looking for an example of users being a fun bunch, but it could easily have been a marketing stunt with a little nudging. I've been mind controlled with the rest of the lemmings.
It's tough to decide! And I think the real problem is that it's tough to decide - the value of a platform like reddit is devalued when even the fun and cute things make you wonder if they're just mind control tactics.
I've been on there for 10 years with 60k+ karma and I mod some subs also. I spend much less time on there now because of this crap. If I wanted FB or IG, I'd go there.
https://old.reddit.com/r/privacy/comments/8mmybp/psa_the_red...
Edit, ps. I've come to realize that Reddit is all about the community, not the software, and it's still there (for now). Recent example: one of the Marvel subs (/r/thanosdidnothingwrong) is going to ban half its members, ~200k, as a fun joke, and they're all excited about it. But if the UI and the monetization pisses them off enough, they will flee.