In this article, Today we explain how you can hide online status on Reddit. Reddit is no stranger to introducing 1 of those ‘Thanks, I hate it’ changes to its platform, but the Newest one seems to have gone a little overboard. Of course, I am talking about the new online presence indicators Reddit introduced a couple of days back. If you are not a fan of the feature, here’s all you require to do to hide your online status on Reddit.
Hide Online Status on Reddit
We have added a separate set of instructions for hiding online status across various platforms of Reddit, including the new site, old Reddit, and mobile.
What are Online Presence Indicators on Reddit?
Before I outline the steps required to disable online status on Reddit, I will explain what the new highlight is all about so that everyone is on the same page. On March 3, Reddit stated the introduction of online presence indicators. With this trait, a green dot indicator appears when you’re online on Reddit. Furthermore, these indicators will appear next to your post and comments.
Reddit attempts to justify the feature addition saying it is to “drive greater engagement amongst our consumers and encourage more posts and comments across the site.” Sounds harmless, right? Wrong! The 1st annoying aspect of this change is that it is opt-out and not opt-in. Your online status will be obvious by default in separate words, and you will have to make an effort to disable it.
Another reason is that the online presence indicator will be useful as “some users may be hesitant to comment or post because they’re unsure whether or not there are active users within the community.” If you are a Reddit user, you will already know that you will look at the active member count of the subreddit at the top of the right corner. Furthermore, you can always sort by new to see how active a subreddit is.
While the feature does not show your personal status indicator to others at the moment, this company has plans to soon expand these feature where 10 percent of Android consumers will be capable to see the online status of each other. Following the controversial announcement, many Redditors and moderators of famous subreddits have voiced their opinions regarding how it would make their life hard with unnecessary interactions.
So, As a Redditor myself, the last thing I want is for random visitors on the internet to see when I’m online on the platform. Not to state the unwanted interactions that may arise if I’m ignoring a reply on a thread or DM. If you have not guessed already, I personally hate Reddit’s online presence indicator as it is an unwanted trait forced upon users with an optional opt-out mechanism to avoid potential backlash.
Oh, and another aspect that deserves mentioning is how the trait descriptions are worded. When you are online, it shows ‘online’ as you would expect. Nevertheless, the moment you turn off the feature, it shows ‘hiding’ instead of a simple ‘offline’. I am not sure how seeking basic privacy is ‘hiding’ as Reddit claims. With all that stated, here’s how you can disable the feature.
Disable Online Status on Reddit Mobile
1. Open the Reddit app and press on your avatar to expand the side menu at the top-left corner. You will now see a status indicator that reads ‘Online’.
2. Press on the Online indicator, and it will turn to ‘Hiding’. You can get back to lurking Reddit & pretend this feature never existed.
Disable Online Status on Old Reddit Desktop
However, I know some people are holding on to the old Reddit layout after the infamous Reddit redesign. If you are one, here’s how you can disable the new presence indicators:
1. Open Reddit (old.reddit.com) and Tap on ‘preferences’ from the top right corner of the page.
2. Scroll down until you enter the ‘privacy options’ section. Here, you will see a new checkbox titled ‘let other users see my online status’.
3. Uncheck this option and tap on the ‘save options’ button to save the changes.
Disable Online Status on Reddit Desktop (New Site)
1. Open Reddit’s desktop site and then tap on your avatar at the top-right corner. You will now see a newly added ‘Status’ section in the dropdown menu.
2. Tap on the ‘Online’ toggle, and your online status will change from online to ‘hiding’. Flip the toggle, and peace is restored.
Also, Check :
Disable Online Presence Indicators on The Reddit in Easy Steps
Therefore, that’s how you can hide online status on Reddit. If you found this beneficial, share it with your buddies.
