The Future of Imgur

Rant/Reflection Incoming…

It’s been about a week or so since the team layoffs by Medialab. And while it’s obvious the app isn’t what it was since the acquisition (lower user base, Ad infiltration, bots, etc), I think it’s clear that there has been an even more stark shift since legacy/OG employees were let go.

There clearly is a moderation team (albeit, probably a 3rd party) still running, but even that seems to be secretive with no clear way of contacting them from a community standpoint. The Imgur accounts have all gone radio silent; on social media and on here. No trophies issued for recent July 29th (they had one last year I believe). No ICYMI posts or Development updates for July. Nothing. It makes sense since the whole team responsible were let go out of the blue. It truly feels like this is a ghost app now: running on fumes and what’s left of the original userbase.

Will we ever have community events again, like on April Fools again? Yes yes, I know they were buggy and sometimes stupid… purely for engagement. But it still brought people together and I’d rather have something than nothing. We’re in a state of limbo. Despite meme dumps, the occasional HQ gifs, dogs and cats, pony shenanigans, tht/rhm/ff, etc, I just cant seem to find the same joy in Imgur as I did in the past. And I don’t know if I ever will again.