CaptainHyperbole
18239
294
17
Apr 11, 2025 11:24 PM
CaptainHyperbole
18239
294
17
IGotMyDreamJobProgrammingGames
It's stupid. It's the new thing all website/apps are doing
TheVampireDante
Flagging views. Adding games/game apps is an early 2000's tactic to increase view/interaction counts.
pupquine
patthefox
Because corporate is out of ideas on how to improve the metrics on the core product and now are throwing darts at the idea wall to try and attract more people/drive more engagement with some probably haphazardly thought out feature.
LariCheltsy
CptCaboose
So you can train AI ? Just like all the identify traffic lights is a way to train AI?
QuestDjinn
To sell more ad space
ballsoutflyer
Same reason why YouTube suddenly has games.
Escapist83
That's a very good question OP
pupquine
Have you also had a couple of accs blocked for just asking?
PuzzledCompletely
money?
CaptainHyperbole
That’s what a lot of people are saying.
Pulsahr
Same reason Netflix has shitty games too I guess.
kerms
Imgur is trying to be a "real" social media app, so they're taking facebook's approach
CaptainHyperbole
But, but… that’s exactly why we like Imgur. I really hope it doesn’t get flooded with hoards of random people like Facebook did 15 or so years ago. Facebook has def to just be my friends and we all used it. Now it’s… it’s just full of angry people and targeted adds. It’s dystopian.
ErindorGhostPope
The site can be more than one thing.
Lordborgman
Can be, but should not.
MaleProstateMilker88
Could be if it wasn't ai slop that they're pushing but genuine games, like space invader and solitaire etc.
MyLastAccountWasShadowbanned
Well, you've got to let your developers do *something*, and if fixing half the design of the site is not an option...
forelle
You might also ask why the mobile website fails at just displaying a sequence of image. What you perceive as the core of imgurs service, isn't what they think of as the core of their service.
Surullian
Because we can no longer have nice things.
Nemacol
Same reason there are games to play on youtube and netflix.
Enoan
Question: has anyone here ever played a game in the arcade, or even opened it intentionally?
thefirstbarbarian
I play them when I need a break at work ( I work in IT )
EveryBodyLovesMe
I have not. But because of this post I feel the urge to check it out. So he is actually generating interest in it… is it ALL a trick? I’ll check back if I do it. So probably not. Byeeee
CaptainHyperbole
No, I just wanted to get some idea of how many other imgurians have noticed the feature, and possibly some idea of what percentage of the user base has tried it. As of now it looks like 0% of the user base has.
Enoan
I noticed it, I've opened it by accident at least twice, and never once meaningfully engaged
MeekrabJones
Desperation to retain users.
parabolic000
the arcade tab is also obvious AI and thus I hate it on principle.
Gindipple
more money of course
11Weasel11
Money. Any other questions?
SLCtechie
What was your reasoning for creating a second Krusty Krab, right next to the original?
ItHappenedInThe20thCentury
Money. Any other questions?
LordChapstick
Same reason there was the Acorn vs Pinecone shit.
ballsoutflyer
At least that wasn't so bad. We got to at least splat Lassannn in the face with snowballs.
TheRicM
Also the Reaction GIFs feature is now all giphy gifs. It turned that way during the Hamster wheel thingy and never went back. Maybe that’s what the hamster thing was all about
CaptainHyperbole
Yeah, now I can’t find the only gif I used, I think they purged a lot of them.
TheRicM
Yeah I don’t like it. Luckily I have a lot of my usual gif rotation saved in folders. Can also do a Google image search of the gif + “imgur” but that takes extra time. Hmmmph
CaptainHyperbole
Wow, i didn’t know that. But I’ve never been much more than a lurker that occasionally comments. I think I missed the short window in my life where I had the energy to learn how to do all that sort of stuff.
TheRicM
Right on. I’ve been on here a while but I still mostly use the same handful of reaction stuff. I think imgur didn’t even have folders when I first started browsing on here
pocsaclypse
to generate engagement
MattScifiBandit
The same reason there is a comment section and ranking systems on an imgage hosting app
TheRicM
How can I get engagement when I don’t even have a girlfriend yet
distractedFreek
Same reason YouTube has games you can play on the app, ad money.
Escapist83
Don't get me started on the entire fucking top of Netflix being devoted to game ads.
ItispronouncedGIFwithahardG
You can remove them from Netflix. There are extensions for it. There are extensions for removing shorts from YT as well, I imagine there are extensions to remove games from YT but I haven't actually looked into that one.
satanslittleposter
I'm definitely not excusing Netflix, but at least their games are, you know, actual games. As in ones you could buy or download separately from Netflix too, should you so desire.
I still cancelled my subscription though... as with almost every mainstream streaming platform 'cause fuck 'em.
shorey66
What is the safest way to sail the high seas these days? Do you really need a VPN
myeyesthegogglesdonothing
Yes. My brother in law got a warning from Comcast. VPN is pretty cheap. I use surfshark. It's nice at work on the restricted wifi and there's a computer client that sends all traffic through the VPN. It has a kill switch too that if the VPN drops for some reason, it stops traffic. Qbittorrent is a good downloader and in the settings you can bind it right to the VPN bypassing the need for a kill switch. Plex is a easy free streaming app that streams from your computer to your TV or phone. ->
myeyesthegogglesdonothing
It's all very easy and you can get absolutely anything you want. Took all of like an hour to set it all up.
IGotMyDreamJobProgrammingGames
That's a good point. At least they re real games. The ones on youtube are just embarrassing.
KrondorMocker
UNHchabo
Remember to buy some media occasionally to support the things you want to see more of.
satanslittleposter
Aye, I will still pay to support creators more directly (and by creators I mean musicians, writers etc. not whatever passes for creators on social media) wherever it's possible, and would always encourage others to do to the same.
UNHchabo
Yeah, music is my big one. Even really good movies we may only watch once (hence why renting was a thing), but it's rare to find music you like that you're not gonna listen to repeatedly.
Tidal pays the best for music streaming (with Spotify being one of the worst), but still nowhere near what album sales will do.
Here's an aussie band I discovered a couple years ago:
https://elizaandthedelusionals.bandcamp.com/album/make-it-feel-like-the-garden
malakim
The answer, as always, is enshittification.
Woogyface
because racist, sexists, porn, and scam ads are not making enough money
Spidey209
Have they tried more boobs?
RevengeIsIceCream
They tried less boobs.
Djkb6718
Not ideal
CrisprCAS
What about ads for sexist and racist scam porn?
TheVampireDante
Not enough republicans openly interacting around here to make those profitable, despite how many there are by the obvious downvote faeries.
spooktree
Skr121
I thought ads were targeted based on your history.
JustinArnold
They started as untargeted and unfiltered, people complained, so imgur narrowed down what was allowed. Lately, it seems to have opened back up.
Voojagig
Chris Prat being too afraid to ask would have worked.
resworn
No he's a POS
MaleProstateMilker88
He is but Andy isn't.. I miss Andy. https://media4.giphy.com/media/v1.Y2lkPWE1NzM3M2U1aTRmOWZ4Z2Ixb2tlYXN1amJxdmpqdHVyMWwwZDByeWw2MWl3cndoNyZlcD12MV9naWZzX3NlYXJjaCZjdD1n/HJmdMf5twG927zoQcG/200w.webp
CaptainHyperbole
I’ll do that next time, but I just noticed arcade now, so idk how long it’s been around
themobileappisbroken
Quite a while
SmoeAhsolse
If it helps, I still haven't noticed it. I think I've seen the header for Arcade but assumed it was a mode like most virtual or user sub.
CaptainHyperbole
Me too, I just opened the tab just long enough to see that it is what it seems.
ElbowDeepInAHorse
Because someone was gonna get fired if they didn't find a way to shore up falling user engagement.
RickRollEditor
Which could have been fixed in a simple way; fire all mods and staff, hire new ones with working brain cells and don't try to "engage". 9gag does perfectly well without engaging mods and staff, why the hell should Imgur? And since 9gag now is turning more and more left (absolutely shocking since it used to be a Nazi hellhole), it's honestly a viable alternative now.
Freak0zoid
9gag is going left? Wth?
RickRollEditor
I know :P
RayneOfSalt
9gag is making a swing back towards its roots? didn't know that. i stopped going there after the r/the_donald and /pol/ refugees turned it to shite.
RickRollEditor
Yup, now around 80% of the political Top posts are anti-Trump and far more left oriented.
Freak0zoid
I just checked. They are definitely defending jk Rowling. Not very left from what i can tell. Maybe more left from when i left some 5-6 years ago. But still feels very political right.
RickRollEditor
As I said in a followup comment, they're not all there yet, if ever, especially on trans rights.
Skr121
Just because I'm cynical... Do you work for 9gag? And can I block political postings of all kinds in 9gag?
RickRollEditor
I've been here since the dawn of time, thank you very much. Just got banned every now and then. I used to go by DerpyBestPrincess and literally the one who coined "Ellie" as Elbow's name. Also, 9gag has sections, so you can filter out sections. That said, that works as well as here because no one fucking posts where they should.