Reddit is pulling the plug on r/all, the unfiltered feed that's been a staple for power users hunting trending content across the platform. The company confirmed it's deprecating the feature as part of what it calls "ongoing efforts to simplify Reddit and improve Home feed personalization" - a move that started as an experiment in January and now marks a definitive shift toward algorithm-driven content curation. For longtime Redditors who relied on r/all to see what's truly bubbling up across communities, this signals the platform's latest push to compete with TikTok and Instagram's AI-powered feeds.
Reddit is saying goodbye to r/all, and with it, one of the last bastions of unfiltered content discovery on the platform. The company's making it official after months of testing - r/all is being deprecated as part of what Reddit describes as efforts to "simplify" the platform and boost personalization on the Home feed.
For years, Reddit offered two main discovery feeds: r/popular and r/all. According to Reddit's support documentation, r/all functioned as the "less filtered feed" where sexually explicit content got blocked but other NSFW posts made it through. It was the feed for users who wanted to see what was really trending across Reddit's sprawling network of communities, warts and all.
But Reddit started pulling back on r/all earlier this year. In January, the company announced in a weekly recap that it had removed r/all from its mobile apps as part of an "experiment." Desktop users weren't spared either - some started noticing r/all disappearing from their sidebars as part of what the company called a separate test. Those experiments are now wrapping up with a permanent decision: r/all is done.
The deprecation pushes users toward r/popular and the personalized Home feed, both of which lean heavily on Reddit's content curation algorithms. Unlike r/all's chronological, community-driven approach, these feeds use machine learning to surface content the platform thinks you'll engage with. It's a familiar playbook - one that TikTok, Instagram, and even Twitter (now X) have leaned into as they prioritize algorithmic feeds over reverse-chronological timelines.
For Reddit, the move makes strategic sense. The company went public in 2024 and has been under pressure to demonstrate growth and engagement metrics that appeal to advertisers. Algorithmic feeds typically drive higher engagement because they're designed to keep users scrolling. They also give the platform more control over what content surfaces, which can be crucial for brand safety and advertiser relations.
But the change isn't sitting well with longtime users. Reddit's power users have historically valued the platform's community-driven approach to content discovery. r/all represented that ethos - it showed what Reddit's communities were actually upvoting, not what an algorithm decided you should see. The deprecation feels like another step away from Reddit's roots as a user-governed platform toward something more mainstream and commercially friendly.
The timing is notable too. Reddit has been aggressively pushing into AI and personalization technology over the past year. The company's been testing various recommendation algorithms and even explored integrating large language models into its moderation and discovery systems. Killing r/all fits into that broader transformation - simplifying the interface while funneling users toward AI-curated experiences.
There's also a content moderation angle here. r/all's less-filtered nature made it a potential liability for a public company. While sexually explicit content was blocked, controversial posts from communities across the political spectrum would regularly surface. By pushing users toward r/popular and personalized feeds, Reddit gains more control over the first impression users get when they open the app.
The deprecation leaves r/popular as the main public feed for discovering trending content. Unlike r/all, r/popular filters out NSFW content entirely and excludes certain communities that Reddit deems unsuitable for general audiences. It's a cleaner, more advertiser-friendly version of the Reddit experience - which is exactly the point.
What happens next depends on how Reddit's community reacts. The platform has weathered user backlash before, most notably during the 2023 API pricing controversy that killed third-party apps. But each change chips away at the features that made Reddit distinct from other social platforms. For users who valued r/all's unfiltered view of the platform, the deprecation is another sign that Reddit's evolving into something different than the community-first platform it once was.
Reddit's decision to deprecate r/all marks a clear pivot toward algorithmic content curation and away from the community-driven discovery that defined the platform's early years. While the move aligns with the company's post-IPO strategy to boost engagement and appeal to advertisers, it also represents a philosophical shift that's likely to alienate power users who valued Reddit's less-filtered approach to content. As the platform continues prioritizing personalization and AI-driven feeds, the question is whether Reddit can maintain its unique community culture while chasing the engagement metrics that Wall Street demands. For now, users looking for that unfiltered view of what's really trending on Reddit will need to find new ways to navigate the platform - or accept the algorithm's choices.
