How to Hide Online Status on Reddit

Reddit has introduced one of them before. Thank you; nonetheless, the most recent alteration to its platform seems a little excessive. Naturally, I’m referring to the new online presence markers Reddit debuted a few days ago. Here’s all you have to do to hide your online status on Reddit if you don’t like the function.

Hide Online Status on Reddit

We have added a distinct set of instructions for masking your online status on the new website, the older Reddit, and mobile. To quickly navigate to the section you want, utilise the table of contents section below.

What are Online Presence Indicators on Reddit?

To ensure everyone is on the same page, I’ll describe the new function before describing how to disable online status on Reddit. Reddit announced the launch of online presence indicators on March 3. When you are online on Reddit thanks to this function, a green dot appears. Additionally, these indicators will be displayed alongside your article and comments. Photo: Reddit

Reddit makes an effort to defend the feature addition by claiming that it would increase user engagement and stimulate more posts and comments across the entire site. Sounds innocent, doesn’t it? Wrong! The fact that this move is opt-out rather than opt-in is its most irritating feature. In other words, unless you specifically disable it, your online status will always be displayed.

Another argument in favour of the online presence indication is that some users could be reluctant to post or leave a comment since they’re not sure if the community has any active members. If you use Reddit, you probably already know that you can view a subreddit’s active member count in the top right corner. To see how active a subreddit is, you can also sort by new.

Although the tool does not currently display your personal status indication to others, the firm hopes to soon expand the feature so that 10% of Android users will be able to view each other’s online status. Following the contentious announcement, a number of Redditors and moderators of well-known subreddits have expressed their views on how it will complicate their lives with pointless conversations.

The last thing I want as a Reddit user is for online shady strangers to be able to see when I’m online. Not to mention the unwelcome interactions that might happen if I choose to ignore a thread or direct message reply. If you didn’t already guess, I despise Reddit’s online presence indicator since it is an unwelcome feature that is imposed on users with an optional opt-out option to prevent outrage.

Oh, and another point worth highlighting is the language used in the feature descriptions. When you are online, it appears exactly how you would anticipate. But as soon as you disable the option, hiding is displayed rather than just offline. I’m not sure how requesting a modicum of privacy constitutes hiding, as Reddit alleges. After all of that, here’s how to turn off the feature.

Disable Online Status on Reddit Desktop (New Website)

1. Launch the desktop version of Reddit and click on your avatar in the upper-right corner. The dropdown menu now includes a section called Status that has just been added.

2. Clicking the Online toggle will change your online status from visible to hidden. The peace is reinstated by pulling the toggle.

Disable Online Status on Old Reddit Desktop

After the infamous Reddit redesign, I’m aware that some users are still using the old Reddit layout. If so, follow these instructions to stop using the new presence indicators:

1. Go to Old Reddit by typing old.reddit.com into your browser and select Preferences in the top right corner.

2.Scroll down until you see the area for privacy preferences. A new checkbox labelled “Let other users see my online status” will appear here.

3. Uncheck this box, and then click the button to save the changes.

Disable Online Status on Reddit Mobile

To expand the side menu, open the Reddit app and tap on your avatar in the top-left corner. A status indication that reads “Online” will now appear.

2. Tap the Online button to change it to Hiding.

Disable Online Presence Indicators on Reddit in Easy Steps

Now that this feature is available, you can resume lurking on Reddit as if it never existed.