It's an instance that crossposts posts from Reddit, except it also makes a new user for each Reddit account it came from. So if /u/hello123 made a post, it makes that post under a new account called hello123. That makes it impossible to block posting bots.

Not only that, it makes posts look like they're posted by real people, with many question and text posts being copied as well. I was very confused as to what these posts were until I realized they're crossposts.

Examples:

https://alien.top/post/263029

https://lemm.ee/u/pocalyuko@alien.top

https://lemm.ee/u/ItzMeRocket@alien.top

https://lemm.ee/u/CaptainCapp-n@alien.top

I strongly believe Lemmy isn't the place for mirroring content from other websites. You can host your own alternate Reddit frontend like LibReddit, there's no reason to spam the posts to everyone using Lemmy just because 5 people asked for it. Not to mention there are already enough instances mirroring posts, this is getting obnoxious.

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[–] smeg@feddit.uk 3 points 11 months ago (1 children)

I think if creating an app with a reddit feed was that simple then half of us wouldn't be here!

[–] iso@lemy.lol 2 points 11 months ago (1 children)

lol you're right 😅

But there are some illegal methods to do it; This instance (alien.top) is an example of it. Some people even still using Apollo.

The problem is, these methods are simply not ideal. You cannot put your app to the stores, possible consequences of illegal usage etc. no body wants it.

[–] smeg@feddit.uk 2 points 11 months ago

Is it illegal? Against the terms of service, sure, they can revoke your API keys and block your IP and report you to Google/Apple but I don't think they can stop you.