Reddit wipes out chat history, leaving users empty-handed

Reddit users have discovered that the site removed their chat history prior to January 1, 2023, without warning. A changelog update from June mentioned feature updates to chats but buried the reference to data removal at the bottom. Users who lost years' worth of conversations expressed frustration and sought ways to recover the chats. An admin explained that legacy chats were being migrated to a new platform, with only 2023 data being transferred. Reddit offered a data export option, but some users reported missing chats in their downloads. The incident occurred amidst other significant changes on Reddit, including the removal of popular third-party apps and a revolt by moderators.