It is possible to use Reddit without having to log in and deal with the shit mods and community. Apps like RedReader (similar to old school RiF) allow you to bookmark subreddits locally if you need to access the site as a source or whatever. I haven't logged in to participate for months and I havent missed it at all.
Reddit is terrible as a website. But it still has the communities that developed there over years, and they are an invaluable resource. They are definitely positioning themselves to pull a Digg, but until the Reddit-killer comes along with a mass exodus (and it doesn't look like it's gonna be Lemmy unfortunately) access to those communities will entail dealing with reddit.
Digg (a link aggregator very much like Reddit) started pulling similar shit and everyone left for the alternative, which was Reddit at the time.
After everybody left Digg, Reddit became the default and after about 15 years they are doing the same things that drove people away from Digg