Reddit Founder Alexis Ohanian Resigns from the Board of Reddit • Hacker News Board

Re: Reddit Founder Alexis Ohanian Resigns from the Board of Reddit

#161

Post by cheeze » Fri, Jun 05, 2020, 5:46 PM UTC

braythwayt wrote: post #136

nilkn wrote: post #46

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This is just scape-goating and finding something recent to blame for a situation that has been going on for 150+ years. Besides, it was effectively shut down, and all that did was lead to the creation of thedonald.win, which by all appearances seems to be thriving and growing rapidly, probably much faster than Reddit itself grew when it was founded. To blame the situation on a forum is to misunderstand that the count…

That sounds like you’re saying that it’s a waste of time to ever try to change anything because, well, “history.” Feel free to disabuse me of my misconception if I misunderstand. But it sounds an awful lot like what some people say when you try to call out racist cops: “We’re just scapegoating someone for saying aloud what all the police are thinking. It’s a waste of time.”

Agreed. Pretty bad take. "We shouldn't try to make improvement because it's always been that way and there are more causes than just this one!"

Re: Reddit Founder Alexis Ohanian Resigns from the Board of Reddit

#162

Post by meowface » Fri, Jun 05, 2020, 5:46 PM UTC

purephase wrote: post #12

minimaxir wrote: post #3

Relevant context: recently, former Reddit CEO Ellen Pao called out Reddit for their policies after Reddit did a statement on Black Lives Matter: > I am obligated to call you out: You should have shut down the_donald instead of amplifying it and its hate, racism, and violence. So much of what is happening now lies at your feet. You don't get to say BLM when reddit nurtures and monetizes white supremacy and hate all da…

Yeah, TD alone was huge in 2016-2017 and was a huge contributor to the dynamic we have in the world today. Ellen is 100% right here and Alex did absolutely nothing to address it. Good on her for publicly calling it out.

I think if TD were banned in 2016, there's a decent chance the world would look even worse and more polarized today, due to the backlash and chain reactions that would have occurred.

Picture "TOP SOCIAL MEDIA COMPANY BANS SUPPORT OF THE PRESIDENT" headlines running for months.

Picture Trump bringing it up in hundreds of speeches and tweets, demanding regulation and saying how unfair it is that he and his supporters are being censored and silenced and attacked by Silicon Valley and the left. (He's already doing that, but this would give him way more ammo.)

Picture he and his supporters pointing to it as evidence that The Elites and the liberals and the tech industry are out to get him and out to get half of the country, and that only he can defend their liberties and bring our country and corrupt establishment back from the brink.

Also, all of those users would just flock to alternative off-site communities that make TD look like a bastion of reason and civility by comparison.

Huffman's not in an easy position, here.

Re: Reddit Founder Alexis Ohanian Resigns from the Board of Reddit

#163

Post by logicslave » Fri, Jun 05, 2020, 5:47 PM UTC

draw_down wrote: post #120

alecb wrote: post #57

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What "political agenda"? If anything, the original core of the site was very left-leaning or heterodox technophiles that didn't have a home on Slashdot. The political parts of the site are now very much deadlocked in the center-right frame of the Democratic party, pretty far away from what the site once was.

"Agenda" is what people say when they mean "I wanted to look at cat pics but you guys keep talking about real life"

No agenda means a set of actions taken under the umbrella of pushing a narrative or perspective on the world.

Re: Reddit Founder Alexis Ohanian Resigns from the Board of Reddit

#164

Post by _emacsomancer_ » Fri, Jun 05, 2020, 5:47 PM UTC

jaywalk wrote: post #148

alecb wrote: post #57

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What "political agenda"? If anything, the original core of the site was very left-leaning or heterodox technophiles that didn't have a home on Slashdot. The political parts of the site are now very much deadlocked in the center-right frame of the Democratic party, pretty far away from what the site once was.

The fact that you'd describe Reddit as "center-right" currently is enough to tell me you're coming at this from a very different perspective than the average person. I would say that Reddit began as libertarian, and is now far-left.

> I would say that Reddit began as libertarian, and is now far-left.

In the same way that Biden, who pushed Reagan from the right on 'tough on crime' laws, is portrayed as the far-left.

Re: Reddit Founder Alexis Ohanian Resigns from the Board of Reddit

#165

Post by ethbro » Fri, Jun 05, 2020, 5:47 PM UTC

na85 wrote: post #78

MarcellusDrum wrote: post #32

Reddit got too mainstream for its own good. The company desperately wants to become the new social media (think Facebook or Twitter), but many users are standing in the way, making the change from a discussion website to a social media website slow. What made me and many others use Reddit in the first place is that it didn't really matter who you are and what's your political and religious background, the only thing…

I think the real problem facing the reddit corporate folks is that people on that site are slowly but inexorably coming around to the realization (if they aren't there already) that what makes a site good from the user's standpoint is pretty much antithetical to making it profitable. Unfortunately for reddit, the site owes its existence to the users who built communities there, and when heavy-handed changes are intro…

LiveJournal / Blogger (1999): Words are more important than styling. I'm going to be a writer someday.

LinkedIn (2002): You know who has money? People with jobs. Or people looking to give people jobs.

MySpace (2003): Webpages for people who don't webpage or understand contrast. Also my favorite song auto-playing ON THE INTERNET.

The Facebook (2004): Realization that most people suck at graphic design. You'll be shocked to learn what your friends and family believe! Ooh, there's a lot of money in gaming -> targeted advertising -> web tracking.

Reddit (2005): Remember why people used BBSs? Reddit does! Condé Nast doesn't. YCombinator does! Wait, volunteer admins have their own thoughts?

Twitter (2006): Here's a single speech / thought bubble above my head + how I feel about others' bubbles.

Tumblr (2007): I hate apps, but love pictures. Yahoo: We're still cool!

WhatsApp (2009): Remember when you could do everything from the Yahoo! homepage? WhatsApp does! Facebook: Hungry... CHOMP.

Instagram (2010): Pictures are more important than words. Photos for people who don't Lightroom. I'm going to be a photographer / model someday. Facebook: ... don't mention us here. No wait, do. No wait, don't.

Snapchat (2011): The worst thing about social media is people being able to read my old posts. Ooh, there's money in gamifying Facebook to boost engagement metrics.

Google+ (2011): SOMEONE SAID I CAN HAVE MY OWN SOCIAL MEDIA ON THE INTERNET. Internet: Okay, boomer.

Telegram (2013): Security for people who don't attend PGP signing parties.

Mastodon / Fediverse (2016): Give me freedom or give me de... hold on, let me update my settings, something br--. Internet: Okay, rms.

TikTok (2016): Memes for people who don't Photoshop.

China: {Cambrian explosion}. As long as the name is two, repeated consonants. And the logo is a racoon.

Re: Reddit Founder Alexis Ohanian Resigns from the Board of Reddit

#166

Post by artificial » Fri, Jun 05, 2020, 5:48 PM UTC

kube-system wrote: post #108

say_it_as_it_is wrote: post #42

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You're giving a message forum way too much credit for Trumpism in the United States. Do you actually think that social media is representative of a majority?

Social media is wildly influential. At this point, it is likely more influential than any other form of media. Reddit is the #2 social media platform by traffic in the US, after Facebook.

Is there a breakdown by subreddit? I'm curious how popular the adult reddits are.

Re: Reddit Founder Alexis Ohanian Resigns from the Board of Reddit

#167

Post by vvG94KbDUtRa » Fri, Jun 05, 2020, 5:48 PM UTC

WorkingDead wrote: post #121

staycoolboy wrote: post #93

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yes, /r/politics is an echo chamber. But there is an enormous difference between that and T_D. I don't ever recall seeing posts on /r/politics being stickied that called for violence, whereas that happened routinely on T_D. Your comment is not sarcastic, it is misleading, misiniformed and ultimately destructive.

BS. The only difference between the two discussion groups is that TD dropped all the pretense. I have seen the same kinds of things that are loosely defined as 'calls to violence' in both places.

I don't agree with you, but even if I did, the "pretense" being referred to is "we don't actually want violence inflicted on the other party". I'd say that's a pretty important pretense to keep

Re: Reddit Founder Alexis Ohanian Resigns from the Board of Reddit

#168

Post by xster » Fri, Jun 05, 2020, 5:48 PM UTC

geofft wrote: post #100

ilikehurdles wrote: post #17

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Here's a relevant totally hypothetical "long con" involving Ellen Pao's hiring-and-firing and re-hiring of the original founders: https://www.reddit.com/r/AskReddit/comments/3cs78i/whats_the... The hypothesis is posed by Yishan Wong, an ex-CEO, with responses from Altman and Ohanian. edit: I made a mistake understanding this story. Please see the correct timeline in geofft's comment.

Relevant, but I think the timeline is a bit subtler than that. (Mostly, the CEO referenced in that story is Wong himself, not Pao.) - Reddit was acquired by Condé Nast in 2006. - Founders Alexis Ohanian and Steve Huffman left in 2009. - Yishan Wong became CEO in March 2012. - Reddit raised its Series B in September 2014, led by Sam Altman. Wong was one of the investors. - Wong resigns in November 2014. Ellen Pao beco…

https://www.reddit.com/r/TheoryOfReddit/comments/3d2hv3/kn0t... is also Yishan calling out Ohanian for reference.

Re: Reddit Founder Alexis Ohanian Resigns from the Board of Reddit

#169

Post by Avicebron » Fri, Jun 05, 2020, 5:49 PM UTC

na85 wrote: post #78

MarcellusDrum wrote: post #32

Reddit got too mainstream for its own good. The company desperately wants to become the new social media (think Facebook or Twitter), but many users are standing in the way, making the change from a discussion website to a social media website slow. What made me and many others use Reddit in the first place is that it didn't really matter who you are and what's your political and religious background, the only thing…

I think the real problem facing the reddit corporate folks is that people on that site are slowly but inexorably coming around to the realization (if they aren't there already) that what makes a site good from the user's standpoint is pretty much antithetical to making it profitable. Unfortunately for reddit, the site owes its existence to the users who built communities there, and when heavy-handed changes are intro…

It's also the case that users are losing places to have free and open anonymous conversations with a bit of fun. I don't think it's just reddit, I've felt the squeeze on the whole internet. "The world is still a big place, there's just less in it" - Captain Jack

Re: Reddit Founder Alexis Ohanian Resigns from the Board of Reddit

#170

Post by jacobolus » Fri, Jun 05, 2020, 5:49 PM UTC

WorkingDead wrote: post #121

staycoolboy wrote: post #93

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yes, /r/politics is an echo chamber. But there is an enormous difference between that and T_D. I don't ever recall seeing posts on /r/politics being stickied that called for violence, whereas that happened routinely on T_D. Your comment is not sarcastic, it is misleading, misiniformed and ultimately destructive.

BS. The only difference between the two discussion groups is that TD dropped all the pretense. I have seen the same kinds of things that are loosely defined as 'calls to violence' in both places.

The “only difference” between a group of fascist white supremacists who fantasize about violently exterminating their perceived enemies and a bunch of ordinary people in a community organized around discussing newspaper/news magazine articles who are scared about the growing threat of fascist white supremacists and want them voted out of office and removed from positions of power is that the former have “dropped the pretense”?

I guess that’s one way of looking at it...