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Front Page Subreddits Go Private in Response to Firing of Reddit Admin

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Re: Front Page Subreddits Go Private in Response to Firing of Reddit Admin

#71
This seems like an abuse of power to me.

The people who have closed the subreddits are the moderators. These moderators should represent the desires of the users. In this case, they are instead caring for their own personal feelings/ease of moderation through communication with the Victoria.

As a result, hundreds of thousands of redditors are cut off from their friends and fellow subredditors. Even the AMAs are cut off. I think this is wrong.

Consider this: What if the redditors, while this protest was going on, found an alternate site and all started posting there instead? Then the mods would've just effectively stripped themselves (and Reddit, Reddit admins, etc.) of power.

While I don't know Victoria so I cannot sympathize, I can at least understand the moderators' cause. However, the method which these moderators have chosen to demonstrate with hinders the community, and for that reason goes against what moderators represent, and so should not be supported.

Re: Front Page Subreddits Go Private in Response to Firing of Reddit Admin

#72
post #5

One of the most telling points is from /u/imakuram, moderator for /r/books: "This seems to be a seriously stupid decision. We have several AMAs upcoming in /r/books and have no idea how to contact the authors."[1] They really shot the communities in the foot by not giving them any notice or support. Given that the key feature in ensuring the quality of Reddit is the moderation "donated" by the community, this is a de…

> They really shot the communities in the foot by not giving them any notice or support.

Reddit's major liability (and yet, one of its strengths) is the devolvement of responsibility to moderators. Without their volunteer work, the site couldn't have grown as big as it has. But mods have the power to utterly trash the site through collective action.

The admins have spent years saying that moderators are responsible for the content and direction of a subreddit. I wonder whether they'll keep that line now that moderators of several key subreddits have effectively gone rogue.

This is actually a much bigger threat to Reddit than the recent revolt over the banning of /r/fatpeoplehate and other subreddits.

Re: Front Page Subreddits Go Private in Response to Firing of Reddit Admin

#73
post #33

It's kindof astonishing what is happening over at reddit right now. "The internet" has it's own culture, and the people running reddit right now (one of the places where this culture is the strongest, imo), seem to have no idea how to interface with it. It honestly feels like it got taken over by silicon valley middle management marketing types or something, and now they just can't seem to figure out why the users ke…

>The internet" has it's own culture, and the people running reddit right now (one of the places where this culture is the strongest, imo), seem to have no idea how to interface with it.

The first rule of the internet is you don't censor the internet.

Re: Front Page Subreddits Go Private in Response to Firing of Reddit Admin

#74

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Shouldn't. But see this exchange in the archive ( https://archive.is/jouWQ#selection-17025.0-17025.134 ) 'Have you felt regretful for rushing to judgement after condemning the "perpetrators" of the Duke lacrosse rape scandal during 2006-07?' 'No, the pattern is consistent. And we never want injustice to occur. But the pattern is fairly obvious, and a very obvious pattern that must be ended.' The Reverend isn't intere…

My heart goes out to the athletes ruined by the scandal. There is another point of view. Something us Internet commenters don't often realize. Do you have any black friends who was at Duke during that time? Ask them to describe it.

How about you describe it for us, instead of making us hunt down one of approximately 600 people in the world.

Re: Front Page Subreddits Go Private in Response to Firing of Reddit Admin

#76
post #60
post #33

It's kindof astonishing what is happening over at reddit right now. "The internet" has it's own culture, and the people running reddit right now (one of the places where this culture is the strongest, imo), seem to have no idea how to interface with it. It honestly feels like it got taken over by silicon valley middle management marketing types or something, and now they just can't seem to figure out why the users ke…

Sometimes the best thing to do is to do nothing at all. Reddit is OK already, but the new management seems to want to change it more and more. These new CEO's want to always push their "vision" for what reddit should be despite what the userbase wants and the backlash for that is already showing. The thing is, the power doesn't rest on the CEO or the company, it rests on the user base. Redditors can migrate to any ot…

Think it's a coincidence that now the legal case is pretty much over there are suddenly a lot of 'adjustments' being made?

Re: Front Page Subreddits Go Private in Response to Firing of Reddit Admin

#77
post #33

It's kindof astonishing what is happening over at reddit right now. "The internet" has it's own culture, and the people running reddit right now (one of the places where this culture is the strongest, imo), seem to have no idea how to interface with it. It honestly feels like it got taken over by silicon valley middle management marketing types or something, and now they just can't seem to figure out why the users ke…

Pao ruined reddit unfortunately. Time for an alternative.

Re: Front Page Subreddits Go Private in Response to Firing of Reddit Admin

#78
post #23
post #13

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm pretty certain AMA disasters do not qualify as fireable. And firing the facilitator with a history of good AMAs for that reason is hardly an appropriate remedy even if that is so.

Listen, I just want to talk about Rampart.

(Translation for the reddit-impaired: Woody Harrelson came to IAMA trying to do publicity for his movie Rampart. His cluelessness and apparent entitlement nearly blotted out the sun.)

Re: Front Page Subreddits Go Private in Response to Firing of Reddit Admin

#79
post #41

The admin in question, Victoria (/u/chooter), is still posting, and gives every indication that it was not an expected nor voluntary departure: https://www.reddit.com/user/chooter /u/karmanaut, one of the most prolific moderators, gave some insight into why this is such a big deal: https://www.reddit.com/r/OutOfTheLoop/comments/3bw39q/why_ha... > We had a number of AMAs scheduled for today that Victoria was supposed…

> Part of it is proof, of course: we know it's legitimate when she's sitting right there next to the person and can make them provide proof. We've had situations where agents or others have tried to do an AMA as their client, and Victoria shut that [...] down immediately. Righteous firing or not, a lot of this is a lesson in avoiding a SPOF.

SPOF = Single Point of Failure, for those wondering.

Re: Front Page Subreddits Go Private in Response to Firing of Reddit Admin

#80
post #55

Pao actually tried submitting a PM to a subreddit. Not a screenshot, the actual URL for the PM. If she has an area of expertise other than "diversity", she seems to be flubbing it.

She is not only non-technical but also a criminal just like her husband. This is insane that she can kick out legitimate people from a community that was build ground up.

Interesting read about Ellen Pao (I dont know if it is true or not):

http://pastebin.com/8y4VUf4U

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