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Reddit Founder Alexis Ohanian Resigns from the Board of Reddit

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

#31
post #2

> I’m saying this as a father who needs to be able to answer his black daughter when she asks: “What did you do?” Wow. I think this deserves highlighting. It's powerful and beautiful.

It's also indicative of one aspect the problem, where we largely don't care until we have a personal stake in things.

For another example:

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-21804506

> Influential US Republican Senator Rob Portman has renounced his opposition to gay marriage. The Ohio senator said he began to change his mind in 2011 after his son, Will, revealed he was gay.

It's great that people change. It's not great that it frequently takes a direct familial relationship to cause it.

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

#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 that mattered is what you are saying in that particular thread in a particular subreddit. Now politics and controversies can be seen in all subreddits, people are using the platform just to post selfies of themselves, and with the addition of the "profile" feature, there is an insentive to make a name for yourself there.

So yeah, while a lot of people, including me, hate the changes, it is obviously better for the business, as it attracts a wider range of users. But still, I'm starting to use Reddit less and less, and relying on RSS and HN to get my daily dose of tech news and discussions.

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

#33

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.

Steve Huffman has been the CEO since July 2015. Ellen was calling out Steve, not Alexis.

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

#34
post #7

Earlier quoted context omitted.

TD is gone for a long time now.

No, it's not. https://www.reddit.com/r/the_donald

When I sort by date submitted the last post that came up was 2 months ago. That seems pretty dead to me.

Edit: Also the sidebar says there are 600 active users. I assume that includes me following your link. For comparison /r/news has ~68,000 users as of this writing.

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

#35
post #5

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Are you joking? There's a huge number of cesspools still on reddit. Stuff like thedonald, theredpill, all sorts of blatantly racist/misogynistic communities.

From what I can see the_donald is effectively dead and theredpill is also quarantined so it might as well be, since quarantined subreddits are always eventually banned.

These are the first examples that come to mind. There are many more with similar userbases that has migrated from them. Don't forget all the Pizzagate/QAnon stuff, incels, etc. Here's a longer list: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Controversial_Reddit_communiti...

Also, quarantined != banned. It's still on reddit, and those users spread out onto other non-quarantined subreddits and spew the same kind of garbage.

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

#36
I am going to try to say something neutral, not related to current politics. Frankly, I'm doing so because I'm curious if such a comment is even possible.

- I applaud anybody who takes a moral stand, especially if it might cost them something they hold dear.

- Whenever people complain about social media, the usual response is "But these are private properties. People can do what they like with them." I agree that this is the role of private property

- It's a fact that these social media networks operate because of the network principle, that is, it's much easier to get into than to get out of. It's also a fact that just a few media sites control the vast majority of online conversation and commerce

- Might it not have been useful for this moral stance to have been taken much earlier? First, you made your money and built your company. Walking off now isn't exactly standing in the soup line next week. Second, lots of folks are stuck with your product that might now be changing its operating parameters. Third, there's no way to predict what future event might cause even more changes.

Once again, kudos for reaching inside and doing a gut check. Life is full of a bunch of people, all with different opinions and points where they would change their mind. That's a good thing, but is this just something that keeps getting more and more restrictive over time? If so, might want to put that on your sign-up page, perhaps periodically remind folks. (This is a rhetorical question aimed at every service that does what reddit does online)

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

#37
post #16

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…

Reddit is responsible for the fact that 24% of people killed by police are black?

Depending on how many police officers are subscribers in the_donald, possibly.

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

#38
post #27
post #19

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's really not - look at the dates. There was some bullshit going on, there is nothing left.

> Only approved users may post in this community. So now it's the truest propaganda machine, you're saying. Approved users only for consumption by a dedicated subscriber base.

No the sub doesn't exist anymore. There was an admin takeover and they left it in this odd "technically existing" state for some reason. TD is gone - you can look for stories about it some months ago.

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

#39

Reddit mods wantonly abuse their power and I'm not even talking about politics. Ever been to r/science? 8/10 comments are deleted and those posts can't be read ever again (I'm understating that number, if anything). Honestly, half the reason I come here is because you can still view dead comments - censorship is a surefire way to get me to leave your community.

Agreed. I hope hacker news doesn't become what reddit became. Contrary to the link, Reddit admins/mods actively police its content to be left leaning.

Silencing/hiding content has the opposite intended effect on those being silenced, to those wondering why it's a bad thing.

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

#40
post #5

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Are you joking? There's a huge number of cesspools still on reddit. Stuff like thedonald, theredpill, all sorts of blatantly racist/misogynistic communities.

I get the feeling they are quite familiar with those communities.

Anecdotally, and interestingly, I've only ever seen the phrase "virtue signal" from the alt-right/white supremacist/Trump supporter group. I think I understand what it's trying to convey, but it seems to be used anytime someone sides with something with which that group disagrees. It's like a "dog whistle" for white supremacists and personally when I see it used, it makes me question everything else that person said.
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