Comment by Simple_Tymes on 06/07/2015 at 18:10 UTC*

2224 upvotes, 34 direct replies (showing 25)

View submission: We apologize

The average users don't care about moderator tools. What matters to the passionate non-mod reddit community is:

• *PAID CONTENT:** Will AMA and other reddit subs have content paid by sponsors? Will you disclose if reddit receives money for specific corporate posts to receive higher placement/votes? How far are you willing to go to monetize reddit?

• *CENSORSHIP:** Will you delete subs based on advertisers' requests? Will you ban users who don't agree with specific speech/content guidelines?

• *POOR MANAGEMENT:** The firing of Victoria may, in fact, be completely justified. But the pure business of firing the head of AMAs (arguably Reddit's highest profile sub) was simply terrible management. Why didn't you know how your business is run? Why didn't you have a transition strategy in place for Victoria's departure? Why didn't she introduce her replacement to her important clients/mods? How is this not business 101?

• *TRUST:** Reddit is run by the good will of unpaid moderators. How can they trust you that their content won't be regulated based on corporate sponsorship? The rumors regarding Victoria's firing over disagreement about turning AMA into a money machine must be addressed. And "we don't discuss firings" isn't good enough -- what is Reddit's plan for the future of the AMAs? And why should we trust you to continue to support a site that doesn't seem to respect your intelligence?

Simply, if these issues aren't addressed, then it's time to move somewhere else. If Reddit wants to turn the community into an advertiser platform (and do it in the most unprofessional, mismanaged way) then there's no sense in supporting a site that no longer shares our beliefs. Why should we trust you to do the right thing?

Edit: for Yishan and kn0wing:

• *LEADERSHIP:** CEOs are the public face of a company. Good CEOs give investors and customers confidence in the company. While toxic CEOs bring companies crashing down. So what does Ellen bring to Reddit? Her previous work history is mired in controversy, as is her husband's. They've both been universally destructive of the companies they were part of, as well as exhibiting questionable morals and ethics. So what qualities or assets did Ellen bring to the table to get the job at reddit? Her hiring -- and subsequent defense by Yishan and kn0wing -- doesn't speak well to the decisions that are driving the company. **What value does Pao possess that makes her, despite her personal and professional toxic qualities, a value to reddit?**

• *INTERIM:** Ellen Pao has been called an "interim ceo" though she's quoted as saying she'll leave "over her dead body." Isn't her mismanagement of AMAs and her role as the public face of the company, losing users and potentially money, cause for letting her go? Why isn't now the perfect time to end her temporary employment and find a real CEO?

• *FOUNDATION:** Wouldn't reddit be better served as a foundation similar to wikipedia?

Replies

Comment by wanttoshreddit at 06/07/2015 at 21:02 UTC*

78 upvotes, 1 direct replies

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• *Stacksity[1]** - I think the concept of this is pretty great - it's really simple looking but it's obviously well put together. Subreddits here are 'stacks' and while these stacks aren't moderated the better content does rise to the top and you can explore various areas fairly easily once you have an account and subscribe to those that you're into.

1: https://stacksity.com/

I must admit I do find the $ prefixing everything kinda obnoxious though.

However nothing gets removed as far as I can tell and it's new so we should really cut it some slack and see how it grows. I'm looking forward to seeing how it expands.

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• *Voat[2]** - Voat is essentially a Reddit clone - and that's OK. They have a karma system and the community is nice and welcoming and very open to discussion. It's very basic looking and if you're familiar with how Reddit works you'll be familiar with Voat works.

2: http://voat.co

They get a lot of flak for being down often but it's run by a small but dedicated team who take donations to try and keep the servers up so it's rather admirable that they're doing as well as they are as whenever Reddit messes up people throw it around to immediately jump ship.

It's fun and fairly light though.

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• *Snapzu[3]** - Snapzu is a much more polished looking link aggregator. You can post 'snaps' which are links/content to various channels that they call 'tribes' and it has a wide variety of subjects for you to explore. There's a rep system which accumulates over time with titles for you to get - but it does mean that those who have signed up earlier get more perceived clout than those that are new. At the moment you have to request an invite to join BUT they tend to dish those out quickly enough.

3: http://snapzu.com

I have to say though it's not as...strongly opinionated as Reddit which is a good and a bad thing as it lends to very passive and dull comments.

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• *Campus Society**[4] - THEY OFFERED HER A JOB!![5] This is purely aimed at university and college students so this won't be of any appeal those who aren't attending. You're grouped into channels where you can instant chat / post content with other students in your classes and university. This went live on Monday so it's very new in beta but there's also groups you can join similar to subreddits where you can chat / post and it's proving popular in London for a way of meeting new people who are at your university but haven't met yet.

4: http://www.campussociety.com/invitations/1162

5: http://blog.campussociety.com/an-open-letter-to-victoria-previously-of-reddit-become-victoria-of-campus-society

It doesn't rely on upvotes / likes to determine user score but a 'GPA' system which goes up if users respond well to you and down if you're inactive over a long period of time or get reported by other users.

• Full disclosure I'm part of the team here but if you have any questions I'm happy to answer them! (If your university isn't featured let me know and I can check that out)*

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• *Wechat[6]** - Now most people assume that this app, and sorry it's app based, is primarily just for the Chinese due to it's massive Chinese audience. Which is fair as it used to be Weixin and it did start in China. It does however have a massive, and very engaged, English speaking community and while there's as bit of culture clash it's actually a very interesting community to be a part of. However to find good content you have to find public accounts from people who post that content so you do end up having to put a bit of work in to find content you like.

6: http://www.wechat.com/en/

I really enjoy the personal touch of that because there's a much more personal connection with these people as they tend to respond often, use actual names/faces, and have a real passion for what they're doing but it can be rather intense at times.

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• *Aether[7]** - Another app based community however it's on the otherside of the coin. While Wechat is a hyperactive platform where you use your real name etc this is much more private scene which uses anonymous posting.

7: http://getaether.net/

They're not likely to go down anytime soon though because their infrastructure does not rely on a centralised server setup but p2p. Their goal originally was simply to be a purely anonymous reddit so if you're privacy orientated this might be interesting for you but as it's links and not images etc most people might not find it that interesting - especially as it's in dire need of content and as anyone can pretend to be you it's hard to build any sense of community.

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• *Yik Yak[8]** an interesting concept but the execution leaves something to be desired for the most part. Recent changes have improved the flow of conversation though which is good as you can identify who you're responding to and the community has taken steps to help cut down on abuse which was a problem early on. Yaks with -5 are deleted so the community polices itself.

8: http://www.yikyakapp.com/

Yaks are text based though and very short form so this might not appeal to everyone but it can be rather lighthearted and interesting for localised content.

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• *The Student Room[9]** - This is an old school forum really primarily focused on UK students but it's got a wonderfully dedicated moderation team and a strong core community who are extremely helpful. Like most forums it is broken down into a wide variety of subjects/interests and users build rep through going their posts liked etc.

9: http://thestudentroom.co.uk/private.php

It's rather solid but it is definitely focused more on the UK student crowd.

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• *Stumble Upon[10]** - This is how I found Reddit originally about 4 years or so ago as Digg was blocked at work. Stumble Upon is rather simple in its approach but it's a great way to view all types of content. Simply signup, select your interests, then click the Stumble Upon button and it'll randomly select you a tagged page/article/video based on what you selected. The community isn't really that big on commenting and what not, per se, but there is certainly something very addictive about clicking that button for new content.

10: http://stumbleupon.com

Honestly I had so much love for this website I fear to go back.

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• *Hacker News[11]** - This one is more for the tech orientated crowd and despite the overly abused 'hacker' title it's a great site for keeping in the loop with changes in the tech industry and for new and upcoming sites and startups.

11: https://news.ycombinator.com/

After /r/technology took a tumble in quality I ended up just going back to Hacker News for quite awhile to be honest as it's simple, practical, and the community is very informed and helpful.

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• *Product Hunt[12]** - This is a dedicated community focused on sharing and talking about the latest websites and startups. It's invite only if you want to discuss but you can vote until PH decide you're worthy of commenting. Some people complain of them being a tad elitist but I've met the team first hand and they're pretty dedicated to focusing purely on making a platform that's about showcasing the latest and greatest.

12: http://producthunt.com

Though it does get a bit dull seeing the same people leaving comments and the discussion can be pretty thin.

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• *Tumblr[13]** I'm expecting a bit (see lot) of flak for suggesting Tumblr but if you stay away from the echochamber angry ranty people and explore some of the more popular tags you'll find that there's a whole wealth of quality content worth reading. They're more into their TV/Film fandoms and so if you're not able to stomach that kind of thing you might want to pass but for lighthearted content it's not that bad.

13: http://www.tumblr.com

Personally it's not to my liking but it's a viable alternative that while hated on will more than likely have something to cater to your taste.

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• *Newsvine[14]** - I really like Newsvine - it's a small company that focus on linking out news but it's nowhere as extreme as /r/worldnews and the community is rather interested in current events. Discussion is small / limited however so you really have to put some effort in to generate discussion but it can certainly be worth it if quality and not quantity of replies work for you.

14: http://www.newsvine.com

• *Frizbee[15]** I really dig how Frizbee are with anonymity and their general mission. Their mods are vocal but friendly but best of all their against censorship and really want to see their community grow in line with that. Which pretty much lends well to open discussion. They're in beta and while the site could do with some fine tuning it's a great experience despite the lack of polish.

15: https://frizbee.co

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• *Slicer[16]** This is small and ran by a single person, as far as I'm aware, but I quite like to lurk on it and have a nosey around. Terms of use are pretty standard but I'm looking forward to seeing how this evolves as there's steady traction and I'm not entirely sure if the admin has made a decision on how he wants to grow his site.

16: http://slicer.io/

It can be a little messy though as the default page throws everything into "Any" as opposed to a space, which function like subreddits, but I kinda do like that as it reminds me of how /r/all used to be.

Seriously though props to this guy if it's just the one person as it's really well done.

Comment by Thrug at 06/07/2015 at 23:14 UTC

46 upvotes, 0 direct replies

The firing of Victoria may, in fact, be completely justified. But the pure business of firing the head of AMAs (arguably Reddit's highest profile sub) was simply terrible management. Why didn't you know how your business is run? Why didn't you have a transition strategy in place for Victoria's departure? Why didn't she introduce her replacement to her important clients/mods? How is this not business 101?

This absolutely is Business 101. Reddit reeks like a holdover from the worst part of the dotcom bubble that has been propped up for years by spectacular amounts of work from the community.

Clearly none of them have any idea how to run a business, nor conduct appropriate PR, nor protect the brand. It's like a bunch of twenty-somethings, sitting around in their smoke-filled rumpus room wearing "geeks rul3" t-shirts, acting surprised that people expect professionalism.

Any business manager in a real company would have been summarily sacked if they had displayed even half the amateurish incompetence of the Reddit admins.

(Please note their sacking would have involved a formal transition plan, and a public announcement of the transition to maintain trust and brand equity).

Comment by fernandotakai at 06/07/2015 at 19:33 UTC

972 upvotes, 18 direct replies

you know what's funny about censorship? one of reddit's core values[1] is "Allow freedom of expression" (as well as "Be stewards, not dictators. The community owns itself.").

1: https://www.reddit.com/about/values/

another core value? "Default to transparency, and when you can’t be transparent, be honest.".

the hypocrisy is so strong it hurts.

Comment by TheAngelW at 06/07/2015 at 22:10 UTC

186 upvotes, 4 direct replies

I'm starting to think Reddit needs to be taken care of by a foundation, wikipedia-style, with full transparency and no risk of financially motivated decision.

On my part I'd be happy to chip in every year as I do with wikipedia.

Comment by [deleted] at 06/07/2015 at 20:06 UTC

291 upvotes, 1 direct replies

[deleted]

Comment by TheStarkReality at 07/07/2015 at 08:24 UTC

8 upvotes, 0 direct replies

My dad is the manager of 37.5 million dollar business segment of his company, and he says that any company worth its salt has succession plans for any lynch-pin member of staff. If the admins want to run reddit like a business, then they need to run it in a professional manner, and have these kinds of plans in place. I support the fact that everyone's stayed quiet over the reasons behind the firing, because that's just professional, but not being ready for a sudden transition is indicative of either complete lack of foresight and professionalism, or a complete lack of knowledge of reddit and the importance of Victoria's role. I'm not sure which is more disturbing.

Comment by NoPatNoDontSitonThat at 06/07/2015 at 19:21 UTC

39 upvotes, 1 direct replies

And this is how you can prove that Reddit's admins are full of shit when they talk about transparency and communication.

It's a easy answer. Will AMAs be the same without Victoria? Or paid and just PR interviews?

Will corporations determine what subs exist and which ones don't?

Will shadowbans be explained?

These are easy, easy answers that they won't answer because the truth is that their answers are the ones people don't want to hear.

Comment by Bobo480 at 07/07/2015 at 06:20 UTC

5 upvotes, 0 direct replies

Though we will never get it, I just want to know what got Pao this job.

She has no qualifications to be a CEO, has never excelled in any place in which money couldnt buy her a degree and has shown to have low morals and zero people skills.

I have asked in almost every thread I can and every answer I get on her hiring seems to lead to some shady backroom deal.

If I could get the real answer on what led to her becoming CEO over the thousands of more qualified people in just this country I would be a happy man.

Comment by [deleted] at 06/07/2015 at 23:03 UTC

6 upvotes, 0 direct replies

Will you ban users who don't agree with specific speech/content guidelines?

Already happens in questionable subs like /r/gonewild , anyone who asked if they were going to participate in the blackout was banned.

Comment by rjcarr at 06/07/2015 at 21:59 UTC

7 upvotes, 1 direct replies

Why didn't she introduce her replacement to her important clients/mods?

Playing devil's advocate here, but when someone is fired (or terminated, or laid off, or whatever) you can't exactly ask them to set up a transition plan. That only happens when someone quits.

Often when someone is fired, especially in sensitive situations like I assume this was, they are immediately asked to gather their things and leave.

Now not anticipating the backlash of both AMA and reddit as a whole? Yeah, that was a huge fuck up.

Comment by KRSFive at 06/07/2015 at 22:20 UTC

39 upvotes, 1 direct replies

None of these questions will be addressed by ellen.

Comment by seth7garcia at 06/07/2015 at 22:09 UTC

19 upvotes, 0 direct replies

We're Sorry

Comment by Lazylion2 at 07/07/2015 at 00:01 UTC

15 upvotes, 0 direct replies

you forgot **communication**. the fact that it took her like 4 days to post this is a joke.

Comment by boobookittyfuck69696 at 07/07/2015 at 01:27 UTC

3 upvotes, 1 direct replies

PAID CONTENT:

She told me that because they got $50M last year they don't need to do this.

I assume she was referring to the Series B funding they got last Sept. Still won't say why Victoria Taylor was fired. Still won't really speak to banning subs that advertisers don't like, but the subs that have been banned did break site-wide rules so... who knows anything right now.

Comment by [deleted] at 06/07/2015 at 21:39 UTC*

62 upvotes, 1 direct replies

[deleted]

Comment by 1337BaldEagle at 06/07/2015 at 23:40 UTC

4 upvotes, 1 direct replies

I would gilled you but that would just support the issues you were talking about.

Comment by GraharG at 06/07/2015 at 21:42 UTC

4 upvotes, 1 direct replies

The average users don't care about moderator tools

actually you probably do care. mods leave = shitty reddit for all. What the mods need to happen is what you need to happen

Comment by Katzoconnor at 07/07/2015 at 06:06 UTC

3 upvotes, 1 direct replies

As much as I hate to gild something when Pao is in charge, I needed you to have a visible medal next to this to get convince scrollers to stop and *read what the fuck you were saying.*

Comment by quenishi at 06/07/2015 at 20:23 UTC

2 upvotes, 0 direct replies

Why didn't she introduce her replacement to her important clients/mods?

As a slight side note, in the case of a firing, you can't rely on the handover method to be as such. A shared calendar (and maybe inbox) would cover the firing eventuality though, where someone can quickly pick up the notes of their predecessor and carry on. Relying on a handover phase can go horribly wrong, when the person is fired/disappears/dies.

Comment by boarderman8 at 07/07/2015 at 01:39 UTC

3 upvotes, 0 direct replies

More importantly, **CAN I SELL MY UPVOTES FOR MONEY!!!!**

Comment by zirzo at 07/07/2015 at 16:54 UTC

2 upvotes, 0 direct replies

Phew, one can only hope these points were raised by board members in the past week if not in the past year

Comment by [deleted] at 07/07/2015 at 13:09 UTC

2 upvotes, 0 direct replies

Not foundation, user-owned cooperative using Loomio or LiquidFeedback to make decisions.

Comment by aazav at 07/07/2015 at 01:42 UTC

2 upvotes, 0 direct replies

The average users DO care about the subreddits that the moderators supervise.

Comment by [deleted] at 07/07/2015 at 00:32 UTC

2 upvotes, 1 direct replies

"For yishan and kn0wing" you mean Ellen and kn0thing?

Comment by kbuis at 07/07/2015 at 05:23 UTC*

1 upvotes, 0 direct replies

PAID CONTENT: Will AMA and other reddit subs have content paid by sponsors? **Will you disclose if reddit receives money for specific corporate posts to receive higher placement/votes?** How far are you willing to go to monetize reddit?

FTC rules would require them to disclose this, so I'd be shocked if they didn't.