Comment by SUSAN_IS_A_BITCH on 16/07/2015 at 20:02 UTC*

812 upvotes, 10 direct replies (showing 10)

View submission: Let's talk content. AMA.

*TLDR: How is the Reddit administration planning to improve their communication with users about your policies?**

Over the last year there have been a number of moments where top employees have dropped the ball when it came to talking with users about Reddit's direction:

Yishan's blog post "Every Man is Responsible For His Own Soul"[1] in response to banning /r/thefappening. This post caused more confusion than it resolved until alienth (who no longer works at Reddit) made a different post explaining the situation in much clearer terms.[2]

1: https://www.reddit.com/r/blog/comments/2foivo/every_man_is_responsible_for_his_own_soul/

2: https://www.reddit.com/r/announcements/comments/2fpdax/time_to_talk/

Alexis fired Victoria and did not alert the AMA team, causing the moderators and AMA users (including people who were giving AMAs that day) stress and confusion. Those mods shut down the subreddit. (Note: I'm not asking for an explanation of Victoria's firing.)

Ellen Pao gave an interview (off of Reddit)[3] saying the Reddit administration was not concerned about the shutdown because it was just a vocal minority that was upset with the whole Victoria/AMA debacle. She later clarified she was talking about the people insulting her, but the mixup could have been avoided if she had talked with us directly. This was shortly followed by the "We Apologize" post[4], which probably should have come before the off-Reddit interview, regardless of how much she would have been downvoted.

3: http://mobile.nytimes.com/2015/07/04/technology/reddit-moderators-shut-down-parts-of-site-over-executives-dismissal.html?referrer

4: https://www.reddit.com/r/announcements/comments/3cbo4m/we_apologize/

The new stated plan for improved mod tools was deliberately broad - and krispykrackers admitted this new time plan was made hastily and without much research[5], so we should not reasonably expect it to be fulfilled. One of your head engineers resigned two days ago, stating she did not think she "could deliver on promises being made to the community."[6]

5: https://www.reddit.com/r/modnews/comments/3cbnuu/we_apologize/csu1i1y

6: http://www.latimes.com/business/technology/la-fi-tn-reddit-chief-engineer-leaves-20150714-story.html

Your own post announcing this AMA[7] stated that neither you nor Alexis ever envisioned Reddit as a bastion of free speech, but it was then directly and instantly called out as being false as Alexis specifically likened Reddit to a bastion of free speech.

7: https://www.reddit.com/r/announcements/comments/3dautm/content_policy_update_ama_thursday_july_16th_1pm/

I'll also include the infamous popcorn comment made by Alexis and a response from krispykrackers about a user shadowban.[8] In both cases kn0thing and krispykrackers apologized and admitted it was a moment of not-thinking, but an impulsive comment can spread across the community like wildfire.

8: https://www.reddit.com/r/announcements/comments/3cbo4m/we_apologize/csu21xe

I'm sure other users have other examples, but these are the ones that have stuck with me. I intentionally left out the announcement of the /r/fatpeoplehate ban[9] because I thought it was clear why those subreddits were being banned, though admittedly many users were confused about the new policy and it quickly became another mess.

9: http://www.reddit.com/r/announcements/comments/39bpam/removing_harassing_subreddits/

I think this AMA is a good first step toward better communication with the user base, but only if your responses are as direct and clear as they once were.

I wish I didn't have to fear the Announcements' comments section like Jabba the Hutt's janitor fears the bathroom.

Replies

Comment by snatchi at 16/07/2015 at 20:34 UTC

51 upvotes, 2 direct replies

Great question,

In the aftermath of Pao's resignation and /u/spez' announcement of this AMA, former CEO Yishan said that it was the board who wanted to purge a bunch of offensive content and Ellen Pao was the person holding them at bay; correctly surmising that it would be a shitshow.

But watching all the controversy play out you would never have known that. Ellen and Alexis were chilly, terse and bordering on insensitive in the aftermath of Victoria's firing. Pao stated later in the apology post that she went off site to give statements because she was being downvoted and that people couldn't see what she was saying. Meanwhile, she had the power to make /r/announcements and /r/blog posts, that ALL OF REDDIT would see and while her responses were downvoted, people were seeing them, of course they were seeing them!

If what Yishan is saying is true, why was none of that communicated to the redditors? Don't you think it could have helped calm the controversy? If Ellen Pao was reddit's biggest ally, why were people acting like she was anything but?

Do you see how better communication could have changed all of this for the better?

Comment by guccigoogle at 16/07/2015 at 20:18 UTC

63 upvotes, 3 direct replies

Jesus fuck the last two are great examples of shitty management.

Comment by [deleted] at 16/07/2015 at 20:19 UTC

146 upvotes, 1 direct replies

That Yishan blog post was so condescending.

Comment by homicidalunicorns at 16/07/2015 at 20:29 UTC

10 upvotes, 2 direct replies

Ellen Pao gave an interview (off of Reddit)[4] saying the Reddit administration was not concerned about the shutdown because it was just a vocal minority that was upset with the whole Victoria/AMA debacle.

This was clarified[1], sort of- she was specifically talking about the people speaking of her negatively (I assume she meant the racist/sexist mobbing), not the people upset about the issue itself.

1: https://np.reddit.com/r/announcements/comments/3cbo4m/we_apologize/csu5wgv

Comment by splattypus at 16/07/2015 at 20:33 UTC*

7 upvotes, 1 direct replies

only if your responses are as direct and clear as they once were.

Jog my memory, I can't remember the last time Reddit brass ever made clear and straightforward statements about anything. We've spent the past few years staring at a blank piece of copy paper, and are basically told to read the between the lines.

Alexis runs around making his speeches and playing celebrity, trying to be reddit's savior and bragging up all of the successes from the site to anyone who will listen (made by the efforts and labors of someone other than himself), and then cowardly hides behind other people to make the hard or unpopular decisions. /u/spez has at least given us more talk than anyone before, but even what he's said so far has been of little substance and lesser guidance. I understand he's trying to get an assessment of everything before moving forward, but at this point I'm not so sure that he hasn't been away for so long that reddit now is completely foreign to him.

This thread is a perfect example so far of getting more lipservice and contentless communication from the admins. I'm not fucking buying it anymore, I'm tired of getting the condescension of all the fucking half-talk and internal PR bullshit and blowing smoke up our asses. Until they start telling us specifics about what they are going to do, their goals for the site, and their plans for getting there, I'm through fucking listening.

Comment by YM_Industries at 17/07/2015 at 01:47 UTC

3 upvotes, 0 direct replies

Do you think you'll get banned for harassing Susan?

Comment by Tor_Coolguy at 17/07/2015 at 09:47 UTC

1 upvotes, 0 direct replies

There's a cultural problem in the reddit office. I suspect recent staff changes have only made it worse. And the worst part is that they don't realize there's a culture problem, they think they have a *user* problem. Pretty much all of their language belies this.