I started a subreddit called Life Pro Tips. Initially I seeded it with some of the best content I found through browsing reddit and kind of forgot about it. I s

I started a subreddit called Life Pro Tips. Initially I seeded it with some of the best content I found through browsing reddit and kind of forgot about it. I submitted it to their self-serve advert program and it just kind of developed into what became a default subreddit. At the same time I started it, I registered the domain with the intent to some day build a standalone site out of it. That day finally came and I finished the site (I work on side projects like this in my spare time outside of work and always have). Since it was a subreddit that I created, I thought I could write my own rules for it. We ended up having a community discussion and only allowing self links due to people spamming unworthy "TOP ___ life hack" lists. When I launched the site, I had an Automoderator rule approve anything that was submitted from the site I built. One member discovered this, reported it, and before I knew it, I was shadowbanned and told to remove everything. Reddit didn't even tell me about the shadowbanning (I found out due to another mod making the discovery of it). They claimed that it was violating their TOS because the site had ads on it (I have lots of reasons why I disagree with this, and how they treat certain sites preferentially, but I'm not interested in explaining it, honestly). Considering I have a career and this was a side project, I gave up on reddit and it was the best thing for me. I've spent countless hours of my life moderating and contributing to making that subreddit a nice part of reddit (ultimately helping them create content, for free), and there was never any kind of gratitude (aside from a reddit gold I randomly received, which is worthless to me) expressed to me. At this time there is nothing compelling enough on reddit for me to return, and I have a feeling the company and its employees know they are in trouble.