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Honestly, I'm surprised that spez kept his job after getting caught modifying user comments straight from the production db[0]. That's who these people are deal

Honestly, I'm surprised that spez kept his job after getting caught modifying user comments straight from the production db[0]. That's who these people are dealing with, to be clear. And now he's accusing Apollo of threatening Reddit? Give me a break. How is this the guy who's gonna lead Reddit to the promised land? 0: https://www.theverge.com/2016/11/23/13739026/reddit-ceo-steve-huffman-edit-comments https://www.theverge.com/2016/11/23/13739026/reddit-ceo-stev...

Moeancurly 3y ago
I haven't been able to find the comment again, but I am 95% certain he admitted to editing the production DB long before this incident. I think it was an IAMA with kn0thing, where they admitted something along the lines of editing the DB to fix typos in titles. Not quite as bad, but no surprise he continued the behavior.
- toomuchtodo 3y ago
  https://old.reddit.com/r/announcements/comments/5frg1n/tifu_by_editing_some_comments_and_creating_an/damfr71/ https://old.reddit.com/r/announcements/comments/5frg1n/tifu_...
  - Moeancurly 3y ago
    That's it, thanks!
thih9 3y ago
> for about an hour To be fair, this doesn't seem that bad, especially in comparison to the API price hike and their handling of it.
- mikeyouse 3y ago
  I can't believe people are pretending to be outraged about something so boring. Oh no, a forum admin trolled a user in a troll subreddit, qué horror! The thread he changed the comments in was filled with users literally accusing multiple innocent people of being pedophiles who ate children, but sure, it's a bridge too far to change the user tag of comments literally threatening him rather than e.g. banning everyone who commented there or reporting the threats to the police which would have been well within his rights!
  - elbigbad 3y ago
    It’s also, like, Reddit. Not some financial or health database. It’s an Internet forum largely populated by literal children and teens.
    - mardifoufs 3y ago
      Tbf, you could totally lose your job with a single edit if your identity is associated with your Reddit account. It would be very very very hard to argue with a straight face that the admins added a racial slur to your comment without sounding completely crazy and dishonest.
      - mikeyouse 3y ago
        Sure - but none of that happened, and the possibility of that happening is exactly the same whether Huffman had trolled the dredge at TheDonald or not. Not everything in life is a slippery slope, it's often just best to weigh things on their own merits.
        mardifoufs 3y ago
        I don't disagree, if anything I think the whole thing was pretty funny when it happened. The outrage was pretty over the top too. I'm just saying that it could be a dangerous thing to do, if only because it creates doubt and deniability.
        Arkhaine_kupo 3y ago
        > Not everything in life is a slippery slope However in this case... He already admitted to changing post titles (in his own words to fix typos and other minor corrections). So he got the hang of modifying prod data with a "good cause" and once he had the know-how he turned around and sued it to edit someone's comment. Had that not caused a big stir, maybe it would have become his new past time. maybe it has, maybe he goes back 5-6 years to comments you cannot reply to because the threads are locked and adds little jokes there, who knows cause he is now totally untrustworthy on this matter.
durumu 3y ago
I mean that was really stupid of him, but it seems like the kind of thing someone would do impulsively one time and then never again after getting reprimanded. Meanwhile, this API debacle has made me lose all respect for Reddit and its leadership — if everything the Apollo dev is saying is true, this is completely inexcusable. Reddit lied to the faces of the developers who trusted them and depended on them for their livelihood. I think the API thing is dramatically worse, and it isn’t close.
- starbugs 3y ago
  Uhm.. Sorry? This is something that you do one time impulsively? This is something that you do once and then never again, because you're out unless your company has unhealthy ethics.
- LapsangGuzzler 3y ago
  > I mean that was really stupid of him, but it seems like the kind of thing someone would do impulsively one time and then never again after getting reprimanded. Only a founder would get reprimanded for manipulating production data, anyone else would get fired on the spot (as they should). I'm not here to argue which action is worse, I'm simply pointing out that this guy clearly has a control issue and poor judgment (which is common among CEO's, granted) and it's been obvious for years. Of course he's gonna distort his reality to suit his needs, that's what these guys do. People don't learn when they get away with things like this, they just go bigger and crazier.
- School-Cotton 3y ago
  > it seems like the kind of thing someone would do impulsively one time and then never again after getting reprimanded Absolutely not at any serious company; fucking with user data is a major taboo.
- replwoacause 3y ago
  What a weird take.
- Keyframe 3y ago
  There's no leeway for doing that at that level at that size of a company and business.

Moeancurly 3y ago

I haven't been able to find the comment again, but I am 95% certain he admitted to editing the production DB long before this incident. I think it was an IAMA with kn0thing, where they admitted something along the lines of editing the DB to fix typos in titles. Not quite as bad, but no surprise he continued the behavior.

toomuchtodo 3y ago
https://old.reddit.com/r/announcements/comments/5frg1n/tifu_by_editing_some_comments_and_creating_an/damfr71/ https://old.reddit.com/r/announcements/comments/5frg1n/tifu_...
- Moeancurly 3y ago
  That's it, thanks!

thih9 3y ago

> for about an hour To be fair, this doesn't seem that bad, especially in comparison to the API price hike and their handling of it.

mikeyouse 3y ago
I can't believe people are pretending to be outraged about something so boring. Oh no, a forum admin trolled a user in a troll subreddit, qué horror! The thread he changed the comments in was filled with users literally accusing multiple innocent people of being pedophiles who ate children, but sure, it's a bridge too far to change the user tag of comments literally threatening him rather than e.g. banning everyone who commented there or reporting the threats to the police which would have been well within his rights!
- elbigbad 3y ago
  It’s also, like, Reddit. Not some financial or health database. It’s an Internet forum largely populated by literal children and teens.
  - mardifoufs 3y ago
    Tbf, you could totally lose your job with a single edit if your identity is associated with your Reddit account. It would be very very very hard to argue with a straight face that the admins added a racial slur to your comment without sounding completely crazy and dishonest.
    - mikeyouse 3y ago
      Sure - but none of that happened, and the possibility of that happening is exactly the same whether Huffman had trolled the dredge at TheDonald or not. Not everything in life is a slippery slope, it's often just best to weigh things on their own merits.
      - mardifoufs 3y ago
        I don't disagree, if anything I think the whole thing was pretty funny when it happened. The outrage was pretty over the top too. I'm just saying that it could be a dangerous thing to do, if only because it creates doubt and deniability.
      - Arkhaine_kupo 3y ago
        > Not everything in life is a slippery slope However in this case... He already admitted to changing post titles (in his own words to fix typos and other minor corrections). So he got the hang of modifying prod data with a "good cause" and once he had the know-how he turned around and sued it to edit someone's comment. Had that not caused a big stir, maybe it would have become his new past time. maybe it has, maybe he goes back 5-6 years to comments you cannot reply to because the threads are locked and adds little jokes there, who knows cause he is now totally untrustworthy on this matter.

durumu 3y ago

I mean that was really stupid of him, but it seems like the kind of thing someone would do impulsively one time and then never again after getting reprimanded. Meanwhile, this API debacle has made me lose all respect for Reddit and its leadership — if everything the Apollo dev is saying is true, this is completely inexcusable. Reddit lied to the faces of the developers who trusted them and depended on them for their livelihood. I think the API thing is dramatically worse, and it isn’t close.

starbugs 3y ago
Uhm.. Sorry? This is something that you do one time impulsively? This is something that you do once and then never again, because you're out unless your company has unhealthy ethics.
LapsangGuzzler 3y ago
> I mean that was really stupid of him, but it seems like the kind of thing someone would do impulsively one time and then never again after getting reprimanded. Only a founder would get reprimanded for manipulating production data, anyone else would get fired on the spot (as they should). I'm not here to argue which action is worse, I'm simply pointing out that this guy clearly has a control issue and poor judgment (which is common among CEO's, granted) and it's been obvious for years. Of course he's gonna distort his reality to suit his needs, that's what these guys do. People don't learn when they get away with things like this, they just go bigger and crazier.
School-Cotton 3y ago
> it seems like the kind of thing someone would do impulsively one time and then never again after getting reprimanded Absolutely not at any serious company; fucking with user data is a major taboo.
replwoacause 3y ago
What a weird take.
Keyframe 3y ago
There's no leeway for doing that at that level at that size of a company and business.