I agree, and this also shows that you don't need any kind of hierarchy, status or conspiracy for a user-driven media outlet to gain a feeling that some kind of

I agree, and this also shows that you don't need any kind of hierarchy, status or conspiracy for a user-driven media outlet to gain a feeling that some kind of cabal is running things. I mean, Reddit makes contribution (including filtering) about as easy as possible, there is no user class with special status, and not a whole lot of editorial discussion, and yet still people can complain that the output is disproportionately controlled by a minority with particular interests. I think this is more of an enduring pattern showing up again than a particular weakness in Reddit.