The way people perceive actions tends to change based on the status of the person(s) performing the action at the time the action was performed. Everyone knows

The way people perceive actions tends to change based on the status of the person(s) performing the action at the time the action was performed. Everyone knows reddit admins used to game the system by faking submissions to solve the chicken and egg problem and nobody really cares, but there would be an uproar if they were found to be manipulating story placements behind the scenes today because the scale of the site is so different. People are pretty willing to overlook borderline underhanded things if you are really an underdog trying to get a leg up, but far less so when you're the industry leader trying to crush upstarts.