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Reddit’s Ellen Pao and Alexis Ohanian Explain Site Shut Down

26 points by Varcht 11y ago

Shivetya 11y ago
likely very political as only two names of those let go have been found, one of which was the mod of secretsanta who only recently moved to SF by reddit; about six months ago. Considering the popularity of at least Victoria with other moderators and participants it just doesn't bode well for the site.
workerIbe 11y ago
Seems like they copy and pasted half of their responses from yesterday's comments of what they should have done here on HN.
veb 11y ago
This website is awful. Took forever to load, and when it did I couldn't scroll until some weird stuff had loaded. This article just feels like a fluff piece or something. They're all "Sorry. We'll learn from our mistakes... just look, the mods set the big subreddits public again!". I have an inkling that a similar situation happened years back between AMA and admins. (correct me if I'm wrong) For people whose lives revolve around Reddit, I was completely lost for words when I saw this: https://www.reddit.com/r/SubredditDrama/comments/3bwgjf/riama_set_to_private_over_mod_firing/csqg24d?context=3 https://www.reddit.com/r/SubredditDrama/comments/3bwgjf/riam... (kn0thing is Alexis Ohanian) all I could wonder was whether he'd not realised how serious things actually were, or whether he simply didn't care -- I felt those comments were adding a hell of a lot more fuel to an already raging inferno. I also haven't really seen much in the way of... an explanation from them. Just, "Sorry. We'll do better. We'll even... set up an email contact!!" that's not exactly much.
- deleted 11y ago
  [deleted]
- bostonpete 11y ago
  What kind of an explanation are they expected to give for a termination? Any details would typically be kept private. I've been reading this saga all day and can't figure out what they did wrong, unless you factor in speculation about the reasons for termination, which of course portrays Reddit in a bad light, but even then they don't come off looking evil, just a bit tone deaf to the mods (who collectively strike me as a pretty entitled bunch)
  - jabv 11y ago
    Not just typically kept private - by exposing the reasons for a termination, they could be liable for pretty serious damages. I have no horse in this race, but expecting an explanation for the dismissal is pretty short-sighted.
    - veb 11y ago
      You say that but I wonder if you remember/know of this incident? https://np.reddit.com/r/IAmA/comments/2iea97/i_am_a_former_reddit_employee_ama/cl1ygat?context=3 https://np.reddit.com/r/IAmA/comments/2iea97/i_am_a_former_r... So the good thing is, they've learned not to do that again, obviously. However, by explanation, I definitely don't mean why Victoria was let go, but how the hell they dropped the ball big time? She was obviously a very important, yet vital figure on Reddit as per the community themselves so how did the decision to terminate her not factor in the whole "We need to make sure we've got a replacement immediately/let people know what we're doing to minimise this" (or even better, not have such a big part of the community riding on just one pair of shoulders! bottleneck much?) The most telling is from /r/books I think, where the mods are freaking out because they've got half a dozen mostly famous book authors showing up to do an AMA soon, and they have absolutely _no_ idea how to get in touch with them/their agents. This sucks a lot for those people who're helping that subreddit, voluntarily etc. To be stranded like that, is a pretty crappy situation to be in -- especially considering how Reddit needs them, and needs the content produced by the authors/AMA/questions etc. Apology template: "Hey Reddit, we're really sorry for dropping the ball with this whole incident, really! Don't kill us! We've realised that we handled this all wrong, and most of all we're stupid for not listening to the moderators of the bigger subreddits! We'd like to say sorry again. Tomorrow, we'll have our new blog post up, detailing our plan for Talent Director(s), and Community Subreddit Director who'll be in charge of helping fulfil your moderator dreams!" Heh, but seriously -- I am surprised they're not 'catering' to their audience (even if they're carrying pitch forks). I'm not sure I'd recommend my apology letter though, but has to be better than "Sorry. Anyway, those big subreddits are back. I promise we didn't blackmail anyone" (not saying they did...)
hoopd 11y ago
Explaining the site shut down would be this: "Over the years we've evolved a business model that depends heavily on hundreds of volunteers who work in exchange for site privileges like banning people they don't like. Some of these volunteers became upset yesterday. We're still rich, they still have nowhere else to go."
- dudul 11y ago
  I'm completely baffled to see that a bunch of imbeciles happily work for free for this company and help them make money through ads.
  - _up 11y ago
    Normal Users that comment, work for free too! But they also get something in return, otherwise they woudn't do it.
  - angdis 11y ago
    I think you underestimate the bliss many people receive from being able to flap their gums endlessly about their favorite topics.
- nness 11y ago
  They're not exactly rich, Reddit doesn't share revenue but its expected that they have yet to get into the black.
  - PhantomGremlin 11y ago
    You never know about private funding rounds. It's certainly possible that Ohanian and other early founders/investors received some "fuck you money" from the latest investors. It might not be a lifechanging amount. But having an extra $1,000,000 in the bank might be enough to buy some popcorn that tastes good?
PhantomGremlin 11y ago
Interesting assertion from the article: Ohanian, who has tight bond with the community, ... I haven't paid much attention to Reddit until this fiasco, but from what I read there yesterday and today, "tight bond" must mean "detested" or "reviled". Or maybe that's just from a vocal 1%, the other 99% don't care or don't think that way?
- dhagz 11y ago
  Up until recently he's been fairly well liked. It's the past year that's made a lot of users dislike him.

26 points by Varcht 11y ago

likely very political as only two names of those let go have been found, one of which was the mod of secretsanta who only recently moved to SF by reddit; about six months ago. Considering the popularity of at least Victoria with other moderators and participants it just doesn't bode well for the site.

workerIbe 11y ago

Seems like they copy and pasted half of their responses from yesterday's comments of what they should have done here on HN.

veb 11y ago

This website is awful. Took forever to load, and when it did I couldn't scroll until some weird stuff had loaded. This article just feels like a fluff piece or something. They're all "Sorry. We'll learn from our mistakes... just look, the mods set the big subreddits public again!". I have an inkling that a similar situation happened years back between AMA and admins. (correct me if I'm wrong) For people whose lives revolve around Reddit, I was completely lost for words when I saw this: https://www.reddit.com/r/SubredditDrama/comments/3bwgjf/riama_set_to_private_over_mod_firing/csqg24d?context=3 https://www.reddit.com/r/SubredditDrama/comments/3bwgjf/riam... (kn0thing is Alexis Ohanian) all I could wonder was whether he'd not realised how serious things actually were, or whether he simply didn't care -- I felt those comments were adding a hell of a lot more fuel to an already raging inferno. I also haven't really seen much in the way of... an explanation from them. Just, "Sorry. We'll do better. We'll even... set up an email contact!!" that's not exactly much.

deleted 11y ago
[deleted]
bostonpete 11y ago
What kind of an explanation are they expected to give for a termination? Any details would typically be kept private. I've been reading this saga all day and can't figure out what they did wrong, unless you factor in speculation about the reasons for termination, which of course portrays Reddit in a bad light, but even then they don't come off looking evil, just a bit tone deaf to the mods (who collectively strike me as a pretty entitled bunch)
- jabv 11y ago
  Not just typically kept private - by exposing the reasons for a termination, they could be liable for pretty serious damages. I have no horse in this race, but expecting an explanation for the dismissal is pretty short-sighted.
  - veb 11y ago
    You say that but I wonder if you remember/know of this incident? https://np.reddit.com/r/IAmA/comments/2iea97/i_am_a_former_reddit_employee_ama/cl1ygat?context=3 https://np.reddit.com/r/IAmA/comments/2iea97/i_am_a_former_r... So the good thing is, they've learned not to do that again, obviously. However, by explanation, I definitely don't mean why Victoria was let go, but how the hell they dropped the ball big time? She was obviously a very important, yet vital figure on Reddit as per the community themselves so how did the decision to terminate her not factor in the whole "We need to make sure we've got a replacement immediately/let people know what we're doing to minimise this" (or even better, not have such a big part of the community riding on just one pair of shoulders! bottleneck much?) The most telling is from /r/books I think, where the mods are freaking out because they've got half a dozen mostly famous book authors showing up to do an AMA soon, and they have absolutely _no_ idea how to get in touch with them/their agents. This sucks a lot for those people who're helping that subreddit, voluntarily etc. To be stranded like that, is a pretty crappy situation to be in -- especially considering how Reddit needs them, and needs the content produced by the authors/AMA/questions etc. Apology template: "Hey Reddit, we're really sorry for dropping the ball with this whole incident, really! Don't kill us! We've realised that we handled this all wrong, and most of all we're stupid for not listening to the moderators of the bigger subreddits! We'd like to say sorry again. Tomorrow, we'll have our new blog post up, detailing our plan for Talent Director(s), and Community Subreddit Director who'll be in charge of helping fulfil your moderator dreams!" Heh, but seriously -- I am surprised they're not 'catering' to their audience (even if they're carrying pitch forks). I'm not sure I'd recommend my apology letter though, but has to be better than "Sorry. Anyway, those big subreddits are back. I promise we didn't blackmail anyone" (not saying they did...)

hoopd 11y ago

Explaining the site shut down would be this: "Over the years we've evolved a business model that depends heavily on hundreds of volunteers who work in exchange for site privileges like banning people they don't like. Some of these volunteers became upset yesterday. We're still rich, they still have nowhere else to go."

dudul 11y ago
I'm completely baffled to see that a bunch of imbeciles happily work for free for this company and help them make money through ads.
- _up 11y ago
  Normal Users that comment, work for free too! But they also get something in return, otherwise they woudn't do it.
- angdis 11y ago
  I think you underestimate the bliss many people receive from being able to flap their gums endlessly about their favorite topics.
nness 11y ago
They're not exactly rich, Reddit doesn't share revenue but its expected that they have yet to get into the black.
- PhantomGremlin 11y ago
  You never know about private funding rounds. It's certainly possible that Ohanian and other early founders/investors received some "fuck you money" from the latest investors. It might not be a lifechanging amount. But having an extra $1,000,000 in the bank might be enough to buy some popcorn that tastes good?

PhantomGremlin 11y ago

Interesting assertion from the article: Ohanian, who has tight bond with the community, ... I haven't paid much attention to Reddit until this fiasco, but from what I read there yesterday and today, "tight bond" must mean "detested" or "reviled". Or maybe that's just from a vocal 1%, the other 99% don't care or don't think that way?

dhagz 11y ago
Up until recently he's been fairly well liked. It's the past year that's made a lot of users dislike him.