Reddit is closed.
At least, that’s the message being sent by a large number of popular subreddits today. Major boards like /r/funny, /r/videos, and of course, /r/gaming have been set private. According to a posting in /r/OutOfTheLoop, this action comes in the wake of the removal of administrator Victoria Taylor. Taylor, who posts under the user name ‘chooter’ on Reddit, was the site’s Communications Director, and was instrumental in many of the high-profile Ask Me Anything (AMA) interviews of public figures. Conducted in /r/IAMA (I am a…. Ask Me Anything), the AMAs included celebrities from actors like Channing Tatum to politicians, including President Barack Obama – and even a few, like former Governator Arnold Schwarzenegger, who’ve moved through many areas of public life.
Reddit has not given a reason for Taylor’s dismissal. However, rumors are circulating. Some indicate that a recent less-than-stellar AMA involving the Reverend Jesse Jackson may have been the cause. Others claim Taylor clashed with interim CEO Ellen Pao over the commercialization of the AMA process. Pao is said to be intent on making the site ‘safer’ for commercial interests, and Taylor has reportedly expressed dissatisfaction with the increasingly commercial focus of Reddit AMAs.
Taylor’s termination leaves many of the subreddits she was involved with, such as /r/Science, with little or no experience with arranging and organizing future AMAs. One of the moderators for /r/books, imakuram, has been quoted as saying, “We have several AMAs upcoming in r/books and have no idea how to contact the authors.”
A statement by Karmanaut, a moderator for /r/IAMA, indicated that the moderators of these subreddits had no warning that this action was coming: “Today, we learned that Victoria was unexpectedly let go from her position with Reddit. We all had the rug ripped out from under us and feel betrayed. Before doing that, the admins really should have at least talked to us.”
According to /r/OutOfTheLoop thread, this is only the latest in a long history of Reddit administration missteps toward subreddit moderators. According to the dissatisfied moderators, moves like this one demonstrate a lack of respect shown for their work, work that by and large has made Reddit the internet attraction it is. Reddit co-founder Alexis Ohanian has attempted to reassure users, saying he would be taking over the ‘triage’ of AMA requests for the time being, but that has not prevented subreddits as diverse as /r/dinosaurdrawings and /r/massivecock from following hundreds of others in setting themselves private.
All in all, this is another highly visible black eye for a website that has taken heat in recent months for leaking hacked celebrity nude pictures, as well as user criticism for a crackdown on antisocial behavior that closed down a number of offensive subreddits, only to raise a hue and cry about ‘free speech’. Not all of the subreddits are going dark, however. Some, like /r/Blackout2015, look like they’re just getting started.
This article originally appeared on TheMittani.com, written by Arrendis.
