Reddit’s troubles mount as chief engineer Bethanye Blount quits - Polidicks

[b]Reddit’s troubles mount as chief engineer Bethanye Blount quits[/b] Source: [url=http://thenextweb.com/insider/2015/07/14/reddits-troubles-mount-as-chief-engineer-bethanye-blount-quits/]TNW News[/url] ____________________ [quote][img]http://i.imgur.com/IV6I2ca.jpg[/img] Even before the dust has settled at Reddit after two of its key executives moved out of the company, its chief engineer Bethanye McKinney Blount has now quit the firm. Blount told Recode in an interview that she quit after just two months at Reddit, having moved to the company from Facebook. She explained that she didn’t think she “could deliver on promises being made to the community.” Blount added: [i]"- I feel like there are going be some big bumps on the road ahead for Reddit. Along the way, there are some very aggressive implied promises being made to the community — in comments to mods, quotes from board members and they’re going have some pretty big challenges in meeting those implied promises."[/i] Those promises refer to improvements to tools for moderators to manage their subreddits as well as addressing offensive content and harassment comments from users.[/quote] Oh wow...

Pao reporting that she was not responsible for the firing of Victoria and now this? Reddit is going to be having a fun time soon...

This was posted an hour ago and there is even an edit with a reply from huffman, he disagrees that the goals of providing a new content policy and better moderation tools are going to be improbable or too difficult.

does reddit even make enough money to stay afloat through the inevitable disaster that's about to befall them? seems like they're right at the top of a downward spiral right now.

The fact that this is the third instance of something big happening in such a short time means that we are seeing some sort of momentum here. I have a feeling that we'll be seeing the rise of some competitor soon.

[QUOTE=Bruhmis;48201312]does reddit even make enough money to stay afloat through the inevitable disaster that's about to befall them? seems like they're right at the top of a downward spiral right now.[/QUOTE] Yes, at least in the short term. Long term however will likely be a different story if they can't get their shit together to be able to secure more funds. Investors would be and should be spooked at the user dissent, which creates a risk factor of "can reddit get their shit together and make my/our investment worth it?" which for some might be too big of a risk to even bother with.

someone who aims to buy out Reddit is now laughing ... the price goes down very fast

[QUOTE=Dwarden;48201396]someone who aims to buy out Reddit is now laughing ... the price goes down very fast[/QUOTE] I really doubt Reddit is losing popularity.

[QUOTE=Rubs10;48201447]I really doubt Reddit is losing popularity.[/QUOTE] You would be surprised just how effective a PR disaster effects popularity. People come to Reddit for the content creators, and its the content creators who care about this most.

[QUOTE=FlandersNed;48201313]The fact that this is the third instance of something big happening in such a short time means that we are seeing some sort of momentum here. I have a feeling that we'll be seeing the rise of some competitor soon.[/QUOTE] Well, there's voat, theyre still getting ddos'd but at least they've expanded there servers and been functioning since the huge traffic spikes.

[QUOTE=Mattk50;48201505]Well, there's voat, theyre still getting ddos'd but at least they've expanded there servers and been functioning since the huge traffic spikes.[/QUOTE] except voat is basically a 1:1 clone of reddit with the majority of /v/all posts being shitty "mfw voat is up etc"

Looks like shit is hitting the fan hardcore over at Reddit. I'd love to be a fly on the wall in their offices while all of this was going down.

[QUOTE=Rubs10;48201447]I really doubt Reddit is losing popularity.[/QUOTE] I agree, I can't wait for the next shit storm to happen. This time, I'll sit back and eat the popcorn instead of being at the concession stand. (I was one of the live thread updater guys, and yeah... fun giving people the daily dose of popcorn)

[QUOTE=frankie penis;48202052]except voat is basically a 1:1 clone of reddit with the majority of /v/all posts being shitty "mfw voat is up etc"[/QUOTE] Do you really, seriously, honestly and truly expect for anything to happen at voat when they're getting DDoSed practically every second they're up? Also you're missing the point; reddit is a decent website, the only problem is that it's being run by complete shitheads. All voat needs to do is not hire Hitler's sons and daughters as their managers and moderators.

[QUOTE=Bruhmis;48201312]does reddit even make enough money to stay afloat through the inevitable disaster that's about to befall them? seems like they're right at the top of a downward spiral right now.[/QUOTE] in an AMA with a board member, yes, they have plently of money to stay afloat. Something like $50M in the bank

RIP. [url]https://www.reddit.com/r/announcements/comments/3dautm/content_policy_update_ama_thursday_july_16th_1pm/[/url] I love the "Neither Alexis nor I created reddit to be a bastion of free speech"

[QUOTE=Rubs10;48201447]I really doubt Reddit is losing popularity.[/QUOTE] I for one stopped paying for gold for myself and have generally been using less time on reddit to escape all the drama. I have even begun using more time on Facepunch, if that is even a good thing.

[QUOTE=ElijahLee;48206733]"Neither Alexis nor I created reddit to be a bastion of free speech"[/QUOTE] Facepunch + Voat, as soon as Sync for Voat is out.

[QUOTE=RichyZ;48207036]But Facepunch isn't a bastion of free speech at all, it actively disallows people to be racist, overly misogynistic (in the actual meaning of the word), homophobic, transphobic, etc.[/QUOTE] Yeah but you can shitpost

[QUOTE=RichyZ;48207036]But Facepunch isn't a bastion of free speech at all, it actively disallows people to be racist, overly misogynistic (in the actual meaning of the word), homophobic, transphobic, etc.[/QUOTE] If you want true free speech go to 4chan. People wont hold back telling you why the things you love are shit and why you are shit for loving them.

[QUOTE=ElijahLee;48206733]RIP. [url]https://www.reddit.com/r/announcements/comments/3dautm/content_policy_update_ama_thursday_july_16th_1pm/[/url] I love the "Neither Alexis nor I created reddit to be a bastion of free speech"[/QUOTE] Yeah, that's bullshit. [IMG]http://i.imgur.com/fq7HdB6.png[/IMG] Reddit was founded as a bastion of free speech. The problem is that free speech is not compatible with corporations and businesses. When reddit turned into a business, it all started going downhill. Instead of facing their users and telling them the truth, they tried to fool their users into thinking "we're still the same old reddit". That's why reddit is going to continue going downhill and crash.

[QUOTE=RichyZ;48207036]But Facepunch isn't a bastion of free speech at all, it actively disallows people to be racist, overly misogynistic (in the actual meaning of the word), homophobic, transphobic, etc.[/QUOTE] I came here for instabannings, and I'll stay here for totalitarian mod rule. Garry also made a nice mod.

[QUOTE=BackSapper;48201227]Pao reporting that she was not responsible for the firing of Victoria and now this?[/QUOTE] It's becoming increasingly obvious that she was brought in just to be thrown under the bus and absorb all the blame for how poorly the company was run. Everyone just sat back and let her take all the flak for decisions that she wasn't making. Reddit was clearly no better with her in charge but she was definitely the only executive over there acting with even a modicum of professionalism. [editline]14th July 2015[/editline] [QUOTE=ElijahLee;48206733]RIP. [url]https://www.reddit.com/r/announcements/comments/3dautm/content_policy_update_ama_thursday_july_16th_1pm/[/url] I love the "Neither Alexis nor I created reddit to be a bastion of free speech"[/QUOTE] Absolute free speech will destroy an internet community faster than you can type r/coontown

I fine with limits on free speech... but when you actively are disallowed an opposing viewpoint... then I have a problem with that.

[QUOTE=Zeke129;48207484]It's becoming increasingly obvious that she was brought in just to be thrown under the bus and absorb all the blame for how poorly the company was run. Everyone just sat back and let her take all the flak for decisions that she wasn't making. Reddit was clearly no better with her in charge but she was definitely the only executive over there acting with even a modicum of professionalism. [editline]14th July 2015[/editline] Absolute free speech will destroy an internet community faster than you can type r/coontown[/QUOTE] 4chan? And this is a site wide rule of free speech, as in the admins won't ban people for it. Subs will still have their moderators that dictate what is and isn't allowed there. Also, spez's comment on free speech is not their goal is already being taken very poorly: [URL]https://www.reddit.com/r/bestof/comments/3db7hr/spez_states_that_he_and_kn0wthing_didnt_create/[/URL] has more upvotes than the official announcement, and a comment on the announcement has more than 4X the upvotes.

[QUOTE=Zeke129;48207484]It's becoming increasingly obvious that she was brought in just to be thrown under the bus and absorb all the blame for how poorly the company was run. Everyone just sat back and let her take all the flak for decisions that she wasn't making. Reddit was clearly no better with her in charge but she was definitely the only executive over there acting with even a modicum of professionalism.[/QUOTE] That is entirely an assumption.

[QUOTE=Zeke129;48207484] Absolute free speech will destroy an internet community faster than you can type r/coontown[/QUOTE] Like I said in the previous conversation about freespeech. In US law, at least because Reddit is a US based company, all speech is protected free speech until which it breaches either hate clauses or non-protected speech like child porn. Everything else is fair game, most websites actually follow this sort of set up, including Facepunch.

[QUOTE=Cmx;48207234]If you want true free speech go to 4chan. People wont hold back telling you why the things you love are shit and why you are shit for loving them.[/QUOTE] 4chan dropped the free speech platform when moot left, give or take a few months. The culture's still there with the users but the new mods care about it about as much as the people running reddit do.

[QUOTE=Swilly;48208913]Like I said in the previous conversation about freespeech. In US law, at least because Reddit is a US based company, all speech is protected free speech until which it breaches either hate clauses or non-protected speech like child porn. Everything else is fair game, most websites actually follow this sort of set up, including Facepunch.[/QUOTE] Hate speech is also protected speech in the US FYI. There are no "Hate Clauses". There is speech that poses an imminent threat, and protected speech. That's the two classes of speech in the U.S.

[QUOTE=Aredbomb;48209045]4chan dropped the free speech platform when moot left, give or take a few months. The culture's still there with the users but the new mods care about it about as much as the people running reddit do.[/QUOTE] Yea, there's some theories 4chan could be looking an e-gentrification over the next few years as the really turbulent community & crazy people migrate to 8chan, leaving it mostly populated by the Redditors who're already starting to leave. In lack of a better site, imo content creators & aggregators might be way harder to find from now on. But that's only ever possible if this gains any traction and goes beyond 'gamergate: electric boogaloo' status. Even then I kind of doubt how many people would care enough to leave.