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Hi everyone! I’ve been wanting to do one of these for a while now - a few years, actually! I figured now is as good a time as any, though in light of the recent events, I’ll gear this AMA more towards my time at reddit, versus my personal life (though you are absolutely free to ask about that, too.)
Back in 2011, I applied for a job at reddit. The job was actually /u/hueypriest’s (Erik Martin) former position as Community Manager as he stepped up to General Manager of reddit. In late 2011, after a series of interviews, I received a call from /u/hueypriest offering me the position of Community Manager. (Back then, there were seriously about 10 employees at reddit. It was a very, very small company.) I obviously accepted the position.
However, in early 2012, a week before I was supposed to move to San Francisco, I was unexpectedly diagnosed with leukemia. I spent the next six of seven months in the hospital and received four enormous rounds of chemo as well as a bone marrow transplant. During my treatment (the day after my birthday, actually), reddit had made a company blog post about my diagnosis, reaching out to the community to help me find a bone marrow donor. reddit had also made the choice to keep my position open until I was able to return healthy and able to work. I will forever be grateful for what /u/hueypriest and the rest of the company did for me back then.
Eventually I was cured of leukemia (or so I thought) and was finally able to begin working at reddit. About a year went by while I worked (mostly remotely) for reddit, until I was once again ready to move to their headquarters. Unfortunately, weeks before moving, I had relapsed and my leukemia came back, this time harder than ever.
Around this time (probably early 2014), former reddit CEO Yishan Wong and current General Manager /u/hueypriest had made the decision to not only keep my job open, but help me by continuing to offer me payment from the company until I was once again ready to return to work. (Much like when Erik Wolpaw of Valve was sick before he was able to work.) Again, I can not stress enough how grateful I am to Yishan, /u/hueypriest, and all of reddit for helping me out during the hardest part of my life.
It was only until recently, late 2014, that I was able to return to work (remotely). Unfortunately due to new practices at reddit, all of the working employees were mandated to work from San Francisco, so I wasn’t actually able to work until I was ready to move. In January of 2015, I was almost ready to move to reddit. I had even flown out to SF for a few days while all of the reddit employees met during a company-wide 3-day seminar.
During this time, I had sat down with Ellen Pao (current reddit CEO) to discuss my future at reddit and when I was able to move. I had told her that it would still be at least a month (but probably closer to 2 or 3) before I was finally able to move to SF, and she said she was 100% fine with that. We discussed my position, and ultimately determined that I would be returning to the Community Management team. I met some of the new members of the team, all was well, and then I flew home on day 3.
Less than a month later, in February of 2015, I received a call from Ellen stating that I was to be terminated in less than a week. When I asked what the specific reason was, she had roughly stated that “because of our discussion, you are too sick to properly fulfill your duties as Community Manager.” (At no point during our meeting was this stated - I had raised concerns about the stress levels of Community Management, but had ultimately decided that it was something I could easily manage.)
I pleaded with Ellen to let me stay, as I had been sick for over a full year now and the only thing that was on my mind was coming back to work - work I loved so very, very much. She finally stated that if I were to get permission from my doctor stating that it was okay for me to move to SF and begin work, that I would be able to come back. I stated this wouldn’t be a problem, and proceeded to contact my doctor to arrange this. Unfortunately, a day later, she had called and once again stated that I was fired, stating that work would be too demanding for my health (something that I still, personally, should have been decided by me and my doctor - not someone who I had effectively never worked with while she was CEO).
Edit: It is ABSOLUTELY worth noting that even though I was fired, in lieu of severance pay, I accepted one year of COBRA medical coverage paid by reddit. That was definitely generous and I am grateful to Ellen and reddit for helping me with that.
I honestly still don’t know why I was let go from reddit, but it was a devastating blow, especially because I was finally able to return to work after so much time. Though, the decision to keep my position open was ultimately Yishan’s and /u/hueypriest’s, not Ellen’s, so once they left, I guess the decision was her’s.
In my opinion, a great deal at reddit has changed since Ellen Pao has taken the helm. It used to be a company run by a tight-knit group of people honestly working towards the happiness and welfare of the community and its employees. The inner workings, while sometimes a bit convoluted and messy, were always with the best of the community in mind. I can say that with 100% honesty.
To be fair, I had only witnessed the current inner workings of reddit for a few months while Ellen took the helm, so I thing definitely might have changed since I left, though today’s situation doesn’t exactly shine good light on the current structure of reddit and its employees.
Victoria (aka /u/chooter) was, without question, one of the nicest, most passionate, most efficient workers at reddit, and I honestly can’t fathom why she would have been terminated. It was such an honor to work with her, and as many mods have already stated, she truly took her work to heart and tried to provide a service to the community. She was one of the most well-known admins and was just incredible at her job. Without her, there would be hundreds of incredible AMAs that would have never happened.
My guess as to why she was fired is as good as anyone else’s, but if I had to muster up some explanation, it would be that reddit is likely trying to turn AMAs into something they currently aren’t. (Perhaps sponsored AMAs? I don’t know.) Otherwise there would have been no reason to let Victoria go. Literally everyone at the company loved her, including me, and it’s an enormous shame to see her go.
Honestly, I don’t know why reddit is making some of the decisions they are, but I still wish the very best for those who currently work there.
Anyway, this is an AMA, so please feel free to ask me whatever you’d like. I’ll be happy to answer.
top 200 commentsshow 500
[–]orangejulius 1091 points1092 points1093 points  (185 children)
“
Less than a month later, in February of 2015, I received a call from Ellen stating that I was to be terminated in less than a week. When I asked what the specific reason was, she had roughly stated that “because of our discussion, you are too sick to properly fulfill your duties as Community Manager.” (At no point during our meeting was this stated - I had raised concerns about the stress levels of Community Management, but had ultimately decided that it was something I could easily manage.)
That's a bit fucked up. I'm sorry to hear this happened to you.
What are you working on now? I really hope that even though reddit turned toxic for you that you're still able to be creative in other work.
(I'm a mod here) - what was your impression of the black out and IAMA's role?
[–]Dacvakreddit CM[S] 661 points662 points663 points  (100 children)
My experience at reddit was almost universally amazing. Well, up until that last week, I guess. I'm currently unemployed, though that is by choice. I've been really trying to take the last few months to get healthy. While I could probably take certain jobs that require minimal physical effort, I still have plenty of side-effects from all of the health crap I went through. Some days can definitely be rough.
As far as the blackouts, I support them. I was even the person who took down /r/gaming. I hope they really bring change to reddit, though I'm honestly not holding my breath. I guess we'll see what happens, though.
[–]Raudskeggr 82 points83 points84 points  (3 children)
You know, I was suspicious of Pao from the get-go, because there were far too many shady rumors and allegations surrounding her, as well as the controversy with her former employer/married lover.
But I chose to keep as optimistic as possible; and maybe Reddit is not yet starting its downward spiral of circling the drain, but I don't think Pao is a good choice of leadership for the company.
Someone who fired an employee for having cancer is a failure both as a leader and as a human being. Reddit users will not trust or respect someone who they know only gives a fuck about themselves. They'll only be open to someone who demonstrates that they care as much about Reddit as the users do.
And most signs point towards the Idea that Pao just wants to make her bucks and keep things going until she can lave to work for a company that can afford to pay her more.
For one thing, Nobody who knows her seems to have good things to say about her. Not on a personal level. All but a small minority of the reddit community has intensely negative feeling for her, and the main reason that handful liked her was mostly because the others did not; and this firing of a universally-liked employee has probably turned that handful around too.
It's a big mistake for the company's leadership to try and turn reddit into something it's not. Paid AMAs? Video amas? I've heard these rumors, and twice now people close to Reddit have said similar. Sponsorship and ads, sure; but you have to do it in a way that doesn't fundamentally compromise what Reddit is, and what function it serves to its users.
Furthermore, the complete neglect and disregard for the users, and especially the moderators of key subreddits, demonstrates a lack of understanding by Pao and co., that while Reddit may be a privately held company owned by a handful of shareholders, They only own the building and the hardware; Reddit has always been really owned and run by the user base. And if they push the wrong buttons, the users will move somewhere else where they can get the experience they want--and if that place doesn't exist, they'll make it.
[–]Ewannnn 146 points147 points148 points  (13 children)
A leopard can't change its spots. If what we've heard about Reddit's upper management now is true, I sincerely doubt we'll see any meaningful change.
[–]TehAlpacalypse 44 points45 points46 points  (8 children)
I knew it was bad but this is just depressingly awful :(
[–]blaze-one 34 points35 points36 points  (5 children)
Indeed. Time for everybody to turn on Adblock.
[–]mr_rivers1 131 points132 points133 points  (28 children)
Have you thought about taking legal action against her? Could this not be percieved as discrimination? I dont know enough about the US legal system to be sure.
EDIT: sorry, forgot to add, I hope you get better. I have a few lifelong chronic conditions, and its absolutely heartbreaking to see someone get a responce like this from someone. Don't give up, find employment with someone who appreciates the work you put in, and actually has a heart.
[–]Acebulf 151 points152 points153 points  (25 children)
It's definitely discrimination and forbidden by the ADA.
[–]mr_rivers1 195 points196 points197 points  (9 children)
Filing a legitimate discrimination case against Ellen Pao would be hilarious quite frankly. I bet you could source the fund from redditors
[–]hedronist 31 points32 points33 points  (6 children)
Post the link and I'm in for $10.
[–]Helassaid 27 points28 points29 points  (3 children)
Wouldn't that be fucking poetic?
Reddit users crowdfunding the legal fees to sue Reddit's discrimination-lawsuit-happy CEO for discrimination.
EDIT: /r/legaladvice needs to chime in here. I'm definitely in, if there's a case to be had.
[–]-wellplayed- 18 points19 points20 points  (12 children)
Not that a lawsuit for this wouldn't be justified and amazing, but what proof would he have?
[–]Cpt_Duo 17 points18 points19 points  (6 children)
That's what discovery and depositions are for
[–]WongFarmHand 68 points69 points70 points  (32 children)
Do you think that completely boycotting Gold would have any significant effect? Hard to tell how much they rely on it
[–]Dacvakreddit CM[S] 141 points142 points143 points  (28 children)
As reddit Gold's former Product Manager (only for a short while, since it was right before I relapsed), I can say that in my personal opinion, I doubt it makes a huge difference.
[–]cautiously_exuberant 50 points51 points52 points  (24 children)
Could you elaborate on that? Where does reddit make most of its money?
[–]Ewannnn 8 points9 points10 points  (15 children)
Advertising would be my guess. Then again I wouldn't be surprised if it doesn't cover running costs, as with other startups they probably rely a lot on outside funding. It's difficult to effectively monetize sites like this, it took Facebook years to do it & I'm not sure YT & Twitter are even making any money yet. Investors like it for the user information stockpile though I guess.
[–]Yoxuu 14 points15 points16 points  (1 child)
I hope your rough days get a lot easier and you can get back to living a very healthy life.
[–]Uncentury 109 points110 points111 points  (2 children)
Dacvak's ex-gf here. I remember when he got the calls saying he was fired and Ellen said she was worried that the job would cause "too much stress" for him. Like forcing someone to find a job while they're still in recovery from leukemia and have now been out of the tech industry for three years isn't more stressful?
[–]orangejulius 39 points40 points41 points  (1 child)
My jaw was hanging open when I read this post. Getting fired for having cancer is one of the worst things I have heard of a company doing.
[–]Uncentury 33 points34 points35 points  (0 children)
It was such a surprise for us. He'd check in every once in a while with Erik over the years to make sure he had a job, and it was not problem. Then he went to SF in January and he was STILL assured a job by Ellen. And then, less than a month later when he is finally close to getting ready to move out, she drops the bomb. It was so shitty.
Edit: Sidenote, I'd also like to mention a time last fall when we went to NYC to the reddit offices (back when Erik was still in charge). Dac is a huge Weird Al fan and Victoria said she had a surprise for him. Turns out Weird Al was in the offices that day to do an AMA! We got to meet him, talk with him, and get pictures. It was really awesome of Victoria, I'm sad to see her go.
[–]ratherinteresting 393 points394 points395 points  (7 children)
This quote speaks more about Pao than anything else I have seen about her.
Disgusting.
[–]Seraph_Grymm 95 points96 points97 points  (2 children)
Yeah it's pretty sick. I didn't have a strong opinion one way or the other before, just some messed up chick that I never interact with despite my heavy activity.
This just put me into full blown loathing for her.
[–]TonyQuark 42 points43 points44 points  (1 child)
"We're keeping you on. No, you're fired. You're hired back. You're fired anyway."
[–]SuperConductiveRabbi 88 points89 points90 points  (1 child)
She's a sociopath. She'll lie to your face and then fire your ass. If she were in his position she'd already have five lawyers and be on Oprah talking about how she was fired due to sexism, racism, and misogyny in tech.
[–]bullgodz 318 points319 points320 points  (45 children)
Holy shizz. The nukes have been sent. Pao fired someone for leukemia when originally they were slated to stay with the company until he got better. Pao is utterly despicable as a person. Thoughts are with you /u/Dacvak
[–]razorbeamz 90 points91 points92 points  (43 children)
Isn't that illegal?
[–]bullgodz 86 points87 points88 points  (39 children)
Not technically no. But its in bad taste as he had already been told that he is ok to stay.
[–]KateGlass 67 points68 points69 points  (37 children)
Wait I just wanna check. Are you saying that in America, if your sick you can be terminated from employment for being on long term sick?
[–]IPhone6SroseGold 44 points45 points46 points  (4 children)
Here's a lawyer from just answer. I don't think it's legal. But it might be a pain to fight it?
[–]ElegantRedditQuotes 32 points33 points34 points  (1 child)
It's a pain to fight anything in the US, even up to thirty years ago. My mom had a very legit case against the doctor and hospital that delivered my sister, but because of how long it would take and the difficulties involved, she decided not to sue. It's not an easy undertaking.
[–]girlgeek_glasses 19 points20 points21 points  (17 children)
We have the FMLA (Family medical leave act) which ensures that your job or a simiiar one will be held for up to 12 weeks per year. After that 12 weeks, your protection is gone. Also, FMLA is unpaid leave, employers are not required to pay you.
[–]Zombieball 28 points29 points30 points  (12 children)
Wow! I am continually shocked by just how behind USA is in matters such as this. Sending women back to work mere days after child birth, firing people with cancer, it really is disgusting.
[–]jabberpop 11 points12 points13 points  (0 children)
extremely bad taste. Esp after /u/Dacvak was ready to return
[–]JohnGM 61 points62 points63 points  (0 children)
Wow, that's flat out heartless. Fired as he was almost ready to come back after battling cancer.
[–]Phaz0r 133 points134 points135 points  (9 children)
This woman is a fucking disgrace to humanity. Holy shit it's so disgusting it's almost funny. Is this actually real??! Fuck me.
[–]totallynotafake007 76 points77 points78 points  (8 children)
Ellen Pao I hope you read this. /u/ekjp
[–]Phaz0r 35 points36 points37 points  (3 children)
I feel sick to my stomach after reading it. I'm deleting this reddit app. Fuck this shit guys.
[–]Rikvidr 7 points8 points9 points  (0 children)
"We can't discuss any individual employees."
[–]Herpaderpedo 25 points26 points27 points  (7 children)
That can't be legal, to fire someone cause they are "too sick". Do laws like FMLA not apply to online businesses?
[–]girlgeek_glasses 13 points14 points15 points  (1 child)
FMLA has a limit of 12 weeks per year.
[–]Tanarin 7 points8 points9 points  (0 children)
He still has ADA protections due to his cancer diagnosis.
[–]lactose_tolerent 16 points17 points18 points  (0 children)
Under that philosophy, shouldn't she resign because she is too busy appealing her lawsuit to be an effective CEO?
[–]BurntFlower 6 points7 points8 points  (0 children)
Holy shit, this is completely fucked up.
[–]FaLLeNTaCO1 276 points277 points278 points  (117 children)
Thanks so much for posting this AMA so quickly.
In your opinion, what is currently the biggest problem with how Reddit is run/managed?
[–]Dacvakreddit CM[S] 498 points499 points500 points  (116 children)
There was a definite shift in culture when Ellen took the reigns as CEO. The first company-wide meetings/seminars were absolutely nothing like they used to be. They felt very "fortune 500 business-y" as opposed to "tight-knit start up company...-y".
As reddit grows, it needs to find a way to self-sustain, as I doubt it's making money yet. This is probably all just part of its change.
I'm not sure it's the right direction for the site, though.
[–]IPhone6SroseGold 67 points68 points69 points  (8 children)
There has been speculation that Ellen Pao doesn't really know how to use reddit. Do you have any knowledge of that?
[–]SEND_ME__BOOB_PICS 60 points61 points62 points  (3 children)
She once tried to post a link to a PM in her inbox.
[–]ngwoo 20 points21 points22 points  (0 children)
Well she has an account and posts on the site, but firing people for having cancer takes a lot of time away from posting.
[–]OP_is_a_MiG-15 175 points176 points177 points  (93 children)
I've heard speculation that Ellen Pao was brought in to help monetize the site. Your experience seems to support that.
[–]Dacvakreddit CM[S] 702 points703 points704 points  (89 children)
Not really. To be honest, the only reason Ellen was made CEO was because Yishan has unexpectedly left reddit. Yishan, I believe, had Ellen step up as interim CEO just until they were able to find a more qualified one. Eventually, though, Ellen just stayed CEO.
When someone at our company meeting someone bluntly asked "You stated you were the interim CEO and that reddit was looking for one to replace Yishan. Are we still looking for a new CEO, and if not, why should we trust you to do the job?"
She literally responded with "You'll have to pry this position from my cold, dead hands!!!" which was met with applause. To be totally honest, I just sat there dumbfounded. It was one of the most non-answers I had ever heard.
[–]NetTrap 389 points390 points391 points  (18 children)
“
She literally responded with "You'll have to pry this position from my cold, dead hands!!!"
What. The. Fuck.
[–]JeremyQ 127 points128 points129 points  (11 children)
Wow, so I guess that petition isn't going to do much.
[–]ScrewYouIDontCare 76 points77 points78 points  (1 child)
well thats pretty obvious
[–]Helium_Pugilist 9 points10 points11 points  (0 children)
Don't underestimate bad press from an investor point of view.
[–]dcgigs 46 points47 points48 points  (2 children)
Unless.. you know.. we pry it from her cold, dead hands.
[–]TheHobbyist94 81 points82 points83 points  (7 children)
“
"You'll have to pry this position from my cold, dead hands!!!"
Holy fuck someone please photoshop that onto a picture of Ellen Pao right now.
That's not a non-answer. That's a fucking hissy fit.
Edit: Ooh boy the pics are coming in now.
[–]8bitremixguy 21 points22 points23 points  (0 children)
“
You'll have to pry this position from my cold, dead hands
Wow, I'm speechless
[–]cheeseless 79 points80 points81 points  (8 children)
So when you said she was "nice", you actually meant "a bitch".
[–]lolthr0w 13 points14 points15 points  (3 children)
imao if that's "nice" who does he call "mean"?
[–]vinee060708 14 points15 points16 points  (3 children)
It was met with applause...feel like i have seen this somewhere.
[–]Tealight_Addict 14 points15 points16 points  (0 children)
"So this is how liberty dies... with thunderous applause."
[–]sixf0ur 27 points28 points29 points  (0 children)
She really sounds like a great boss to work for! /s
[–]JAGoMAN 18 points19 points20 points  (7 children)
If you look at this picture of the amount of gold subreddits have been giving out, do you think that is enough for reddit to sustain or make money off of or is it too little still?
[–]Herax 17 points18 points19 points  (1 child)
The last day i have seen it mentioned several times that Reddit is apparently run as if it had 5000 employees, when it has about 60. Can't really see the reason why a company with only 60 employees, and is far from being profitable would benefit from that kind of corporate culture.
[–]aryst0krat 391 points392 points393 points  (36 children)
Barring Ellen Pao stepping down (the easy answer the seething masses are clamouring for) what steps would reddit have to take, in your mind, to repair the damage done to it recently?
[–]Dacvakreddit CM[S] 456 points457 points458 points  (35 children)
To be frank, it'll probably only take time. I doubt this will have a huge affect on anything. That seems to be the philosophy as of late. As long as people keep coming to the site, which they will, I doubt we'd see any huge changes in operation.
[–]aryst0krat 94 points95 points96 points  (5 children)
That's my view as well. Thanks Dacvak. I hope your health is holding. I have a lot of cancer in my family and I know it's rough.
[–]ratherinteresting 37 points38 points39 points  (18 children)
“
As long as people keep coming to the site
Without the passionate community, thats not a given...
[–]OP_is_a_MiG-15 36 points37 points38 points  (15 children)
I'm so not sure. I think a lot of the visitors to this site are casual users who don't have accounts and browse the defaults. Even if Reddit loses its niche communities, as long as it caters to the mainstream, they'll probably be fine.
[–]SixBiscuit 42 points43 points44 points  (6 children)
If this is the mindset of reddit's leadership team then they're fucking idiots. If anything the history of social media is littered with companies that thought they'd be fine because they were the big name to go to. It's not simply Digg but MySpace, AOL, Yahoo, etc.
[–]OMGMajorRager 107 points108 points109 points  (19 children)
Did you ever consider pursuing legal action against Pao/Reddit? Assuming you had something in writing form previous management, that could be considered wrongful dismissal.
[–]Dacvakreddit CM[S] 132 points133 points134 points  (17 children)
I did talk to a lawyer. I believe, legally speaking, she had a right to terminate me for any reason since reddit is a private company.
[–]apfpilot 30 points31 points32 points  (6 children)
even if you are an at will employee there are a few reasons that you can't be fired for. Among those disabilities but there are even then limitations within those categories. If you talked to a lawyer I hope that you made it clear why you were told you were fired and not just that you were fired and were an at will employee.
[–]corduroyblack 7 points8 points9 points  (0 children)
Dude. You had the worst attorney. Did you talk to an employment law attorney?
[–]IPhone6SroseGold 898 points899 points900 points  (104 children)
Wait. Ellen Pao fired you because you had cancer? Fucking unreal.
[–]ratherinteresting 424 points425 points426 points  (26 children)
Not only is she a bad CEO, she's also plain bad as a human being.
Epic fail.
[–]Adamapplejacks 136 points137 points138 points  (23 children)
And yet /u/kn0thing seems to support her 100%... What went wrong? What the hell is going on behind the scenes?
[–]Suppafly 95 points96 points97 points  (9 children)
“
And yet /u/kn0thing seems to support her 100%
He may be just not willing to speak out to keep his job.
[–]Adamapplejacks 52 points53 points54 points  (5 children)
Man, I dunno. He hasn't been quiet on the issue. He's been full-blown in support of Ellen Pao. And as this IAMA post points out, he is the one who personally fired Victoria.
[–]shinealittlelove 271 points272 points273 points  (31 children)
If this was in the UK that would be an immediate lawsuit.
[–]tigereyes69 48 points49 points50 points  (0 children)
It is potentially illegal under federal and California state law (though employment law is highly fact specific, so you can't make a conclusion for certain based on a reddit post).
Sources on Labor Law: ADA Website (search "Cancer"); cancer.org
[–]UTF64 176 points177 points178 points  (15 children)
Same for most other civilized countries.
[–]tianan 110 points111 points112 points  (27 children)
Isn't that pretty damn illegal?
[–]JeremyQ 69 points70 points71 points  (1 child)
He got fired for having cancer by the epitome of cancer.
[–]babno 8 points9 points10 points  (0 children)
That's about a 957 times stronger lawsuit case than Pao vs Kleiner Perkins.
[–]Kaorimoch 20 points21 points22 points  (0 children)
And she thought it was worth suing her old employer because she beleived she didn't get a promotion due to sexism, an argument she lost. Hypocrite.
[–]Dacvakreddit CM[S] 432 points433 points434 points  (156 children)
I know I'm the person doing the AMA right now, but I actually have a question for you guys. Are there any good alternatives to reddit at the moment?
[–]Cike176 246 points247 points248 points  (32 children)
http://voat.co is the most similar right now
[–]Dacvakreddit CM[S] 261 points262 points263 points  (12 children)
Hah, cool site. Maybe I'll send in an application. :P
[–]Cike176 84 points85 points86 points  (2 children)
Good luck! Last I heard it was two guys in a dorm but I'm sure with recent events they'll grow at least a little
[–]SonicFrost 17 points18 points19 points  (0 children)
That's like... At least a 25% employee increase! That could be monumental!
[–]L4MB 81 points82 points83 points  (7 children)
They'll need serious server upgrades if they're going to be a viable alternative.
[–]Cike176 36 points37 points38 points  (2 children)
Sure, but as they get more traffic they'll work on that
[–]wggn 21 points22 points23 points  (4 children)
reddit hug of death incoming...
[–]mothaway 14 points15 points16 points  (2 children)
Some people in the irc were recommending hubski, but I've never been there (and they're down right now from the exodus traffic.)
[–]ThisIsReLLiK 129 points130 points131 points  (41 children)
People keep crying voat.co, but that site isn't very reliable.
[–]timawesomeness 39 points40 points41 points  (1 child)
Voat has actually been great when everyone isn't rushing at it. I've been there for a while, and the site has been very stable for the most part.
[–]IPhone6SroseGold 177 points178 points179 points  (15 children)
Neither was reddit first 9 years. Give voat time - they are going from literally no traffic to one of the most popular websites on the Internet. Not over months or weeks - these spikes are overnight. Just as reddit had a learning curve, voat will too.
[–]ThisIsReLLiK 38 points39 points40 points  (8 children)
Yeah, I won't give up on it yet...it just isn't a suitable replacement at the moment like everyone is suggesting.
[–]L2CF 3 points4 points5 points  (0 children)
“
they are going from literally no traffic to one of the most popular websites on the Internet.
A bit of a overstatement, even after all this drama the site is still fairly small.
[–]MrDannyOcean 6 points7 points8 points  (1 child)
voat's also populated with fairly disgusting/poisonous people right now. All the FPH and creepshots and racist people left and make up a huge percentage of voat's population. Not a community I'm interested in joining, regardless of the site's functionality.
[–]razuliserm 2 points3 points4 points  (0 children)
FatPeopleHate on voat actually agreed not to be featured on /v/all which is nice of them.
[–]Shugbug1986 1 point2 points3 points  (0 children)
Shit, reddit still goes down once a month.
[–]jsmooth7 0 points1 point2 points  (0 children)
I would much rather just fix Reddit, than rebuild it from the ground up. (After all, Voat just is a Reddit clone.)
Hopefully that's still possible.
[–]saxybandgeek1 0 points1 point2 points  (0 children)
I don't know that I can wait 9 years lol
Honestly, If I'm going to leave reddit, I want something new. Voat is almost identical to reddit. It makes me feel like I'm in a weird twilight zone
[–]psychologyfox 14 points15 points16 points  (5 children)
You gotta give it time. Reddit didn't happen overnight.
[–]ThisIsReLLiK 12 points13 points14 points  (4 children)
I know, but the question was a good alternative. Right now voat.co is not a good alternative. It may get there, it may not, we don't know for sure what is going to happen. This is a lot of people for such a small site to accommodate without money for a hell of a lot more servers.
[–]psychologyfox 2 points3 points4 points  (1 child)
I don't think there's a current site like reddit. If you really want some quick entertainment you can always check out 4chan or 8chan. Despite their reputations they actually have a good amount of different boards that goes against what you might have heard about them.
[–]ThisIsReLLiK 1 point2 points3 points  (0 children)
Oh I frequent 4chan a bit, /b/ is like a train wreck. I don't want to see what I see there, but I keep going back. I haven't tried 8chan yet, is it all anonymous like 4chan? That's what I dislike the most about it.
[–]Rikvidr 0 points1 point2 points  (1 child)
There's more than just server uptime to take into consideration as to what is a "good alternative". Voat looks and behaves similarly to Reddit, so if people are looking for somewhere else to go, Voat offers familiarity. We could all go to vkonkte, but that's not similar at all. Voat is the most viable option, and I'm positive they've gotten tons of donations the past day to attempt to sustain.
Yesterday they didn't have Cloudflare, I don't think. Now they do. This is a step in the right direction.
[–]ThisIsReLLiK 0 points1 point2 points  (0 children)
Yeah, I think it is time to evolve a bit though. If we are going to migrate from reddit we need a platform that is better and offers more. I know it doesn't start from nothing in a day, maybe they will give it to us, maybe not.
[–]Rikvidr 0 points1 point2 points  (4 children)
Only because they didn't expect this amount of traffic. They're a small company, nowhere near the scale of Reddit, but if we make it so, Voat can be the next big thing, and Reddit can fall into obscurity.
[–]ThisIsReLLiK 0 points1 point2 points  (2 children)
Well, firstly, the only accepting donations in the form of bitcoin throws people off. I am no novice computer/internet user and I still view bitcoin as a bit shady. Possibly because that is the primary currency on the darknet. I know it is fine and good, but I am not interested in it and honestly don't even know how to buy/sell/use it.
[–]Rikvidr 0 points1 point2 points  (1 child)
If I'm not mistaken, one of the Voat admins claimed that PayPal had cut them off. Whether that is related to pressur by Reddit (the company) or not remains to be seen.
Also bitcoin is only shady because it's not taxable. The blockchain is extremely un-anonymous so it's pretty easy to track transactions.
[–]ThisIsReLLiK 0 points1 point2 points  (0 children)
Yeah, I heard that too. I hope they find a different way to just accept money rather than bitcoin.
[–]cowcommander 0 points1 point2 points  (0 children)
I like to think that owner of the building they are in is trying to sell it, and they are just smashing holes in the walls and setting the place on fire!
[–]flyingwrench 0 points1 point2 points  (1 child)
For well over a week after digg v4 and then again for a couple years, reddit was notorious for going down all the freaking time. They finally caught up. The fucked everything up in the mean time but they caught it up.
[–]ThisIsReLLiK 0 points1 point2 points  (0 children)
Voat could be the next reddit, time will tell. It's a lot for them to deal with at the moment.
[–]TwinBottles 0 points1 point2 points  (4 children)
They have no cash to pay for hosting. They can't scale up to handle the flood of refugees from the reddit fiasco.
Give then time or donate so they can scale up.
[–]ThisIsReLLiK 1 point2 points3 points  (3 children)
I can't donate even if I wanted to. They need a real donation system rather than just asking for bitcoin. Maybe setup a kickstarter or gofundme page would work.
[–]TwinBottles 1 point2 points3 points  (2 children)
That's true. I also saw only bt adress and moved on.
Kickstarter sounds nice, indiegogo would probably be easier and faster to set up.
[–]ThisIsReLLiK 0 points1 point2 points  (1 child)
Hopefully they pick up something like that. I associate bitcoin with the darknet, and really don't care to have anything to do with it.
[–]TwinBottles 0 points1 point2 points  (0 children)
I mostly don't want to have anything to do with clunky wallet software and shady exchanges :-)
[–]Fang88 0 points1 point2 points  (0 children)
Most websites on the internet can't even handle being linked by reddit once. Voat is suddenly experience all of reddit trying to check it out at once. Give it time.
[–]3karma9 46 points47 points48 points  (0 children)
Voat is trying... maybe at some point it could be a suitable alternative
[–]beaverteeth92 6 points7 points8 points  (0 children)
Snapzu is nice and does some things differently from Reddit. Like instead of karma, it has experience points and a level-up system.
[–]better_off_now 32 points33 points34 points  (35 children)
http://snapzu.com is another alternative
[–]2317 24 points25 points26 points  (31 children)
You have to have an invite to participate? No thanks.
[–]chjohasbrouck 10 points11 points12 points  (2 children)
I'm trying with PressRise. Content is posted to user-created blogs instead of subreddits, and it all gets aggregated from there.
It's hard though. It'd be nice if I had 3 or 4 people instead of just 1.
[–]IntendoPrinceps 0 points1 point2 points  (1 child)
Commenting to save on mobile. Looks like a cool site.
[–]IPhone6SroseGold 26 points27 points28 points  (1 child)
Yes. Voat.co is essentially a clone and as committed to free speech as possible legally.
A lot of people say it's too unstable - I say give them time, this amount of traffic in such a short time on such an interactive website would be hard for anyone, no matter resources, to handle.
[–]AnEmptyKarst 3 points4 points5 points  (1 child)
None that are as large or reliable
[–]allthefoxes 4 points5 points6 points  (1 child)
voat is the go to place, but I'm not a fan since its the hub of a lot of ex "FatPeopleHate" people and the like.
Ive also heard stuff about hubski, (I think that was the name)
[–]phillyboy673 1 point2 points3 points  (0 children)
I've been considering using one of the chans if reddit truly goes to shit. At least until voat can sustain the refugees from Reddit. That said, I'd hate to see Reddit. I really love this place.
[–]sypherlev 1 point2 points3 points  (0 children)
Shoutout to slicer.io - super small right now and the dev seems like a nice guy.
[–]jbdigriz 2 points3 points4 points  (0 children)
For myself, voat isn't a place I want to be, not for the unreliability, but for the crowd. I'm more likely to migrate to snapzu or a combination of other places.
Honesty, if (as) reddit starts to loose popularity, it won't be a single mass migration. Every user is here for their own reasons, and the group will slowly splinter and go other places.
[–]cautiously_exuberant 4 points5 points6 points  (1 child)
/r/RedditAlternatives might be a good place to take a look at.
[–]hansolo669 1 point2 points3 points  (0 children)
Right now there isn't much that offers a really compelling alternative, or breaks any particularly new ground.
edit: I'm not wrong. voat is just a clone of reddit and everything else is still riffing on the twitter/dig/reddit model.
If there is something truly compelling by all means lay it out.
[–]TxSaru 0 points1 point2 points  (0 children)
Unfortunately, it seems that there is not a well established alternative at the moment. Though my top pick at the moment is Voat.co, it is still in it's infancy. I am going to start spending some time over there to help build the community. The more people they have contributing constructively the faster, hopefully, they will mature into a full blown Reddit alternative.
[–]elrohir_ancalin 0 points1 point2 points  (0 children)
There are plenty open source tools to setup reddit-like sites in no time. As a Spaniard I am particularly proud of meneame because the guy who created it released the code under GPL and the number of healthy sites that deploy it keeps growing.
[–]antricfer 0 points1 point2 points  (0 children)
Frizbee was mentioned on that BBC article. Taking a look now, looks interesting so far.
[–]322322322322 0 points1 point2 points  (0 children)
You can try 4chan :P
[–]Infin1ty 0 points1 point2 points  (0 children)
Everyone says voat, but it's been inundated with people from the crazy conspiracy/censorship/deleted/fph subreddits for a long while now, so there's a shit load of crazies over there.
[–]docollas 0 points1 point2 points  (0 children)
Voat is ok, if it grows a little more and becomes stable I'll definitely be moving on from reddit.
[–]tipsana 0 points1 point2 points  (0 children)
I'm currently waiting on an invite to snapzu.com. The site is beautifully designed, isn't facing the struggle to stay online that voat is facing, and does have a lot of community variety. But I haven't fully explored it yet, and wonder how much the content is managed.
[–]Acadiaa[🍰] 113 points114 points115 points  (14 children)
Do you think reddit will go the way of Digg?
[–]Dacvakreddit CM[S] 151 points152 points153 points  (10 children)
Probably not. The circumstances of Digg were sort of unforeseen because there hadn't been a website like that before. And while reddit is unique, the internet itself has changed so greatly since Digg was popular that there are way more ways reddit could survive, even if they pissed off a majority of their faithful community.
Consider that a vast, vast majority of reddit's users (not necessarily registered users) never comment, hardly vote, and only come to the site for pictures of cats (and the like). If BuzzFeed can exist, then reddit will have no problem staying alive.
But that doesn't mean that by pissing off its community reddit won't take a hit. Personally, I'd much rather see reddit be fixed than reddit get destroyed from the inside out.
[–]JeremyQ 60 points61 points62 points  (7 children)
But those people that come here for pictures and such wouldn't have anything to look at if the active contributors all left, would they? I think that was the point of this blackout- to show that we're what makes this site what it is, and without us it's nothing.
[–]boomboompork 1 point2 points3 points  (4 children)
a lot of people dont contribute because they feel like they're not part of the "circle"... just sidelines. this has been established. If old people leave new ones will step up.
[–]JeremyQ 1 point2 points3 points  (1 child)
Or they might just follow the circle wherever it goes. I know I did when I lurked for awhile.
[–]boomboompork 3 points4 points5 points  (0 children)
they might. reddit is just as easily replaced as the regulars who use it.
[–]chosen_few 1 point2 points3 points  (1 child)
The quality will go down though. The quality posters will move to another site, then the mediocre posters or at least the users with decent taste will follow, then eventually the rest of us will follow. Reddit won't die but it won't be the same and another site will take over. It's probably already been happening but no other site has reached the critical mass to pull all of us over. If Voat had been able to handle the traffic reddit would be as dead as it could get
[–]boomboompork -1 points0 points1 point  (0 children)
i think you're over estimating the power here. the amount of users/lurkers reddit has is almost unprecedented. it's fucking massive. Quality posters will/would step up.
That being said, a new site taking the top spot is ok in my book. We need something new/different/innovative. Voat, to me, is none of these things and I really hope it's not the site to take over. However, if it does somehow "win" it wont last and that new/innovative site will step up. Once people people get the idea of trying something new in their head they really will want new/better. And voat doesnt have that. it's merely a placeholder at best.
[–]internetsuperstar -1 points0 points1 point  (0 children)
People have grown accustomed to the way reddit works and know what to expect. I think a lot of you underestimate the number of redditors are loyal due to laziness. I know personally it will take a lot to get me to leave reddit. Why? Because right now the group of people itching to defect are such a homogeneous group with similar interests the new reddit would be boring as hell and the content would be stale. A lot of people would consider hacker news the near perfect reddit but guess what that niche is already filled.
A common theme on reddit is the tyranny of the mods over their subreddits. A new reddit is going to be populated mostly with people itching for power. Not really a good sign.
[–]jsmooth7 1 point2 points3 points  (0 children)
“
Personally, I'd much rather see reddit be fixed than reddit get destroyed from the inside out.
Amen to that. Reddit is still a pretty amazing site, and none of the alternatives come close. I would rather not see this place burn to the ground. :(
[–]caninehere 0 points1 point2 points  (0 children)
“
But that doesn't mean that by pissing off its community reddit won't take a hit. Personally, I'd much rather see reddit be fixed than reddit get destroyed from the inside out.
While I share that sentiment, at this point it really seems like jumping to an alternative and trying to create a site like what reddit used to be would be easier than getting the current admins to change their behaviour. They've been taking the site down a worse and worse path, and ignoring/actively censoring the dissenting opinions that have become very common on the site.
Maybe people like Alexis did serve the community's interests once but they don't anymore, and I don't think anything short of removing them would fix the numerous problems reddit is suffering from. Sometimes it's easier to bulldoze a house and start anew than to try and fix something that is irreparable.
[–]Maskeregen 4 points5 points6 points  (0 children)
Happy Cake Day!
[–]JAGoMAN -3 points-2 points-1 points  (0 children)
happy cakeday!
[–]EMINEM_4Evah -3 points-2 points-1 points  (0 children)
Do you really need his specific answer?
[–]Homelessbrian 335 points336 points337 points  (98 children)
Do you support the petition to get Chairman Pao to step down?
[–]Dacvakreddit CM[S] 344 points345 points346 points  (60 children)
Is there actually a petition?
[–]Dacvakreddit CM[S] 672 points673 points674 points  (48 children)
Well, shit.
I honestly have nothing against Ellen, personally. She was always super nice to me, and I wish her nothing but the best.
That being said, I personally do not agree that she is the right person to be running reddit right now. With that, the petition just grew by one signature.
[–]offmychest135 633 points634 points635 points  (32 children)
“
Fires me because cancer
.
“
Always super nice to me
[–]Balmarog 213 points214 points215 points  (24 children)
Does not compute.
[–]Dacvakreddit CM[S] 164 points165 points166 points  (10 children)
To be fair, I really only ever interacted with her before she was made CEO. That was the only time I ever worked with her, and she was nice to me. Once she became CEO, I was already sick again, so I don't know, maybe something changed.
[–]pepolpla 16 points17 points18 points  (0 children)
Thats how politicians get to power. They do all the right things to get to power and then once they do they stab everyone in the back/
[–]Balmarog 2 points3 points4 points  (0 children)
Ya don't say.
[–]ManWithASquareHead 4 points5 points6 points  (0 children)
This is quite unnerving to hear what happened. :( sorry to hear about all of this.
[–]Dora_De_Destroya 1 point2 points3 points  (0 children)
She became a power hungry bitch?
[–]generalT 0 points1 point2 points  (0 children)
what was her position before she was CEO?
[–]Repczar 0 points1 point2 points  (0 children)
Cmon dacvak, you got fucked in the ass. No need to sugar coat it.
[–]LordBeverage -1 points0 points1 point  (0 children)
“
she became CEO
I wonder what changed.
[–]180switch -4 points-3 points-2 points  (1 child)
Yeah, you became sick with cancer. I feel bad but you can't work at 100% efficiency while still having cancer. And no, you can't decide whether or not you can work, and neither can your doctor. You both can maybe decide whether or not you're fit to go to work, but only your employer can decide whether or not you're fit to work in the best condition that a worker is supposed to work in which you clearly were not anymore. It's like keeping an NBA player in the team after he's got a tumor in his leg.
I'm sure you're a nice guy but you being fired has clearly turned you into a crybaby. Enjoy your day with all the other crybabies in here.
[–]FriendlyWebGuy 0 points1 point2 points  (0 children)
Obvious troll is obvious
[–]Fang88 -2 points-1 points0 points  (0 children)
Sounds like stockholm syndrome to me.
[–]hallowbirthweenday 32 points33 points34 points  (0 children)
Remember, he's not anonymous like we are. He needs to find another job someday, and going around bad-mouthing your ex-employer (even if she is a heartless cunt) doesn't bode well for getting a new job.
He's being very professional and diplomatic. Don't worry, /u/Dacvak, we know exactly what you want to say about Ellen Pao.
[–]KidKarate 21 points22 points23 points  (5 children)
Yeah something isnt right here
[–]SHEESHKAH 13 points14 points15 points  (1 child)
THIS GOES ALL THE WAY TO THE TOP
[–]WithForte 0 points1 point2 points  (0 children)
PEPE SILVIA
[–]shadowofashadow 2 points3 points4 points  (0 children)
It's called being professional and not burning bridges. We can read between the lines just fine without him spelling it out for us.
[–]wggn 1 point2 points3 points  (0 children)
step 2 is money
[–]IPutTheHotDogInTheBu 0 points1 point2 points  (0 children)
He got a pm screaming, "remember the NDA you signed!!!!!!!"
[–]Prime_Axe 2 points3 points4 points  (0 children)
He probably wouldn't say anything bad about her as a person even if he wanted to, it would come off as pretty unprofessional to talk shit about your former boss.
[–]wllmsaccnt 1 point2 points3 points  (0 children)
Nice isn't the same thing as beneficial. It is possible to be nice and make poor decisions or mistakes that affect the lives of other people in a negative way.
[–]ratherinteresting 0 points1 point2 points  (0 children)
Stockholm syndrome.
[–]lavars -1 points0 points1 point  (1 child)
I guess the average reddit user doesn't realize this is how adults should behave in the real world. Not going on a personal vendetta against whoever wronged them ever so slightly to the end of time. He obviously didn't agree with the firing, but he never thought of her as an awful, terrible, evil person. You can see he liked her as a person. It's not that hard to grasp. Live and let live.
[–]Balmarog -1 points0 points1 point  (0 children)
Something something evil triumph good men do nothing.
[–]ay1717 18 points19 points20 points  (1 child)
Discriminates against cancer. That's something you don't see everyday.
[–]western_red 3 points4 points5 points  (0 children)
As long as you don't make fun of people for being fat, it's all good.
[–]thomasakatav 9 points10 points11 points  (1 child)
I think he is just trying to be nice. Nothing wrong with that.
[–]offmychest135 11 points12 points13 points  (0 children)
I know, its just hilarious.
[–]GiBraiNe 0 points1 point2 points  (0 children)
She was super nice while firing him. People can be polite when being douchebags.
[–]Penroze 0 points1 point2 points  (0 children)
Yup. That's often how people rise in leadership. Maintain nice-nice face to face communication and relationships, but seriously cut peoples throats when it's time to act.
My opinion (which was previously non-existent) of Pao just went seriously down.
[–]Rikvidr 0 points1 point2 points  (0 children)
/u/dacvak is clearly taking the high road here and being a decent human being. Whereas /u/ekjp is the most hated person in America right now (more than Donald Trump!)
[–]Yoxuu 124 points125 points126 points  (0 children)
“
With that, the petition just grew by one signature.
Well shit. That had some weight behind it.
[–]icyone 43 points44 points45 points  (0 children)
Super nice? Man, she fired you for being sick and lied to you about it. For serious, you're a goddamn saint.
Further, fuck cancer. Beat that shit so hard.
[–]JeremyQ 19 points20 points21 points  (1 child)
She was nice to you by firing you for having cancer?
[–]lolthr0w 0 points1 point2 points  (0 children)
Read between the lines.
[–]ThisIsReLLiK 17 points18 points19 points  (0 children)
She fired you because of a health issue, she is an asshole. Plain and simple.
[–]thepetitionthrowaway 6 points7 points8 points  (5 children)
Thank you for signing the petition! I am the one who created it and have been trying to keep it alive.
[–]helderroem 2 points3 points4 points  (1 child)
You're doing a heck of a job
[–]thepetitionthrowaway 1 point2 points3 points  (0 children)
Thank you. If anyone else wants to help, they can do so by spreading the link (which is already being done and is amazing) and also by contacting news agencies to write about the article or have current articles be updated. That's what I have done contacting journalists and reporters via email and Twitter.
Stay strong everyone. The world hears you.
[–]quit_complaining 1 point2 points3 points  (1 child)
Well, you're getting about 100 people signing it every minute (currently @ 23,719), so you should reach your goal by dinnertime the time you read this.
Edit: 23,950
Edit 2: 25,038. Congratulations!!!
[–]thepetitionthrowaway 1 point2 points3 points  (0 children)
And it rises higher and higher..
[–]MarkNUUTTTT 0 points1 point2 points  (0 children)
Username checks out
[–]AMarmot 2 points3 points4 points  (0 children)
Ok, so in the spirit of "Ask Me Anything", let me rephrase the "questions" below into something you can answer:
How can you reconcile the fact that Ellen Pao was, in your mind, "super nice to [you]", while also acknowledging that she reneged on an existing offer of employment, contingent essentially on you finishing the treatment process of what was a life-threatening illness?
I mean.. it's not like she has to go out and offer free jobs to leukemia patients.. all she had to do was not fire an existing leukemia patient in her own company.
I mean.. thanks for sharing, but.. this does make her sound preeeeeetty not-nice.
[–]Raudskeggr 0 points1 point2 points  (0 children)
“
She was always super nice to me, and I wish her nothing but the best.
I'm assuming you mean, she was nice to you except for the part where she fired you for having cancer?
[–]YakimaYellowskins -1 points0 points1 point  (0 children)
Honestly, I have absolutely no sympathy for you anymore. How the fuck are you gonna still call Ellen Pao nice when she fucking fired you for having cancer?
You're a piece of shit, and you're just contributing to the problem.
[–]cableguy37 3 points4 points5 points  (0 children)
Thank you.
[–]Cleverology 0 points1 point2 points  (0 children)
Why does it need my address?
[–]better_off_now 7 points8 points9 points  (0 children)
There is. Here's the petition.
[–]cullend -28 points-27 points-26 points  (36 children)
As much as I find her actions distasteful, do you not find it straight up racist to refer to her as Chairman Pao?
[–]iToggle 43 points44 points45 points  (11 children)
It's a reference to the regime, not her race. The fact that that was the first thought that came to your mind really indicates quite a bit.
[–]DrPizza 3 points4 points5 points  (2 children)
What are the equivalences that you're drawing that you think make it reasonable to allude to Maoist China? Be specific. Because I'm pretty sure you're full of shit. I'm pretty sure that the "Chairman Pao" appellation is simply because she's perceived as being dictatorial (with no actual evidence to support this perception, by the way--we simply don't know how reddit is making its decisions), and because she's of East Asian descent. It goes no further than that.
[–]bluebehemoth 3 points4 points5 points  (1 child)
I think it's because pao rhymes with mao? Like if her name was kitler, we'd call her Heil Kitler or something?
[–]DrPizza 0 points1 point2 points  (0 children)
Dude I'm replying to claimed it was because of the "regime", not assonance. I'm asking him to defend that claim.
[–]cullend -6 points-5 points-4 points  (7 children)
Sure. It has nothing to do with the fact that she's Asian.
[–]pigmonkey 11 points12 points13 points  (0 children)
Pao is literally on letter off From Mao, its the most obvious joke in the world and would be used whatever race she was. Come on dude.
[–]iToggle 4 points5 points6 points  (0 children)
Hey man, if race is the first thing you think about then that's on you.
[–]funfungiguy 1 point2 points3 points  (4 children)
Yeah, but due the the fact that she's Asian, she has a last name that rhymes with the last name of an Asian dude that ran a regime. They're sharing of Asian-ness facilitated a way to rhyme their names in a way that implies that Pao is running a regime. That's all that is.
[–]cullend -3 points-2 points-1 points  (3 children)
So you just defined racism in a round about way. Congratulations.
[–]Stop--Posting 0 points1 point2 points  (1 child)
Cultural Marxist pls go
[–]cullend 0 points1 point2 points  (0 children)
You're the definition of irony
[–]funfungiguy 1 point2 points3 points  (0 children)
I don't think you grasp what racism is.
[–]-wellplayed- 7 points8 points9 points  (2 children)
We could call her General Paolin, but it doesn't have that nice ring to it, ya know?
[–]Ad__Hominem 10 points11 points12 points  (1 child)
Paodof Paotler?
Pao Pot?
Pol Pao?
Pao Pao?
Paosef Stalin?
Sarah Paolin?
Paossolini wouldn't work, because she can't keep anything running on time.
Werner Von Pao?
[–]-wellplayed- 2 points3 points4 points  (0 children)
I think Paossolini sounds the best, but you're so right. And that made me laugh - like, a genuine, hearty, feel-good laugh rather than just some air out of my nose.
[–]Homelessbrian 8 points9 points10 points  (0 children)
It is not a racist remark. Its a jab at her leadership methods.
[–]jabberpop 3 points4 points5 points  (0 children)
I don't think its got anything to do with her skin colour, more with how similar her name sounds to mao. But most importantly her decisions.
[–]razorbeamz 1 point2 points3 points  (0 children)
I think it's more because it rhymes, not because she's Asian.
[–][deleted]  (6 children)
[deleted]
    [–]RegretfulEducation 0 points1 point2 points  (0 children)
    I thought it was a reference to Stalin... Didn't click with Mao until just now.
    [–]SEND_ME_SWOOTY_BOOTY -1 points0 points1 point  (8 children)
    Chairman is an accurate & commonly used term to use for someone whom is the CEO of a company, as they are typically the highest officer of the board.
    [–]cullend 2 points3 points4 points  (7 children)
    Not really. That'd be Chairman of the board - which isn't Ellen's position
    [–]SEND_ME_SWOOTY_BOOTY 0 points1 point2 points  (6 children)
    My incorrect knowledge aside, I'd think something as mildly racist as calling a crude Asian woman "chairman" is pretty fair compared to the awful actions she's carried through.
    [–]cullend -1 points0 points1 point  (5 children)
    Definitely equivalent of someone who committed torture, mass murder, and other atrocities..
    [–]Kanekis_bitch 0 points1 point2 points  (3 children)
    Do you get this offended when people say "literally hitler"?
    [–]cullend 0 points1 point2 points  (2 children)
    Now. Only when people seriously view something as equivalent to an actual event of mass-murder
    [–]Kanekis_bitch 1 point2 points3 points  (1 child)
    I doubt they seriously do man, everyone is just fucking around and venting their frustration
    [–]cullend -1 points0 points1 point  (0 children)
    Probably. Still just irks me the go to nomenclature is one with racial connotations.
    [–]anyjungleinguy 36 points37 points38 points  (1 child)
    What happened with kickme444?
    Looks like it hit him hard:
    “
    You can say "it's business" but when you pour your heart into it, and others do too, it really hurts to lose it.
    [–]secretcode6 7 points8 points9 points  (0 children)
    The strangest thing to me is that in Yishin's response to why he left, he explicitly names /u/kickme444.
    “
    I'm also happy that Dan McComas is returning to the Bay Area…to lead our new product organization - this was a decision we'd made before my decision to resign.
    [–]Gubbit 216 points217 points218 points  (35 children)
    Do you agree with recent practices enforced by Ellen Pao? (Deleting TPP posts, banning /r/fatpeoplehate etc.)
    [–]Dacvakreddit CM[S] 502 points503 points504 points  (19 children)
    I'm not fully aware of anything Ellen Pao has explicitly done in the last few months. To be honest, I have been sort of staying away from reddit. It kind of makes me sad to be here.
    [–]chancellorjay 391 points392 points393 points  (4 children)
    We're all sad to be here.
    [–]TheTrue_Patriot 70 points71 points72 points  (1 child)
    Ain't that the truth
    [–]Meowkit 29 points30 points31 points  (0 children)
    It's the stockholm syndrome man!!
    [–]Bakatar 24 points25 points26 points  (0 children)
    :(
    [–]Phlebas99 15 points16 points17 points  (7 children)
    What do you do instead when you find yourself on the internet? I'd be interested in finding a replacement for reddit.
    [–]boombotser 11 points12 points13 points  (4 children)
    exactly, I've tried to get away from Reddit's cold clutches once before but I had no where to go so I just turned around and ran back in
    [–]frankenmine 0 points1 point2 points  (3 children)
    https://voat.co/ is the alternative with the most similar UI.
    Others are listed on /r/redditalternatives.
    [–]boombotser 0 points1 point2 points  (2 children)
    its always down when i try it
    [–]frankenmine 0 points1 point2 points  (1 child)
    It's down right now due to an unexpected influx, but it has been fine the past week or two. They'll probably upgrade capacity again. This is their opportunity.
    [–]boombotser 0 points1 point2 points  (0 children)
    I figured they would
    [–]frankenmine 0 points1 point2 points  (0 children)
    https://voat.co/ is the alternative with the most similar UI.
    Others are listed on /r/redditalternatives.
    [–]OrangesAreVile -2 points-1 points0 points  (0 children)
    9Gag /s
    [–]psychologyfox 4 points5 points6 points  (0 children)
    Aw man :(
    [–]i_will_cut_jew 1 point2 points3 points  (0 children)
    Have you opted to hang out at voat.co instead?
    [–]AlgernusPrime 0 points1 point2 points  (0 children)
    Any recommendation to where as our beloved Redditor can turn to should reddit turns to shit at this rate?
    [–]Rikvidr 0 points1 point2 points  (0 children)
    She deleted /r/fatpeoplehate on the grounds of "Brigading", but allows subs like /r/againstmensrights to persis even though they have mislabeled men as rapists for their own selfish gain. They are very much a brigading subreddit, but because Ellen is aligned with their cause, she allows it to exist and continue. By selectively banning subreddits she and her "team" (if you can call it that at this point) only banned brigading subreddits that were regularly making it to the front page, thus giving Reddit a bad name. Smaller brigading subs still exist, and she continues to let them exist.
    [–]DatZ_Man 17 points18 points19 points  (6 children)
    Just wondering, how do we know Pao is behind no TPP Posts?
    [–]celocanth13 33 points34 points35 points  (0 children)
    We don't, but why not circlejerk?
    [–]antricfer 1 point2 points3 points  (0 children)
    We dont. But we do know that she was brought in to monetize reddit, we also know TPP is all about empowering corporations. Makes all sense to protect your overlords.
    [–]bluebehemoth -2 points-1 points0 points  (2 children)
    She's the ceo of a company that only employs 70 people, most of them on the purely technical side of things. There is litterally no other CEO or community manager: who else could enforce such a decision, and how could such a decision be taken without her approving it?
    [–]PortalGunFun 1 point2 points3 points  (1 child)
    Are you sure that wasn't just subreddit mods?
    [–]bluebehemoth -2 points-1 points0 points  (0 children)
    Nope: the mods were shadowbanned by admins for infringing on site-wide rules: besides mods don't have the authority to ban a sub: only admins can do that.
    [–]allthefoxes 10 points11 points12 points  (1 child)
    Cmon, no evidence that Pao is behind anything related to TPP
    [–]fritzvonamerika 0 points1 point2 points  (0 children)
    In fact, this sounds to me like the technology conspiracy from a year or so back where a mod added tons of trend words to automods filter like Tesla
    [–]Bigfluffyltail 1 point2 points3 points  (3 children)
    What's up with TPP posts?
    [–]Klaxonwang 0 points1 point2 points  (2 children)
    All getting deleted and many users getting shadowbanned for posting it as a topic in many popular subs.
    [–]Bigfluffyltail 0 points1 point2 points  (1 child)
    I know what it is, I posted a, hopefully, unbiased summary on /r/Outoftheloop. Were those threads destroyed?
    [–]Klaxonwang 1 point2 points3 points  (0 children)
    No, they are still there. Hopefully they stay there to inform more people.
    [–]lavars 1 point2 points3 points  (0 children)
    Do you have proof of this? That it was directly up to her? Not just some user mod with an agenda? I'm not looking to start a war but these claims need proof. Because to be honest when someone brings things of this nature up with no evidence you just end up sounding like one of the raving, lunatic man - children of reddit. For the record: I am not on any side, if someone gives me concrete evidence I will gladly be against the actions of Pao completely.
    Quick edit: I'm referring to the TPP censorship
    [–]moodyswingman 128 points129 points130 points  (24 children)
    How has the arrival of Ellen Pao affected work at Reddit?
    [–]Dacvakreddit CM[S] 280 points281 points282 points  (23 children)
    First off I want to state that I think Ellen Pao, as a person, is super nice and fun to be around. I always thought that of her when I was at reddit. However, some of the decisions she's made since she took the helm, well, I guess I'd just say that I would have made different ones. It's no longer the company it was years ago.
    In my opinion, reddit is trying to grow into something more sustainable, like Facebook. It's becoming less a community and more a one-stop-shop for quick entertainment. There's nothing wrong with that, per se, as it does serve a purpose to the internet, but it's definitely not what reddit was about years ago.
    [–]ParkGeunhye 100 points101 points102 points  (2 children)
    “
    In my opinion, reddit is trying to grow into something more sustainable, like Facebook. It's becoming less a community and more a one-stop-shop for quick entertainment.
    Well put and exactly how I see it too. All the growth and direction originally came from the users here but now the owners are trying to shape it into something else. It leaves a nasty taste in my mouth.
    [–]Creatrix 15 points16 points17 points  (1 child)
    Agreed. I've been here for 8 years and it's definitely feeling like it's shifting towards social media.
    [–]djvorac 6 points7 points8 points  (0 children)
    You must now complete two levels of Candy Crush to post. Welcome to Reddit.Zynga!
    [–]QforQ 9 points10 points11 points  (2 children)
    How would you balance those two things together? On one side you have a business that needs to become an actual sustainable business, and on the other side you have a longstanding community that should be respected and kept in the loop as the company/site changes and expands.
    What would you do or what would you like to see done?
    [–]SnobbyEuropean 0 points1 point2 points  (1 child)
    “
    On one side you have a business that needs to become an actual sustainable business, and on the other side you have a longstanding community that should be respected and kept in the loop as the company/site changes and expands.
    Or rather, maximize income vs. keep the userbase happy.
    Reddit is doing fine financially AFAIK. It should, at least. The number of users was actually increasing in the last few weeks and because of imgur, Reddit as a company is diversified. 60 employees (according to this thread)+ office rent, maintenance, equipment etc. should be covered by the income Reddit+imgur generates. Ellen is just a stupid biatch.
    [–]QforQ 0 points1 point2 points  (0 children)
    Why are you counting imgur's revenue as a part of reddit's, when those two companies are separate and not connected to one another in any way?
    [–]Coenn 7 points8 points9 points  (0 children)
    “
    It's becoming less a community and more a one-stop-shop for quick entertainment.
    Like selling sauna's in the sahara. Like tears in rain.
    [–]Projectmayhem666 37 points38 points39 points  (4 children)
    When she's not backstabbing and making false allegations for greed, I'm sure she's a lovely person.
    [–]Balmarog 4 points5 points6 points  (1 child)
    Most people don't seem like bad people. Isn't that what we see on the news when they interview the neighbors of serial killers? "He was so nice..."
    [–]krazyfrog 1 point2 points3 points  (0 children)
    Except when he killed.
    [–]ColinHalter 4 points5 points6 points  (0 children)
    Hey now, let's be civil.
    [–]Mr_Ected 0 points1 point2 points  (0 children)
    Some people have their little quirks.
    [–]phillyboy673 5 points6 points7 points  (0 children)
    You really are a stand-up guy. Stay healthy man.
    [–]KaliYugaz 3 points4 points5 points  (0 children)
    It seems like the pressure to be profitable forces all websites to turn into fluff like Buzzfeed eventually. Do you think there is any viable business model that could ever support something like Reddit the way we want it to be?
    [–]BeartrapSandwich 0 points1 point2 points  (0 children)
    “
    In my opinion, reddit is trying to grow into something more sustainable, like Facebook
    [–]Rikvidr 0 points1 point2 points  (0 children)
    “
    Ellen Pao, as a person, is super nice
    Her non-Reddit related extracurricular activities done by her and her husband would indicate otherwise.
    [–]a2soup 2 points3 points4 points  (4 children)
    “
    trying to grow into something more sustainable, like Facebook
    In my personal experience, few people that I know under the age of 15 have a Facebook account these days. So I'm not sure how well that's been going for them.
    [–]HappyHippoCarnivore 3 points4 points5 points  (0 children)
    Yep, they have Instagram instead.
    So Instagram will show more ads as users get used to it, slowly replacing facebook. Facebook will then just be in line with MySpace and AOL.
    If there weren't the plot twist: Facebook owns Instagram. If you own your biggest rival, I'd say, your company is pretty sustainable, business-wise.
    [–]tianan 2 points3 points4 points  (0 children)
    Yet Facebook is worth tens of billions of dollars and a significant portion of the world visits the site every day. I'd say they're doing OK.
    [–]snouz 2 points3 points4 points  (0 children)
    Facebook is a huge beast that's growing every day. Facebook bought other companies for billions.
    [–]willikesart 1 point2 points3 points  (0 children)
    In my experience Facebook has become a new "MySpace" of recent years, per se. It's more of a reunion platform and a collective of unused accounts than a fresh social network.
    [–]Balmarog -1 points0 points1 point  (0 children)
    I too am a big fan of the people that fire me from my job because of cancer.
    [–]pwtercitygymleader 177 points178 points179 points  (52 children)
    What is your opinion on /u/kn0thing's "popcorn" comment?
    [–]Dacvakreddit CM[S] 157 points158 points159 points  (44 children)
    Alexis, or /u/kn0thing, has always been one of my personal heroes. He's the reason why I wanted to work at reddit.
    I'm sure at this point he's just trying to find a way to bring the defaults back. I mean, I'd probably do the same in his position.
    [–]-wellplayed- 98 points99 points100 points  (7 children)
    According to the new mod post at /r/iama he was the one who terminated Victoria's employment.
    [–]SaikoGekido 10 points11 points12 points  (1 child)
    He may have been told to terminate her, though.
    Like, the popcorn comment makes a lot of meta sense if he didn't want to fire her, but was pressured to do so, and the popcorn wasn't directed at Reddit in the context but at the person who pressured him. That would make a lot of sense, because the popcorn meme is used in conjunction with "dis gun b gud" which is always someone watching shit go down. It's never used by the person who started the shit, because it doesn't fit the meme.
    [–]Cleverology 1 point2 points3 points  (0 children)
    I agree. Someone above him could've passed that particular responsibility onto him. Happened to me (as the person being let go, not the one doing the firing.) So I can tell you from experience that if that's the case, it's horrible for both people involved.
    The popcorn comment was in bad taste, and I think everyone, including /u/kn0thing, recognizes that. It probably could've done with an /s after it that might've helped indicate sarcasm, (assuming that was the intention.) But at least he's acknowledged it and said sorry.
    [–]LaPoderosa 0 points1 point2 points  (1 child)
    Or maybe he's just taking the hit for Ellen? If she fired this guy why wouldn't she be the one firing chooter?
    [–]-wellplayed- 0 points1 point2 points  (0 children)
    I've left a job before after being asking to do something against my beliefs. With his position, he should be in a financial position to do the same. He's just a culpable, in my opinion, if this is the case.
    [–][deleted]  (1 child)
    [deleted]
      [–]offmychest135 185 points186 points187 points  (29 children)
      Aaaaaaaand avoided.
      [–]Dacvakreddit CM[S] 212 points213 points214 points  (26 children)
      Okay. I think that his "popcorn comment" was just that. It was a response to a heavy situation that required some sort of fix on reddit's end. I don't think it was necessarily the right move, but I just don't think there were any better alternatives giving the position they were in.
      [–]DanBennett 90 points91 points92 points  (8 children)
      I agree. I don't think he meant to come across as a twat in that comment. Just, with what it turned to become, he did. He apologised. That apology should be accepted imo.
      [–]Dacvakreddit CM[S] 150 points151 points152 points  (4 children)
      I used to be on his end of the drama. I know what it's like to have the community hate you while simultaneously trying to get something big resolved. It's an "unwinnable" situation.
      It's not unlikely that Alexis truly means the very best for the community and genuinely wants to find a way to solve this entire debacle. But, right now, nothing he says will satisfy everyone.
      That's all speculation from the sidelines, though.
      [–]DanBennett 19 points20 points21 points  (0 children)
      Oh agreed. If you were still part of the team you'd be getting just as much shit, let's be honest. Good on you doing this and hope things aren't too bad for you!
      [–]DanBennett 4 points5 points6 points  (0 children)
      Saying that, I've just seen that Alexis is the one who removed Victoria from being an Admin. So... poo.
      It's a bit like the Top Gear issue. We don't know why she's been removed, but we'll be angry regardless heh.
      [–]remedialrob 1 point2 points3 points  (0 children)
      I don't agree. There are really specific problems that require really specific solutions. For example mods never getting a response from staff or the response taking days or the response not being on point with the question or request. This has an obvious and enumerable solution. The fact that this issue has at best gotten lip service is one of the reasons subs should be ready to go black again if the problems aren't resolved. But as a community manager myself there are things that could have been said that would have satisfied most of the moderators (who are I think we can all agree the aggrieved party here). And it's a shame those things were not said.
      [–]itsmyotherface 0 points1 point2 points  (0 children)
      Honestly, though, from the mods perspective, the outrage is something that has been building for months.
      1) They promise to make mod tools better. They don't. As a mod and former admin, I'm sure you're well aware that most mod teams use a series of hacks and work arounds to get work done. What's a bigger priority? Taking the already shitty search function and practically rendering it unusable.
      2) They promise things like transparency. Ask ten admin for a definition of a shadow bannable offenses, you'll get two answers (because the rest won't bother to respond) which are fundamentally different.
      3) Communication is non-existent. Three weeks ago, I laughed at the FPH mods saying "we were never told to do anything, we just got shut down". The fall-out from the Fattening where my sub had extreme difficulty contacting the admin (and I honestly think we only ever got a response because one of our mods is friendly with an admin), and the way this situation has been handled has seriously made me consider the FPH mods line of "we weren't told to change anything"
      [–]ceol_ 0 points1 point2 points  (2 children)
      He also made that joke in SubredditDrama, which has a meme about "popcorn."
      [–]-wellplayed- 0 points1 point2 points  (0 children)
      But he should also be very aware of his position in the scheme of things and make an effort to be cognizant of everything he says. If it's common to be hated while trying to fix the problem, then he should have been aware how stupid that comment was. The whole thing started with someone very important to Reddit losing their job - that dictates that professionalism should be a priority in the days (and especially HOURS) following the announcement.
      [–]DanBennett -1 points0 points1 point  (0 children)
      Gotta love dem memes!
      [–]ThisIsReLLiK 12 points13 points14 points  (12 children)
      It was a typical redditor type comment, I think people are taking it too seriously.
      [–]krelian 2 points3 points4 points  (1 child)
      It's typical reddit double standard. We mock when we get the standard politically correct corporate response but when someone has the guts to tell it how it is we're suddenly offended.
      [–]ThisIsReLLiK 0 points1 point2 points  (0 children)
      I think that's what it is. I don't really feel offended by his post, it just shows that at least one admin is like the rest of us.
      [–]offmychest135 4 points5 points6 points  (3 children)
      You want to hold the guy whose job it is to run this website to the same standards as a random dude commenting on /r/funny?
      [–]butt_pepperoni 0 points1 point2 points  (1 child)
      pao is too out of touch. ohanian interacts too much.
      [–]-wellplayed- 0 points1 point2 points  (0 children)
      Nah, just interacts in inappropriate ways given his status. If he wants to make comments like that, then he should get an alt. But knowing he's representing himself on a site where he is a higher-up and still saying things like that is really unprofessional in my opinion.
      [–]ThisIsReLLiK 0 points1 point2 points  (0 children)
      Haha, sure. Right now this is a shitty situation that I don't even know if he is in a position to fix. This place is way too depressing today.
      [–]Penroze 0 points1 point2 points  (5 children)
      Except this isn't a typical redditor, and this isn't a typical situation.
      [–]ThisIsReLLiK 0 points1 point2 points  (4 children)
      Honestly, who cares what the situation is this time? Do you know for a fact that he can fix the problem even if he wants to?
      [–]Penroze 0 points1 point2 points  (3 children)
      “
      Do you know for a fact that he can fix the problem even if he wants to?
      That's a rather strange standard to be held to for anything. I don't know "for a fact" (i.e 100% certainty) that the sun is going to come out tomorrow.
      What we know right now is that Alexis Ohanian fired Victoria, and had no real plan in place, creating the whole shitstorm. Whether it was justified or not is beside the point. It was a stupid move, and he's yet to even acknowledge it was incredibly poorly executed.
      [–]ThisIsReLLiK 0 points1 point2 points  (2 children)
      I am waiting to see the real reason she got fired before I can pass judgment. Either way, they did do it in a very shitty way. Still, I am sure he didn't expect this sort of reaction when he posted the comment.
      [–]Penroze 0 points1 point2 points  (1 child)
      The reason why is completely separate from the stupidity of it.
      It's total incompetence to without warning, and without a transition plan to fire the highest profile reddit employee who's highly responsible for bringing in great press, and viewers to the site. IAMA is by far the best thing reddit has, and will draw in an average person.
      I'm not a hardcore redditor, and I don't pay much attention to the politics of it. I didn't really know who the CEO was, or any of the founders before this whole thing happened. But I DID know Victoria. Canning her is like suddenly firing Jon Stewart from Comedy Central. Then wondering why there's this big shitstorm brewing and people mad at the leadership. "Whaaa.. we didn't realize Victoria was such a big deal". Duh.
      [–]offmychest135 3 points4 points5 points  (0 children)
      Well, props for answering and giving a good one.
      It would have been better to not have insulted the userbase. I feel as though it betrays the shift that reddit has gone through these past couple of years, which is the shift from focusing on the user to focusing on the company.
      Watching people on reddit be upset and then insulting them in an unprofessional manner tells me something.
      It tells me that he doesn't actually see the thoughts and views of the userbase as valuable until it directly and negatively affects the company.
      [–]GammaKing 0 points1 point2 points  (0 children)
      What's this? An answer!
      Well done sir. You are the kind of admin that Reddit really needs. It's a shame they let you go.
      [–]Rikvidr 0 points1 point2 points  (0 children)
      Not behaving with visable snark would have been something a toddler would know to do if they were in trouble. It seems to me (and a lot of others) that his head has gotten so big that he simply does. not. care.
      [–]imnotlegolas 24 points25 points26 points  (0 children)
      He didn't. He's basically saying he thinks /u/kn0thing is a good guy and didn't mean the comment in a bad way.
      And fuck, honestly, most just like the drama rather than care what's going on here.
      [–]FireHS 3 points4 points5 points  (0 children)
      Aka "I dont wanna help beat the horse thats down"
      [–]Coenn 15 points16 points17 points  (0 children)
      Due to his weird, unprofessional and rude behavior; would you say he is under total control of Ellen, or would you say he was in shock and didn't know how to act?
      [–]MadeThisForDiablo 2 points3 points4 points  (0 children)
      I think that he probably was just trying to make a very dry and random somewhat jokey comment to detract from the seriousness of the situation. I don't think he was trying to say he didn't give a shit about what is going on.
      [–]pwtercitygymleader 3 points4 points5 points  (0 children)
      I'm sorry but you really didn't answer my question.
      His comments today were totally absurd and as unprofessional as it can get when a employee is talking to their "customers" or "users".
      And would you really do the same thing in his position? From where we are all standing it looks like he was completely fine throwing around his incredibly stupid comments until he got under some fire and tried to backtrack as soon as possible.
      You guys keep on talking about progress or "fixing the problem" but refuse to acknowledge the tough questions head on.
      [–]Xenu_RulerofUniverse -1 points0 points1 point  (0 children)
      Why is he not the CEO?
      [–]boombotser -5 points-4 points-3 points  (0 children)
      a dude named Alexis, cant always be trustin those guys
      [–]Gabbaminchioni 2 points3 points4 points  (1 child)
      Can I have context please?
      [–]pwtercitygymleader 1 point2 points3 points  (0 children)
      /u/kn0thing (co-founder and board member of Reddit) basically went on a splurge of passive aggressive and sarcastic comments which really were not appropriate and only further inflamed the already wild drama of today. In one of them he commented that "the popcorn tastes good, after someone asked him how he felt about everyone blaming this on him.
      [–]butt_pepperoni 0 points1 point2 points  (1 child)
      My opinion is it was meant in a lighthearted way. All of his other comments have been trying to work this out. you people are looking for any chance to go for the jugular.
      [–]pwtercitygymleader 0 points1 point2 points  (0 children)
      I can see where you are coming from. But the manner in which it was interpreted goes to show how much they really don't understand how the community reacts to and processes such a comment.
      I don't disagree that it was probably lighthearted, I just believe that it was grossly inappropriate.
      [–]readyallrow 29 points30 points31 points  (3 children)
      Wow, so you were basically fired because you had/have (?) leukemia? Isn't that grounds for a lawsuit?
      My actual question has more to do with the whole SF thing. I've seen it come up so many times in the last couple days and I feel like I remember seeing something about it in the news awhile ago but I never actually knew why Reddit was so adamant about everyone moving to SF. Do you know why they wanted everyone in the same place vs. having a NY office and a SF office? You might not be able to answer this one but did they do/offer anything to "sweeten the deal" to convince people to move out there?
      Thanks for doing this!
      [–]Dacvakreddit CM[S] 83 points84 points85 points  (2 children)
      “
      “
      You might not be able to answer this one but did they do/offer anything to "sweeten the deal" to convince people to move out there?
      Yeah. They said we'd be fired if we didn't move. lol.
      [–]lawliet89 7 points8 points9 points  (0 children)
      That's bittersweet!
      [–]Emijon 0 points1 point2 points  (1 child)
      Surprise. So does that have anything to do with Victoria?
      [–]newheart_restart 0 points1 point2 points  (0 children)
      I've heard this is unlikely since that ultimatum came out a while ago. Victoria would have been fired back when this person was if that were the case. But that's still just speculation.
      [–]zaytonday 117 points118 points119 points  (16 children)
      Do you think reddit is dying?
      [–]Dacvakreddit CM[S] 295 points296 points297 points  (15 children)
      Dying? No. Changing? Yes. This website is huge. Even if you got rid of literally every single person affected by today's events, there would still be plenty more to keep the site running. I mean, look at BuzzFeed. That exists.
      [–]ratherinteresting 179 points180 points181 points  (12 children)
      In that sense, Digg never died either. It still exists...
      [–]crabjuice23 123 points124 points125 points  (11 children)
      Myspace? Still breathing.
      [–]ratherinteresting 124 points125 points126 points  (10 children)
      AOL? My dads email is with them.
      [–]psychologyfox 54 points55 points56 points  (7 children)
      I still have a couple of CDs in case anyone wanted some.
      [–]ratherinteresting 30 points31 points32 points  (1 child)
      Do they come with free hours?
      [–]SaikoGekido 2 points3 points4 points  (0 children)
      If you get enough of them, you can build a chair.
      My friend did that.
      It wasn't comfortable.
      [–]Simalacrum 4 points5 points6 points  (2 children)
      My parents have a huge collection of vinyls and a working record player.
      [–]VOldis 3 points4 points5 points  (0 children)
      People still spend thousands even ten-thousands on vinyl systems because they think they sound better. Nevermind hundreds on individual LPs.
      [–]ajiav 1 point2 points3 points  (0 children)
      So do my hipster friends, who are younger than me!
      [–]HannasAnarion 0 points1 point2 points  (0 children)
      When do they pay out?
      [–]SoylentGreenIsPurple 0 points1 point2 points  (0 children)
      Did anyone else turn their AOL CDs into exploding Frisbees. My friends and I used to grab a pile from of the computer stores. We'd throw them against the wall to see them explode and rain glittery shards. In hindsight that was a dick thing to do because we left a huge mess.
      [–]dessy_22 1 point2 points3 points  (0 children)
      Bianca Shack - nope, that really did die. A screenshot is all that's left.
      [–]LnWlf32 1 point2 points3 points  (0 children)
      Geocities? Oh wait...
      [–]TheSuperlativ 2 points3 points4 points  (1 child)
      Yes, the thing that drove this website are the people who created enjoyable content, but! I'd argue the point that that which drove this website to the popular site that it is, and created this content from the start, are the vocal population - the same peole voicing their opinion right now. Taking this as a given: reddit is dying.
      [–]alexgmcm 0 points1 point2 points  (0 children)
      People have been saying that since Saydrah. It never dies.
      [–]theophilus153 42 points43 points44 points  (2 children)
      • How is your health now?
      • What is your current employment status and are you happy with what you are doing?
      [–]Dacvakreddit CM[S] 39 points40 points41 points  (1 child)
      It's getting better. I still have some rough days, and I'm definitely still super weak. But I'm a hell-of-a-lot better than I was a year ago.
      I'm currently unemployed, focusing on health. But I've been looking down a number of different avenues. I think I'd like to go back into game development, possibly.
      [–]beep_bop_boop_bop 1 point2 points3 points  (0 children)
      I would buy the fuck out of any game you make, /u/Dacvak
      [–]Aerron 86 points87 points88 points  (14 children)
      Did you shake Ellen's hand? If so, what was the handshake like? Did she grasp your hand firmly and look you in the eye while doing so or was it a "limp fish" handshake without eye-contact?
      [–]Dacvakreddit CM[S] 198 points199 points200 points  (9 children)
      She fired me over the phone.
      [–]AllocatedData 96 points97 points98 points  (1 child)
      What a bitch.
      [–]AThilgers 0 points1 point2 points  (0 children)
      Yea, probably would have punched her in the face.
      [–]DanBennett 16 points17 points18 points  (0 children)
      God. That's like getting a text from your SO saying they're splitting up with you.
      [–]-wellplayed- 2 points3 points4 points  (0 children)
      I really wish you could ask for that recording from the NSA. That shit would be gold in any case about wrongful termination.
      [–]dfsatacs 2 points3 points4 points  (0 children)
      That's the classiest thing I've ever read
      [–]Aerron 2 points3 points4 points  (0 children)
      “
      During this time, I had sat down with Ellen Pao (current reddit CEO)
      When you met her to discuss the position.
      [–]boobookittyfuck69696 1 point2 points3 points  (0 children)
      That's fucked up. No paper trail I guess.
      [–]ahumblesloth 0 points1 point2 points  (0 children)
      Jesus christ
      [–]mycateatsjam 0 points1 point2 points  (0 children)
      Incredibly cowardly of her. Not fit to run a bath, never mind a company that employs actual people.
      [–]jonsnow23 23 points24 points25 points  (1 child)
      he was probably afraid to give her a firm handshake because she would sue for battery
      [–]OccupyMyBallSack 0 points1 point2 points  (0 children)
      I think you mean hand rape.
      [–]Poontagonist 0 points1 point2 points  (0 children)
      /u/Aerron asking the hard-hitting questions everyone has been dying to know.
      [–]barnard33 0 points1 point2 points  (0 children)
      I can tell from my experience that her handshake is unnoticeable. However, she keeps eye contact at all times with no facial expression which feels intimidating. Imagine you go to a company of 100 or so employees for a non-management job interview, and the first person interviews you is the CEO. I'd never seen or heard of that before.
      [–]razorbeamz 18 points19 points20 points  (5 children)
      What was the worst part of working at Reddit?
      [–]Dacvakreddit CM[S] 42 points43 points44 points  (4 children)
      Trying to convince the community that you were honestly on their side in a time when it was really easy to blame the admins for sometime. In that way, I totally sympathize for the reddit employees.
      [–]razorbeamz 4 points5 points6 points  (0 children)
      Would you say the admins are still on our side?
      [–]Prime_Axe 0 points1 point2 points  (0 children)
      Could you give examples of situations like that?
      [–]fire_and_shit 0 points1 point2 points  (0 children)
      But no admin has actually said they are on our side
      [–]jongbag 16 points17 points18 points  (5 children)
      Do you think there is any website or community comparable to Reddit?
      [–]Dacvakreddit CM[S] 25 points26 points27 points  (4 children)
      I was just informed about voat.co. It looks pretty neat.
      [–]xDinomode 1 point2 points3 points  (1 child)
      How'd you see it if it's currently down lol?
      [–]vito_a16 0 points1 point2 points  (0 children)
      Maybe he meant the idea of it is neat, they still have a long way to go to make it a reliable alternative.
      [–]Letmori 0 points1 point2 points  (0 children)
      I think they really need some help in order to make voat.co a viable alternative to reddit. Would you be interested in working with them, if they ask you to do so? sorry for my bad english
      [–]Surely_Relevant 0 points1 point2 points  (0 children)
      It's not. I'm all for a reddit alternative, but voat is a shitty knockoff site with a terrible "karma" system (you have limited upvoats/downvoats and can acquire them ultimately based on your reputation, so it breeds power-users who wield unmatched control over the direction of the site). Also the community is largely composed of people who fled after FPH was banned for harassment, so it kind of sucks.
      [–]tigereyes69 15 points16 points17 points  (1 child)
      [Serious] Have you considered suing reddit for terminating you because you have/had cancer? I would recommend you consult a lawyer.
      Lawyers in these cases often work (i) pro bono (for free) or (ii) for free at the beginning, with the hope that they can collect a % of your ultimate recovery against the employer. So it would be of no upfront cost to you. If you would like a recommendation for a lawyer who is familiar with discrimination law in California, I would recommend looking at the attorney Pao hired to sue her former employer (oh wait, she lost).
      EDIT: I just want to add that this post is not legal advice. The law in this area is very complex and inherently fact specific (which is why talking to a lawyer is important).
      Sources on Labor Law: ADA Website (search "Cancer") cancer.org
      [–]thetechgeek4 29 points30 points31 points  (4 children)
      whats your favorite video game?
      [–]Dacvakreddit CM[S] 45 points46 points47 points  (3 children)
      I'm a competitive Smash Bros Melee player, so that's definitely my favorite. But I barely consider that a game anymore. My favorite actual game would probably be Mario 64.
      [–]Typo-Kign 37 points38 points39 points  (1 child)
      What can we, as users, do to fix this mess? Is "The Darkening" sending a message, or are we being too dramatic?
      [–]Svenukm 13 points14 points15 points  (1 child)
      Do you think that communication between admins and the moderators of this site needs to be a priority? What changes do you think would benefit the community?
      [–]Dacvakreddit CM[S] 16 points17 points18 points  (0 children)
      More transparency, probably.
      [–]WORSHIPS_THE_DEVIL 24 points25 points26 points  (1 child)
      What is the reddit company culture like?
      Do you think that the current admins mostly sympathize with the userbase? Are their hands tied when it comes to orders handed down from above?
      [–]Dacvakreddit CM[S] 49 points50 points51 points  (0 children)
      Back when it was a smaller team, the culture was amazing. Even though we were sometimes frustrated with the community, we always sympathized with them and tried to do right by them. They were always who we had first in mind, honestly.
      I haven't been around reddit for almost half a year, now, so I have no idea what the culture is like now. But I definitely know it has changed quite a bit since Ellen has taken the helm.
      [–]ISpankEm 10 points11 points12 points  (3 children)
      Has the stress caused by your unexpected & seemingly unwarranted termination had any effect on your health and recovery?
      [–]Dacvakreddit CM[S] 21 points22 points23 points  (1 child)
      Yes, absolutely. It made me super depressed for a few months, which absolutely prolonged my recovery. The stress only affected me for a few weeks, but I ended up getting really sick during that time. Who knows if it was due to the stress or not - I'm certainly not blaming reddit for me getting sick. :P
      [–]Drapetomania 10 points11 points12 points  (0 children)
      Did you ever have the displeasure of meeting /u/intortus? How bad did he smell?
      [–]joie01 46 points47 points48 points  (1 child)
      What is your opinion on "Blackout2015"?
      [–]Mynameisnotdoug 33 points34 points35 points  (0 children)
      From another comment:
      “
      As far as the blackouts, I support them. I was even the person who took down /r/gaming. I hope they really bring change to reddit, though I'm honestly not holding my breath. I guess we'll see what happens, though.
      [–]harperpitt 9 points10 points11 points  (0 children)
      How can we best make an impact on Reddit's senior leadership, board, and/or investors? Who do they listen to, and what would be enough to change their actions?
      [–]ls48 7 points8 points9 points  (6 children)
      Do you like Minor Threat?
      [–]FancyHearingCake 7 points8 points9 points  (0 children)
      You suddenly find yourself in the position of CEO. What do you do to change Reddit for the better?
      [–]razerxs 6 points7 points8 points  (1 child)
      How do feel about the current mod tools and their inefficiencies?
      [–]Dacvakreddit CM[S] 17 points18 points19 points  (0 children)
      That's always been part of the conversation, since the day I started at reddit. The tools are sooooo much better now than when I started to work there, but there will always be improvements to be made. Maybe reddit should consider hiring more coders to specifically work on mod tools.
      [–]gremy0 7 points8 points9 points  (0 children)
      In your understanding what are the reasons on mandating all staff to be located in SF? I mean there are plenty of technology firms that are distributed, is there anything in particular about the way the company is moving that require this?
      [–]Pinkie31459 17 points18 points19 points  (3 children)
      So... horse-sized duck or duck-sized horse?
      [–]DacvakFormer Reddit CM 27 points28 points29 points  (1 child)
      BOTH.
      [–]superAL1394 4 points5 points6 points  (0 children)
      Hard mode. I like it.
      [–]helloder2012 6 points7 points8 points  (0 children)
      Do you think that in light of recent events, people will jump ship and move to another site where they feel that their right to unbiased information is not tested?
      Do you think that in 2 weeks (just picked a number) this will even be an issue? Or do you think this will blow over like FPH?
      [–]kkiac1 69 points70 points71 points  (10 children)
      You are the top mod of /r/gaming. Why did you and/or your co-moderators decide to both ban and crack down on all content and discussion related to Gamer Gate? Why did you delete thousands of comments about Gamer Gate from this thread right here right when all of last Summer's Gamer Gate drama began?
      [–]DacvakFormer Reddit CM 114 points115 points116 points  (8 children)
      I was sick at that point and wasn't moderating at all. I still, to this day, have no idea what all that was about.
      [–]TheHobbyist94 24 points25 points26 points  (0 children)
      It's probably better that way.
      [–]felheipe 3 points4 points5 points  (0 children)
      Well you made a post about the mod who fucked up big time defending him. All fine and dandy. In that post you didn't mention if discussion about gg there was forbidden. Still posts about gg get deleted from there.
      Why is that? And what's the reason they still get deleted?
      [–]Helium_Pugilist 8 points9 points10 points  (3 children)
      It's still going strong after 10 months.
      [–]Xwo 5 points6 points7 points  (0 children)
      How are you doing now? Best wishes with your health issues and your fight against leukemia!
      [–]Pantlmn 9 points10 points11 points  (0 children)
      Were you on reddit before you got the job? Were you familiar with the community and knew what you were getting into?
      [–]davenamwen 8 points9 points10 points  (0 children)
      Can you comment on the poor communication between admins and moderators? What sort of issues are there exactly?
      [–]Arithered 3 points4 points5 points  (0 children)
      Look, regardless of whether anyone wishes to explicitly state it or not, it does seem to me that Reddit is experiencing the kind of growing pains that will either turn it into a crappy adult that no-one wants to be around or a fun person who livens up the room, tells great stories and generally means well.
      A lot of that is dependent on whether money or the community becomes the most important aspect of Reddit.
      We've seen this sort of thing happen with Digg. If "The Darkening" taught us anything, it's that the real power rests with the community. You can build an awesome city, but people have to live there to make it sustainable.
      My rather long-winded point here is that Reddit needs to grow, but it needs to grow up right. How can this be accomplished? How can we keep the Reddit feel intact while still being honest about the needs of a growing company? I want to hear your suggestions, but mine would be: stop bullshitting the community.
      [–]frighteninginthedark 3 points4 points5 points  (0 children)
      So, when are you and /u/chooter opening a new community site that's, you know, interested in the actual community involved?
      [–]SpiritualSuccessors 3 points4 points5 points  (0 children)
      Compare your situation with Erik Wolpaw's from Valve.
      “
      In 2004, Wolpaw was diagnosed with ulcerative colitis. Expecting his condition to require a departure from the company, he spoke with managing director Gabe Newell, who surprised him by offering an extended leave with pay. "Your job is to get better," Newell said. "That is your job description at Valve. So go home to your wife and come back when you are better."
      On the scale of Monumental Douchebaggery from 1 to 10, we'll rate Gabe Newell a solid 1. Where would you rank your experience?
      [–]SRS_IS_GOD 5 points6 points7 points  (0 children)
      What is your favourite type of bread?
      [–]Heil_Neuland 10 points11 points12 points  (2 children)
      Do you have any advice for other companies that try to become the 'next' reddit?
      [–]hansolo669 4 points5 points6 points  (1 child)
      The big one is fairly obvious - work with your community and moderators. Growing and maintaining a site like reddit hinges on the ability of the administration to work with the community.
      [–]Rionoko 2 points3 points4 points  (0 children)
      For how well all of the corporate speak has been throughout blackout, I would expect better from her. The correct thing to say when no longer keeping someone on staff or deciding to not hire them is "we are no longer considering you for this position".
      Deciding to terminate or not hire someone based on a medical condition or disability is blatantly against the law, and that is a pretty dangerous approach for the CEO of a company to take.
      because this must be a question to be a top level comment in this sub:
      Was this considered, and, not for the sake of legal action, but for clarity that this was in fact the exact reason of termination, is there hard evidence that can be included that can show this is the case, and that Pao was in blatant violation of The California Fair Employment and Housing Act, as well as The Family and Medical Leave Act?
      [–]PoleekPelican 6 points7 points8 points  (0 children)
      What steps do you think are necessary for Reddit to take to get back in the good graces of the community?
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