Wednesday, July 08, 2015

Reddit's fate hangs in the balance as revolt against CEO makes waves...

Reddit, the giant online discussion forum for everyone from political junkies to billiards enthusiasts, is in revolt.

Over 10 years, Reddit – which styles itself as the “front page of the internet” – has built a site that attracts 164 million readers a month. Last week, however, its users mounted an open insurrection against the California-based company’s interim CEO, Ellen Pao, following what they say have been a series of unpopular decisions by management that directly contradict the open, democratic style of discussion that Reddit has previously encouraged. And despite the company issuing an apology on the site on Monday, a petition calling for Pao to step down now boasts more than 200,000 signatures.

Redditors – as users are called – have accused the site of increasingly trying to monetize its popularity, and it appears their sentiments came to a head last Thursday, when Reddit’s popular director of talent, Victoria Taylor, was let go from her post.

Taylor’s role had been to coordinate the site’s popular Ask Me Anything series, also known as AMAs, where celebrities from Madonna to Bill Murray, and even Barack Obama, have answered questions submitted by the Reddit community. Users suspected that a controversial AMA session with the US civil rights activist Jesse Jackson held on Wednesday, the day before her dismissal last week, had been the tipping point for a company torn between catering to commercial interests, and an obsession with giving voice to every possible perspective. Full story...

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