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Reddit CEO admits to altering user comments that were critical of him

(www.reddit.com)
668 points wildmusings | 4 comments | 24 Nov 16 00:50 UTC | HN request time: 0s | source
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tsneed290 ◴[24 Nov 16 01:19 UTC] No.13027160[source]▶
Could this hurt Reddit's credibility? Seems like it's kind of a big deal.
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geuis ◴[24 Nov 16 01:56 UTC] No.13027403[source]▶
It might to some people. It doesn't for me though.

I personally want to see more corporate leadership taking responsibility and leadership for backing up their personal views and those of their employees. A good example is how Grubhub's CEO Matt Maloney sent a company-wide email about the culture of the company that I respect quite a lot. http://media.grubhub.com/media/press-releases/press-release-...

Now do I agree with exactly what /u/spez did? Personally, the vindictive part of me likes the idea of fucking around with the morons in that subreddit. But as the ceo of the company, no. If it was any employee that had done it, they would likely have been terminated or at least had a severe write-up, no matter how much the leadership agreed with it. But when its the ceo, I'm not sure what the outcome will/should be.

To be completely honest, we have to remember that reddit is a company and not the public airwaves. There is no requirement that it be a bastion of free speech for all users. If I were running reddit, I would have banned that subreddit months ago. Any users found to be making racist, homophobic, hateful, or any other kind of similar commentary would have been permabanned a long time ago. The internet is a big place and its already too full of negativity. There are no socially positive reasons to provide places for it to fester.

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1. vogt ◴[24 Nov 16 04:03 UTC] No.13027962[source]▶
Maloney's email was terrible. I would never want to work for someone like that, and never will if I can avoid it. It was a kind and wonderful thing to send a company-wide email saying something to the tune of "If you ever feel marginalized in any way, come to me personally, immediately." He then promptly shat all over the goodwill by indirectly calling for Trump voters to quit. Screw that. I would have loved to have seen a brazen employee call him on that.
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2. geuis ◴[24 Nov 16 04:32 UTC] No.13028115[source]▶
That's fair and I respect your point of view. But I have a different perspective. I'll grant that emotions are still heightened from the election, but if anything it has brought some long-term underlying issues to the surface. I'm no longer comfortable working for/with people that take positions that disenfranchise and discriminate against other people.
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3. vogt ◴[24 Nov 16 06:15 UTC] No.13028563[source]▶
I actually think we agree more than it may seem, even if not entirely. I too am no longer comfortable working for or with those people. I just think it's egregiously bad form for a CEO to send a mass email calling for X group to quit if Y. Whether that's that you voted for a political candidate, or whatever. It's a pitchfork-y mentality that I think only serves to embolden whoever the perceived opposition is, even if it's in the medium or long term rather than the immediate. In this case, it's the racists/alt-right/etc. And to me, actions like Maloney's only strengthen communities like /r/The_Donald. Just my 2c.
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4. geuis ◴[24 Nov 16 09:02 UTC] No.13029162{3}[source]▶
Yeah I agree. Actually I'm not traveling for Thanksgiving. If you're in SF and want to get lunch tomorrow send me a message at charles@geuis.com. Be happy to chat for a bit.