Users and moderators on popular social site Reddit are on a virtual public strike after a well-liked community manager was allegedly sacked by the company on Thursday.
Moderators who manage communities on Reddit, which is regarded as the front page of the Internet, have shut down 184 subreddits since Thursday. [Here is the entire list of subreddits that have blacked out.]
According to The Guardian, the 'Reddit Revolt' broke out in protest over the abrupt dismissal of Victoria Taylor.
Taylor was responsible for managing the site's popular Ask Me Anything series, also known as AMAs or IAmA, where even celebrities used to interact in Q and A sessions. "IAmA" was the first sub to shut down in protest.
The community moderators on Reddit are largely angry about the fact that Reddit chose to fire Taylor without properly discussing it with the other community managers.
"We learnt that Victoria was unexpectedly let go from her position with Reddit. We all had the rug ripped out from under us and feel betrayed. Before doing that, the admins really should have at least talked to us," said Karmanaut, one of the moderators of r/IAMA.
It is now understood that Taylor was sacked after an AMA (Ask Me Anything) session with Reverend Jesse Jackson went badly on Wednesday, especially as users hit him hard with hostile questions. The entire Q and A can be read here.
Welsh Jesus Follower @almeertm87
Now that all the major subreddits have gone dark all you see is r/showerthoughts on the front page. Haha. #RedditRevolt
Michelle Catlin @CaptainWeeab00
This is not an average #RedditRevolt. These are THE biggest subreddits all going private as protest.
Rexia @TechyFolks
The #RedditRevolt serves as a great example of what happens when a company tries to comply with the demands of SJW's; abject failure.
Kitsune @velozzr
They are disabling mod access and forcing open subs. Maybe time for users to start deleting submitted links? #RedditRevolt
Alberto De Lucca @adeluccar
Off to sleep. Keep up the pressure #RedditRevolt. You have a good chance at real change. Even if it means nuking the whole thing.
Ilya Babansky @Georgin95
And now 26% of subreddits are down. #RedditRevolt
