Reddit has been hailed as one of the most popular websites today - even rivaling the fame of well-known social media sites such as Instagram, Tumblr and Facebook. Hence, when one of its most widely anticipated features is suddenly disabled, fans and followers of the said community yearned for an explanation for the disruption. Addressing the matter, the moderators of the "Ask Me Anything" community, a sub-category (subreddit) of Reddit, aired their side via an article in The New York Times.
Brian Lynch and Courtnie Swearingen, two moderators who volunteer for the subreddit "Ask Me Anything" revealed that their decision to temporarily suspend the operation of the community is rooted from the dismissal of yet another well-loved Reddit member, Victoria Taylor. Earlier reports indicate that Taylor, who is identified as the ambassador for the said sub-category, was cut off from the social media platform for undisclosed reasons, according to Time. Her dismissal not only evoked protest from the fans and followers of Reddit but also among the volunteer moderators who guide the discussions of millions of users participating in every sessions of "Ask Me Anything."
"Dismissing Victoria Taylor was part of a long pattern of insisting the community and the moderators do more with less," both Lynch and Swearingen wrote in the New York Times piece. The pair went on to say that the move once again proved that the Reddit execs fail to truly grasp the culture of such online community, thereby resulting in larger problems and chaos among its users.
They wrote, "We are concerned with what a move like this means for for-profit companies that depend on the free labor of volunteers - and whether they truly understand what makes an online community vibrant."
Meanwhile, Taylor took the weekend to address her dismissal and reassure her followers that she is doing well. "I've been incredibly humbled and honored to serve this community, and I truly believe all voices matter," Taylor wrote in her farewell letter to Reddit users. She went on to say, "Your voices matter. You proved that this weekend."
With regard the potential next step in terms of her career, Taylor admits that she has no concrete plans at the moment. She said, "I know many of you may be curious about what's next for me, and I'm still figuring that out. However, I can assure you, wherever the road leads, I will live up to the faith you've had in me." She added, "You can take the woman out of reddit, but you can't take the reddit out of the woman. I believe in you. And that's a promise."
