Victoria Taylor was fired from Reddit in 2015; her story shares some similarities with Shog9 and Robert Cartaino's firing from Stack Exchange. Maybe there's some lessons to be learned, so I list some major similarities below:
Surprise, unexplained firing:
Another very popular moderator, Karmanaut, posted his thoughts about Taylor's removal, writing, "Today, we learned that Victoria was unexpectedly let go from her position with Reddt. We all had the rug ripped out from under us and feel betrayed."
Broderick, Chaos At Reddit As Protests Erupt Over Reported Firing Of Beloved Moderator, July 3, 2015It came as a surprise, like both Shog9 and Robert Cartaino's surprise and unexpected firings. (I think it's safe to assume they were fired.) Moreover, it's unexplained:
no-one, excluding a select few of the administrative team, knows precisely why /u/chooter was removed as an admin
Why was /r/IAmA, along with a number of other large subreddits, made private?, 4 years agoCommunity employee forced to choose company over community:
Reddit management was pushing Victoria to do a bunch of highly commercial things around AMAs, but Victoria wasn't comfortable with these ideas because she didn't feel they were good for the reddit community.
Marc Bodnick quoted by Feinberg, Fired Reddit Administrator Victoria Taylor Finally Breaks Her Silence, July 8, 2015Cf. Shog9's tweet:
And right now, they are being told not to use that skill. Told that they MUST not use that skill. I know this because I was told this. It has been ratcheting for over a year now: more and more "musts" and "must nots" - "say this AND ONLY THIS."
History of company overriding the community:
Decision after decision is made that is heavily criticized for being incompetent and seemingly against the wishes of the community. Communication has broken down between admins and users, and between admins and moderators.
/u/stopscopiesme, Many of you are asking if r/bestof will go private. Here are our thoughts, 4 years ago.There are also complaints of "a new age of censorship".
Company claims growth led to company-community noncommunication:
"I mean it when I say we screwed up, and we want to have a meaningful ongoing discussion. I know we've drifted out of touch with the community as we've grown and added more people, and we want to connect more."
Then-CEO Ellen Pao quoted by Tach, Reddit CEO Ellen Pao resigns amid turmoil 'by mutual agreement,' founder returns, July 6, 2015Much like when Through the Loop was announced.
Users and moderators perceive that the company does not respect their contributions:
As much as Victoria is loved, this reaction is not all a result of her departure: there is a feeling among many of the moderators of reddit that the admins do not respect the work that is put in by the thousands of unpaid volunteers who maintain the communities of the 9,656 active subreddits
Why was /r/IAmA, along with a number of other large subreddits, made private?, 4 years agoA lot of moderators are really bitter and jaded, but still put in a lot of effort to help their subreddits and make them better. It's hard to articulate why.
Warzel, Reddit Moderators Are Fed Up: “I Thought It Couldn’t Get Worse”, 2015In fact, there's a curious prediction...
"The issue goes beyond Reddit," 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."
New York Times op-ed quoted by Alba, Ellen Pao Steps Down as CEO After Reddit Revolt, 2015(Obligatory XKCD comic.) (Note: Ellen Pao resigned after a petition requesting her to step down, but Alexis Ohanian took responsibility for firing Victoria Taylor.)
Prior venture capital:
Sources said [Reddit] has reached a preliminary agreement to sell less than 10 percent of the company for more than $50 million. That could give the company a valuation of upward of $500 million.
Swisher, Reddit Raising a Big Round, and Some Y Combinator Players Are in the Mix, September 7, 2014.Today’s news is a $40 million round for the startup, and for the most part it’s earmarked for the careers section of Stack Overflow.
Novet, With this $40M, Q&A startup Stack Exchange could become a dev-hiring powerhouse, January 20, 2015.Fired employee thanking the community:
Thank you for everything you've given me. From your messages to your artwork, I am deeply moved and grateful beyond words, and your encouragement has meant more than you'll ever know.
Feinberg, Fired Reddit Administrator Victoria Taylor Finally Breaks Her Silence, July 8, 2015Above: Victoria Taylor thanks the community, similar to how Shog9 thanked the community: I'm deeply, sincerely touched by this thread.
Users seek alternatives:
The incident has led some to speculate we might be facing the reddit apocalypse, as more and more subreddits shut down in protest. Those fears were further stoked when “Reddit Alternative” spiked in Google’s search terms.
Bertrand, /r/pocalypse Now: “Reddit Alternative” Trends on Google, July 3, 2015.For Stack Exchange there's Codidact (in progress).
One article compares Reddit's exodus to Digg's prior exodus:
Digg ... in 2010 introduced a wildly unpopular new website upgrade. The new site took power away from regular users to submit content ... As a result, Digg users left the site in droves and came to Reddit. The exodus was so absolute that by September 2010, Reddit has surpassed Digg in popularity, and it’s only continued to grow from there.
Francis Will Reddit Have Its ‘Digg Moment’ After Firing Popular IAMA Employee Victoria Taylor?, July 3, 2015.(Also see this Forbes article describing the downfall of Digg via ignoring the community.)
So...
Question: Why does Victoria Taylor's firing from Reddit seem so similar to recent events here and what can we learn from these two events?
This post is in spirit of Does Fram's ban on Wikipedia seem similar to recent events? What can Stack Exchange learn from it?. It might also give some ideas for Time for a major shift in strategy and approach