Many of the most popular subforums on Reddit have been closed today in protest against the recent sacking of AMA co-ordinator, Victoria Taylor. This is being described as the "Reddit revolt" on social media as the history, cinema and history subreddits have also been made private.
Taylor's "Ask Me Anything" series has become a huge hit on the site, allowing celebrities to answer questions from fans using Reddit. Ever since her dismissal on Thursday, Reddit users have been shut out from many popular pages. It is believed that the "IAmA" page was the first to close, sparking other pages to follow suit.
IAmA volunteer moderator, Karmanaut, offered the following statement: “We all had the rug ripped out from under us and feel betrayed.”
“The admins didn’t realise how much we rely on Victoria. Part of it is proof, of course: we know it’s legitimate when she’s sitting right there next to the person and can make them provide proof. We’ve had situations where agents or others have tried to do an AMA as their client, and Victoria shut that shit down immediately. We can’t do that anymore.
“Part of it is also that Victoria is an essential lifeline of communication. When something goes wrong in an AMA, we can call and get it fixed immediately … Part of it is also organisation. Without her filling this role, we will be utterly overwhelmed. We have been really blindsided by all of this" Karmanaut added.
The actual reason for Taylor's dismissal has been subject to speculation and remains unclear at this time. However, Alexis Ohanian (Reddit's co-founder) has released his verdict on the current situation. He said in a recent post: “We don’t talk about specific employees, but I do want you to know that I’m here to triage AMA requests in the interim.”
“We get that losing Victoria has a significant impact on the way you manage your community. I’d really like to understand how we can help solve these problems, because I know r/IAMA thrived before her and will thrive after.”
It seems that Reddit are trying to close out this "movement" at source, as the co-founder proceeded to post more information on a private page for moderators.
He said: “Your message was received loud and clear. The communication between Reddit and the moderators needs to improve dramatically. We will work closely with you all going forward to ensure events like today don’t happen again."
All in all, the Gaming subreddit is down at the moment, but moderators have insisted that it's closure is only temporary.
