Alexis Ohanian is one of the cofounders of Reddit who had left and has since returned as Executive Chair, he's also a current partner at YC, and goes by the username kn0thing on Reddit & HN.
Yishan Wong (ex Reddit CEO, and thus someone who would be in a position to know) said Ohanian did it as part of an attempt to change how Reddit handled AMAs, and criticized Ohanian harshly for his actions and failure to defend Pao.
Ohanian, for his part, has never denied it, and in fact has apologised for the "decision to change how we work with AMAs" as "his failure".
The big guys invest in Reddit -> weeks later a wedge issue is found, CEO is isolated and out -> blog post to convince the masses that this is still the good old Reddit: 'Look! Ohanian is coming back!'.
The way this announcement desperately tries to water down the significance of the event, speaks chapters, IMO.
What are you talking about? Alexis Ohanian left Reddit, and Michael Seibel took his place on Reddit's board. How would this lead to Alexis Ohanian having an influence on HN?
If I recall correctly former reddit CEO Yishan Wong’s tweets on the matter, it was ordered by Alexis Ohanian directly. Yishan went on to describe how Alexis let the at-the-time CEO, Ellen Pao, take the heat for the decision.
In my eyes, Reddit’s distaste for their own users emanates from the founders directly.
Alexis Ohanian himself is not quite calling the shot these days. New management has said in exact words that reddit is not meant to be a "free speech platform"[0]. And that's exactly why people are angry: the community built reddit on a premise that was suddenly changed.
Anyway, the less social media, the more time left to focus on important things...
That sounds a bit like Alexis Ohanian. Reddit really thrived under his leadership. Alexis approached reddit with curiosity and understanding. He was not a perfect leader, but he understood what reddit is.
Everything implemented after Huffman took over has been for the worse with exception for /r/place.
I think only a small percent amount of reddit and a smaller percent of the world will know the way Ohanian stepped down or this guy stepped in.
For most people it will be "I'm on the board of reddit." "Oh, cool."
For people who think it was because of skin color, they may think less of him or of reddit, but presumably he made that choice going in and is okay with the costs and benefits. I have a rare (and not at all serious) medical condition. If reddit said they were selecting board members only with this condition I would happily apply and take the position even if everyone would say I only got it because of my condition and even if that were true. The cost is people would think I benefited from luck or circumstance and the reward is being able to meaningfully influence a major website and money. Hardly seems like a terrible trade to me.
> Representing Lee, attorney Navruz Avloni said Reddit’s workplace culture shifted after co-founder Alexis Ohanian resigned from the board in 2020 amid a flurry of changes at the top of the social media firm. Previously, the company had prioritized staff well-being before Ohanian’s exit, Avloni said.
Sad to read that it's been taken over by the usual psychopathic businesscunts who make every corporation they devour a nightmare to work in.
No. Long before Yishan's post, Ohanian posted on Reddit saying he both owned the reorg of AMAs and flubbed the transition with Victoria Taylor. It's not speculation. Consider also that by Ohanian's own direct words, the chairman of Reddit had an operational role over one of the most visible parts of the site. Pao was in a situation that would have been difficult to manage even if things had been going smoothly.
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