Reddit CEO Ellen Pao has admitted ‘screwing up’ the way the website recently managed the community and communications.
The apology came after a huge online protest following the dismissal of former director of Talent, Victoria Taylor, from the company last week.
Outraged moderators shut down roughly 300 subreddits and discussion sections in protest at Taylor’s dismissal.
Several moderators claimed that Victoria Taylor was the only one who communicated with them during the "Ask Me Anything" interviews, which involved every topic under the sun and involved celebrities, politicians or other noteworthy people answering user-submitted questions on the site.
Pao said: "We screwed up. Not just on July 2, but also over the past several years. We haven’t communicated well, and we have surprised moderators and the community with big changes.
"We have apologised and made promises to you, the moderators and the community, over many years, but time and again, we haven’t delivered on them.
"When you’ve had feedback or requests, we haven’t always been responsive. The mods and the community have lost trust in me and in us, the administrators of reddit."
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The company has promised to improve its tools, communication and search from now on.
Community manager Kristine Fasnacht is expected to take Taylor’s place and become Moderator Advocate, who will be the common link amongst volunteer discussion, section moderators and Reddit employees.
