Ellen Pao Resigns as Interim CEO of Reddit

Interim CEO Ellen Pao apologized today, acknowledging "a long history of mistakes."

"We screwed up," Pao posted to the social-sharing website. "Not just on July 2, but also over the past several years."

The July 2 in question that Pao refers to is the date that the San Francisco-based company fired Victoria Taylor, who coordinated the site's popular Ask Me Anything (AMA) feature, where celebrities and other noteworthy folks, like President Obama, answered questions submitted by the Reddit community.

On Friday, in protest, the moderators of various Reddit sections mounted an insurrection of sorts, taking their areas private so regular users couldn't access them. The rebellion spread until many popular areas, including those in movies, science and gaming, were all locking people out.

One moderator wrote an open letter: "Whilst this protest initial began because of the dismissal of Victoria from the administration team, it is not the primary cause, it is merely the straw that broke the camel’s back." The letter complained that Reddit's "communication with moderators, as well as with the wider community, has been lacking.

In her apology, Pao promised moderators improved tools, an option to use the site's old version of search, and the appointment of a moderator advocate. "She will be the contact for moderators with reddit and will help figure out the best way to talk more often," Pao wrote. "We’re also going to figure out the best way for more administrators, including myself, to talk more often with the whole community."

A petition on Change.org demanding that Pao step down has been signed by more than 192,000 people as of this writing. Pao has previously been in the public eye for her unsuccessful gender bias lawsuit against Silicon Valley venture-capital firm Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Perkins.

Pao's full apology here:

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 apologized 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.

Today, we acknowledge this long history of mistakes. We are grateful for all you do for reddit, and the buck stops with me. We are taking three concrete steps:

Tools: We will improve tools, not just promise improvements, building on work already underway. u/deimorz and u/weffey will be working as a team with the moderators on what tools to build and then delivering them.

Communication: u/krispykrackers is trying out the new role of Moderator Advocate. She will be the contact for moderators with reddit and will help figure out the best way to talk more often. We’re also going to figure out the best way for more administrators, including myself, to talk more often with the whole community.

Search: We are providing an option for moderators to default to the old version of search to support your existing moderation workflows. Instructions for setting this default are here.

I know these are just words, and it may be hard for you to believe us. I don't have all the answers, and it will take time for us to deliver concrete results. 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. I and the team are committed to talking more often with the community, starting now.

Thank you for listening. Please share feedback here. Our team is ready to respond to comments.

Ellen Pao Resigns as Interim CEO of Reddit

Signed up.