[yanderekko]

>It's clear to me that you're either not a long-term user of the site, or one of those users who consumes only low-value content, which has never been the true value of reddit and in my opinion has continued to destroy the value of the website. Reddit's value is not vested in image macros or other low-effort memes; its value derives from its communities, and their power to enable in-depth discussion in almost every conceivable variety, in a way that no other social media platform has achieved.

Well, this discussion was talking about the front page of Reddit, which is largely dominated by image macros and other low-effort memes, and basically looks the same today as any other day just with more posts about the protest or just attack spez.

There are communities that are still open, eg. /r/AskReddit. Have they devolved into 4chan with these fabled powerusers deciding to Go Galt? As far as I can tell, not yet. But perhaps I'm not among the Chosen who are qualified to make this discernment.

>I think they'd have to -- you know -- actually pay them, if they wanted to exert some level of control.

I doubt it. I don't think mods being able to pin their own political screeds to posts or to ensure that only they can generate content or any other number of deleterious behaviors is an essential non-pecuniary benefit that keeps the equilibrium wage at zero (claims of "entitlement" could be lobbed just as lazily at the mods as they could at me and/or Reddit.) But hey, maybe I'm wrong - at the least, Reddit should explore in that direction and see what happens.