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Former Reddit CEO says Ellen Pao was a scapegoat
Many Reddit fans were quick to blame recently departed CEO Ellen Pao for firing communication director Victoria Taylor and prompting a widescale revolt. However, it now looks like Pao might have been little more than a scapegoat. Yishan Wong, the CEO before Pao, tells redditors that co-founder Alexis Ohanian went over Pao's head to get Taylor fired. While Ohanian eventually admitted that he was responsible for the change in Ask Me Anything (AMA) strategy that led to the departure, his decision to confess after the fact shows a "stunning lack of leadership." He should have gotten out in front before Pao became a punching bag, Wong says.
Reddit shelves its pseudo-currency plans for now
Bad news if you were hoping to swap Reddit Notes with friends: the internet community just put its don't-call-it-a-currency project on ice. As Reddit's Alexis Ohanian argues, the company doesn't want to dive into cryptocurrency (even when it doesn't have conventional monetary worth) until both the legal and technical aspects are "further along." He wants to make sure that users get the "full value" of their equity, and that's reportedly not possible right now. It's not clear that this is the only motivation, mind you. Notes was started under Reddit's previous CEO, so it may be as much about a change in leadership philosophy as anything else. Whatever the cause, you'll have to make do with handing out Reddit Gold if you want to reward your fellow redditors without relying on third-party services.
