Think this case in particular is pretty interesting. Former default subreddit and one of the largest on the site (Top 20 at least).
I think /r/videos is where we’ll see how things actually play out with the reddit admins. I’m guessing at some point the admins will step in and replace the mods.
Their very first point in the Q&A section is an interesting point that I think many of the old-guard Redditors may take, especially those in moderator positions. It is well known that Reddit sub moderation is all done on a volunteer basis. If a substantial number of moderators across some of the larger subs also feel this way, Reddit could see a big decline in the quality of posts and also, possibly, a rise in rule-breaking/hateful content that would severely degrade the quality of the site. I remember seeing a handful of r/SubredditDrama posts about rogue moderators doing something akin to a ‘power trip’. I think some large sections of Reddit are in for a wild ride in the coming weeks/months.
Even if Reddit kicks these mods out and brings in their own, a lot of this moderation has been a labor of love and the replacements won’t be 1:1.
I mean the same thing is happening at Twitter, but most users are staying there because there’s nowhere to go. Bluesky is invite only and mastodon doesn’t have whatever celebs and influencers they follow (and no shade on these folks, I originally joined Twitter for a single person’s tweets).
This place is cool, but people will stay on Reddit as long as their communities do. And frankly I think most people are going to go to discord if Reddit does actually die, because most subreddits already have an associated discord channel
Twitter just needs warm bodies. Reddit relies on users to run the communities. That’s the difference. Reddit is the only big site right now where a small number of users leaving angrily can cause serious structural issues for them.