Alexis Ohanian, co-founder of Reddit, recently shared that he does not miss his time in leadership at the platform he helped create over two decades ago. In a recent “Ask Me Anything” session on Reddit, Ohanian responded to a user’s query about his feelings towards his previous role with a straightforward, “I do not.”
Having stepped down from Reddit’s board of directors in June 2020, Ohanian made this decision following the nationwide protests sparked by the police killing of George Floyd. In his resignation, he emphasized the necessity of promoting diversity within the company’s leadership and urged the board to appoint a black candidate to fill his position. Ohanian noted that he left Reddit to encourage the company to implement policy changes aimed at banning communities that promote racism and hate speech.
Ohanian’s remarks came alongside news of his collaboration with entrepreneur Kevin Rose to relaunch Digg, a platform that was once a competitor to Reddit. Originally founded in 2004 by Rose and Jay Adelson, Digg was briefly in the spotlight for a potential acquisition by Google in 2008, which ultimately did not materialize. The platform, sold to venture capital firm Betaworks in 2012 for $500,000, was reacquired by Rose last year, with Ohanian joining the initiative to revitalize it.
During the AMA, Ohanian outlined his vision for Digg as a community-centric platform, promising a transparent algorithm that reflects user preferences. He emphasized that the platform will avoid the pitfalls of AI-driven content curation, stating, “We are not using AI to rank content, shape discourse, personalize feeds, or decide what you should see.” This commitment aims to ensure that users experience a straightforward, human-readable feed without the intricate recommendation engines that often lead to dissatisfaction on other platforms.
As Ohanian moves forward with this new venture, his approach focuses on fostering genuine community engagement without the negative influences associated with automated content moderation and ranking systems. This development poses a refreshing outlook for social media platforms, prioritizing user experience and responsible community building.