Reddit's /r/IAmA subreddit has been opened back up to the community after the termination of a redditor, who was influential to the site's Q&A section, prompted the section's moderators to set their forum as "Private" on Friday.
Reddit, the self-styled front page of the Internet, has grown to become the 10th most popular website in the U.S. Helping to boost the forum site's early momentum, AMA (Ask Me Anything) sessions, with everyone from celebrities to scientists, have solidified Reddit as a steady source of exclusive news.
Much of the success of the AMA section, /r/IAmA, has been attributed to Redditor Chooter, or Victoria Taylor.
"Victoria was important to AMAs for a number of major reasons," a mod stated. "Firstly, she provided concrete proof of the identity of a celebrity doing an AMA, and made sure that it was not a second party purporting to be the celebrity; she was also a direct line of contact to the admins, allowing the moderators of AMA to quickly resolve an issue encountered during an AMA."
It hasn't been made clear just why Victoria was terminated, but her departure left the /r/IAmA section's mods reeling on Friday.
"We have taken the day to try to understand how Reddit will seek to replace Victoria, and have unfortunately come to the conclusion that they do not have a plan that we can put our trust in," read a statement from IAmAMods.
There has been a battle brewing slowly between the site's administrators and its moderators, and this latest spat only appears to be straining those relations further.
The /r/IAmA section's mods have been asking for details about how the site's AMA will operate and it doesn't "bode well for future communication between" the two parties, according to the mods.
"The information we have requested is essential to ensure that money is not changing hands at any point in the procedure which is necessary for /r/IAmA to remain equal and egalitarian," continued the statement from the mods. "As a result, we will no longer be working with the admins to put together AMAs."
