Right - it was seen as an arbitrary action with no real power behind it. I made that point then and I made it loudly.

The problem is it's a social network, which means there has to be some social attempt to steer it towards the behavior you want. Saydrah was doxxed in '08. Sometime in 2013 they finally decided that doxxing wasn't okay, and by mid 2014 it was something that everybody jumped on as "not done" (while there were throwaways and renegades that perpetrated and perpetuated the problem).

Brigading has been a problem from the very beginning, but Reddit started to get serious about it last year with .np links. Now brigading has dropped almost to nothing.

So what we're left with is this: A website that has known what its problems are since '07 or before but has made no attempt whatsoever to steer the conversation in the direction of decency. Reddit could come out in favor of privacy and respect towards women and get things moving in that direction, but they don't. Their justification for taking down the fappening posts had nothing to do about violating the privacy of public individuals and everything to do with their pre-existing "bust Al Capone for tax evasion" policies.

You're essentially making my point: they act, but their acts are too little, too late and in the wrong direction. You're not making my bigger point, though: as soon as they actually do something, it tends to be effective.

I'm deeply dispirited by Reddit. There's an institutional refusal to do the right thing until it's far, far too late and I believe that it's bad for the Internet in general. We're raising a generation of kids that can't communicate, believe anonymous retaliation is the best balm for wounded pride and have no problem upskirting someone so long as they're famous.

It's straight up bad for humanity.