u/ItsAComedyShow

>!THE BITCH!!<

I’m writing from another account because of possible retaliation— I’m a moderator on a fairly large food subreddit (think something like r/tacos or r/cheeseburgers). Historically it’s just been a community for sharing food photos, recipes, discussion, etc. Recently, though, the head mod and their right-hand moderator (or possibly an alternate account of theirs) have been on a quiet campaign to remove moderators who don’t align with a new direction for the subreddit. That direction is centered almost entirely around promoting an AI-generated food game. More and more of the subreddit seems to revolve around encouraging users to play the game, generate content from it, and post it. There has been a fair amount of pushback from both moderators and users, but the people speaking up seem to get silenced or removed. Watching that happen has made me hesitant to say anything myself because I genuinely think I’d be next. We’ve also received Modmail from longtime users saying they’re disgusted with the direction of the subreddit, that it no longer feels like the community they joined, and even questioning whether the situation could violate the Moderator Code of Conduct because they believe there may be a financial interest behind the promotion. I’ve also seen comments in private moderator discussions that make me wonder if there could be something to those concerns, although I don’t have direct proof of anything.

At this point, I don’t really know what my responsibility is. I don’t want to be associated with something that feels wrong, but I also don’t want to abandon a community built around something I genuinely care about. Has anyone dealt with something similar? Is there anything I should be doing here besides either staying quiet or resigning?

Seeing The Odyssey tomorrow and want to grab a good cocktail close by it before the 3pm show – but like every bar I have bookmarked there doesn't open till 5pm or 8pm! Any good spots, dive or high end, anyone would suggest near there open on a Friday at 1,2pm???