An account is now required to read Reddit comment threads?
It's not a new pattern.  And like MySpace, Yahoo, Digg, and so many others, Reddit will eventually fall out of favor and be replaced by a new better, less corporate system.And that system will also follow the same path (unless it is started by an already-very-rich group of techies who value status more than money).Just think: if you were fabulously wealthy, then burning a few million a year to have a completely free, non-commercial social site would be perfectly reasonable.  Of course, eventually you would die and someone would then begin the usual path with your legacy...