&gt;as demonstrated by the Pao blackouts.<p>The Pao blackouts were orchestrated by the moderators, a group whose influence I did fail to consider. They&#x27;re essentially Reddit&#x27;s paying users, insofar as they pay with their time. Advertisers pay the server cost, though, so I imagine that in an all out battle between the two, Reddit would switch to being completely closed. I understand the community aspect has a wide appeal, but I wonder how much of the revenue-generating userbase exploits that aspect. Are most users subscribed to communities they choose, or are most users subscribed only to the default subreddits?<p>&gt;Don&#x27;t be so eager to defend a corporation&#x27;s right to be profitable.<p>I neither condemn nor defend. I&#x27;m only interested in getting a realistic view of how Reddit plans to proceed as a company and website. Part of that is analyzing who is making decisions and who is influencing those who make decisions.