Hey Ellen,

You, from everything I've seen thus far, clearly have some strengths as a CEO and (if you are indeed in control of Reddit at the moment, and you're not just a disposable steering wheel) have a significant number of weaknesses. Many of them aren't completely tied to your day-to-day actions, and actually stem from the controversy that arrived with the Pao Package - making everything you do subject to much heavier scrutiny. Your other weaknesses however, can often be attributed to your 'unique' approach to community interaction.

This being said... you, as a human, absolutely should not be subjected to the borderline weapons grade abuse you receive on a daily basis. Even if you were crowned the biggest douche of the Universe by unanimous cosmic decision, you still wouldn't deserve all of this.

I recall a Reddit post recently about a taxi driver who smiles at other assholes on the road and waves at them, describing them as Garbage Trucks that sometimes spill their overflowing garbage onto others, thus spoiling their day. Right now, in the eyes of many, you are the asshole who is spilling garbage onto Reddit's front lawn. The lion's share of the active community is certainly not waving at you, nor smiling as you pass by. Which I think is a shame... as you will either improve a few things at Reddit, or you'll cause damage and some of us may migrate away. You may even do both. This isn't an inherently bad thing at all. It's change. It's progress.

For better or for worse, you're in a lead position at Reddit. I don't give a shit how you got there, but you now have the job. Many of us care about this little corner of the internet and want to see it improve. The fact that you and the team have finally produced a well-crafted piece of PR damage mitigation, shows you want things to get better. You want the flames to die down. Whilst I personally don't see your heart in the message, I do believe in the message being sent and I do think that you've recognised some of the mistakes that have been made.

I don't like you a great deal. I don't know you at all. I hope you are well; I hope your family is well. I hope things get better for all of us, including for you, and that Reddit improves as a result of recent events.

Take it easy mate.