It's a shitty situation and he's not really wrong.
If you allow anything, the 4chan types are going to kill your site because they scare off anyone else. You simply cannot grow or have broader appeal with that kind of userbase. It's also hard to tell whether these are genuine people or lefty larpers/trolls who try to kill your site by spamming shit they know is going to get you Voated.
On the other hand, if you start moderating, the question becomes "where does it stop?".
I see both sides but no easy compromise. There's a bunch of possibilities, at least, but trying any of them practically denies the option to try the rest.
The current trajectory makes the goal clear enough, at least: make reddit v2. We'll have to wait and see how well the admins understand why reddit failed.
It's a shitty situation and he's not really wrong.
If you allow anything, the 4chan types are going to kill your site because they scare off anyone else. You simply cannot grow or have broader appeal with that kind of userbase. It's also hard to tell whether these are genuine people or lefty larpers/trolls who try to kill your site by spamming shit they know is going to get you Voated.
On the other hand, if you start moderating, the question becomes "where does it stop?".
The other side of the coin is by seeking the broader appeal you neuter yourself but still get demonized anyway (see GOP). Many such cases.
I see both sides but no easy compromise. There's a bunch of possibilities, at least, but trying any of them practically denies the option to try the rest.
The current trajectory makes the goal clear enough, at least: make reddit v2. We'll have to wait and see how well the admins understand why reddit failed.