Here’s why you can’t read Reddit’s Ask Me Anything threads right now

Major sections of Reddit, including its famed Ask Me Anything (AMA) subreddit, have gone dark after the alleged dismissal of communications director Victoria Taylor (better known as /u/chooter).

Taylor was responsible for organizing, scheduling and often physically being present to transcribe AMA sessions with the likes of US President Barack Obama, Julian Assange, Amy Poehler and others.

After she was reportedly let go, the moderators of the r/iAmA subreddit took it private to figure out how to handle their roster of upcoming AMAs without Taylor’s help. That effectively shut out other users from the subreddit entirely.

Without implying that Reddit needs to let everyone in on its internal affairs,moderator /u/karmanaut wrote:

There should have been a transition in place or something worked out to ensure that Victoria’s duties would be adequately handled, which they are not) We had a number of AMAs scheduled for today that Victoria was supposed to help with, and they are all left absolutely high and dry (hence taking IAMA private to figure out the situation) (sic) She was still willing to help them today (before the sub was shut down, of course) even without being paid or required to do so. Just a sign of how much she is committed to what she does.

The admins didn’t realize how much we rely on Victoria.

Other key subreddits like /r/AskReddit, /r/science, /r/gaming, /r/history, /r/Art, and /r/movies have also closed their doors for the time being, to show solidarity.

It’s not clear just how long the standoff will last. AMAs are a big deal for Reddit; the company recently launched an app on iOS and Android to let users follow the immensely popular sessions — and there still isn’t an official Android app for the site yet.

Responding to a question about Taylor’s dismissal on Quora, Marc Bodnik, who leads Quora’s business and community teams, said that he was told by “someone close to Reddit” that the site’s management was pushing Taylor to take the AMAs in a more commercial direction, and she wasn’t comfortable with the idea because it wouldn’t do the Reddit community any good.

Apparently, video AMAs were proposed and Taylor thought that would be a mistake. Bodnik has since deleted his answer on Quora.

Reddit, which is owned by media giant Condé Nast, has nearly 164 million monthly users and close to 10,000 communities. The site celebrated its 10th anniversary last year.