> the changes you need to make will drive away many more users than it ever attracts, because the "good" potential users are already turned off by Reddit, and the existing users will be alienated.
That's an assumption. Based on no data. I know plenty of people, myself included, that have no interest in Reddit as it is today. I know a few interesting sub-Reddits but I don't want to deal with that community right now.
If the community changes I would be more interested. I'm not going to spend my time contributing to a sub-Reddit if it's the kind of place that is shitty to people I'm friends with.
Yes it is, in fact it is more than just an assumption, it is my thesis.
Also you seem to be using "no data" as a pejorative, but I challenge you to produce any data on this topic period. Some things are intractable or at the very least incredibly expensive to conduct good science around, and if you refuse to consider a topic without data you will be paralyzed.
Like the OA I have been participating in online communities for a very long time (ran my first BBS starting in 1988), so I have a pretty strong sense of how they live and die. One of the things I've learned is that what people say they will do in the face of some future changes correlates terribly with what they actually end up doing when said change is put into effect. Therefore, the last thing I would do is throw a grenade into my community in the hopes of attracting you and your friends who are put off by the current state of affairs.
That's an assumption. Based on no data. I know plenty of people, myself included, that have no interest in Reddit as it is today. I know a few interesting sub-Reddits but I don't want to deal with that community right now.
If the community changes I would be more interested. I'm not going to spend my time contributing to a sub-Reddit if it's the kind of place that is shitty to people I'm friends with.
No thanks.