http://www.businessinsider.com/reddit-is-reportedly-consider...
They aren't interested in user experience. They are interested in drumming up mobile #s in the short term to get the best valuation possible. Reddit, like most things on the internet, have turned away from their idealistic beginnings for the cold hard cash. Not that I blame them really.
I've been through situations like reddit is going through. I can guarantee you that they don't care 1 bit about user complaints at this stage. It's all about getting the metrics they need to the valuation they want. They don't care whether reddit survives or not over the long term. They don't care about user experience. It's all about the short term right now and cashing out as quickly as possible.
Think of it like trying to sell your car. You don't car about its long term prospects. You just want to spend as little money as possible to make it look as good as possible to make as much money off of it in the short term.