Wouldn't the threat of change be going in the opposite direction?
Trying to get superficially good behavior from users by punishing contrarian views isn't going to work in this case. But it works for HN because people know that we're just guests on a VC's property.
But I come to HN to push agendas and collect feedback on ideas, not to share what I really think about.
I disagree in the strongest possible terms. So much of Reddit is a populist echo chamber, which is the opposite of free speech.
Populism is rational and rooted entirely in capitalist self-interest. What the rich don't understand about populism is that these people are not misguided or manipulated. They know exactly what's going on, they know that populism will destroy the economy, but this is exactly what they want.
Yes, the echo chamber problem could have been addressed by an army of aggressive moderators, but that was absent. The stupidity on the site was present because the conventions of the site encouraged it. Sometimes the moderators are actively working to grow the echo chamber, such as r/thedonald.
At any rate I don’t miss it.