I disagree it's out of line to group Reddit with the likes of Pinterest, fb, etc. The fact that they're slightly more user-friendly doesn't make up for using dark patterns and dirty tricks.

I think it's unethical to intentionally design features that confuse users and force them to take roads they don't really want to take. Reddit crossed a line with the annoying pop-up that constantly asks you to download their app, for example. I don't care that the pop-up is less persistent than let's say Instagram. It's ill-intentioned design and it shouldn't exist.