I’d argue moderators taking themselves too seriously is precisely reddits problem, but okay.
That said, Reddit moderation seems stuck in a weird limbo where moderators have a lot of power on paper but completely ineffectual tooling to combat organized and systemic abuse.
Given those limitations I find it hard to imagine Reddit modding ending up any other way.
Ultimately if you care about the community you’re supporting and put the effort in, it’s possible to do it.
If on the other hand your goal is growth at all costs then most likely it’s going to turn into a cesspool.
Notably we turn down almost weekly sponsorship proposals from real brands, like Garmin, because opening that door would ruin the whole thing.
/r/ultramarathon
We have a thriving supportive community that has been a support group for 100 thousand people that run or want to learn to run ultramarathons