I've actually wondered this for years - why reddit let imgur take that lead and run with it, but to some of the other replies I guess it does come down to cost. Reddit doesn't have a big budget and until last year I think it was just 3 or 4 of them (now I still think it is < 10) -- the moment they get a huge influx of money though, the moment they take over media hosting, cripple third party mobile apps and start punching babies - it seems to be the way of the startup world.

For what little (nothing?) it is worth, it upsets me that this pattern is repeated over and over and over... for once I'd like to see a startup grow organically over time, never forgetting their roots, not being worth $4 billion after a year of being in business and just acting like a good, solid, mature company that grows into something valuable over a decade.

These overnight-billion-dollar dice rolls are getting exhausting and while really addictive and interesting, they just suck the air out of the room.