Retro flasback: Trouble in r/favors

It all started when lawrencejamie posted this r/favors thread asking for graphic designers to craft a simple poster for an African drought charity.

Kleinbl00 removed the thread and when a polite PM was sent to him regarding the removal (which the submitter thought was an auotmated removal) he was given his marching orders by a rude mod and eventually told to "Go to fucking Kinko's" and threatens a ban if lawrencejamie replies.

Still perplexed, lawrencejamie created an AskReddit thread trying to determine if he was somehow in the wrong. The amount of support was huge and the hivemind soon began process of discovering who the yet anonymous moderator was, by the process of deduction. Kleinbl00 is suspected and then confirmed by lawrencejammie and other /r/favors mods.

Then others began to come forward claiming that kleinbl00 had banned them for as little as sending a modmail or simply replying to him. Also countless examples of him previously allowing similar favors were presented.

Then the real paydirt is hit when Kleinbl00 replies trying to justify his cold-hearted responses as mere "policy" and is definitely not sorry one bit about how he treated this person.

Then everyone goes crazy. Only his most stalwart supporters and other r/youngluck mods will come to his defense (of which there are many). Calls are made to abandon r/favors if he doesn't step down. /r/ineedafavor is founded and it looks like it might be the next /r/trees type mass-exodus.

And in the end nothing happened. Kleinbl00 posted this typical big long rant about how moderation would become democratic but the dictatorship still lives on with the tired face of the poet still at the helm. He moved a few mods around and fired the ones that were under him during the whole fiasco. But that's it.

Epilogue

But what has changed? What have we learned?

He vowed to, at least partially, vacate reddit and these days is confined to mostly lurking and occasionally ranting about how his important career in television gives him unique insights on reddit current events. He still maintains that he's a pretty big deal on reddit, however and nobody seems to call him out for it.

Few have forgotten this drama of 6 months ago, however. He was removed as moderator from some rather high-profile subreddits like /r/doesanybodyelse and the mods there agreed to reverse his previous hot-headed and unwarranted bans. He still remains a force to be reckoned with though and his following is as big as ever.. apparently emboldened by the controversy.. not unlike Michele Bachmann's supporters in the 6th congressional district.. they've not had enough... yet.

Personal note: I'm glad he's here still. I enjoy his hyperbole and outlandish claims and statements. Almost everything he says is a boast or a brag and almost none of it is true. He's guaranteed to deliver popcorn, every time. I'm also glad I had most of his bans reversed, although I'm still not allowed on /r/Mideastpeace despite my living in Israel at the time of the ban.. he just doesn't give up on old grudges. You gotta admire his spirit!