They also started handing out usernames to companies over “trademark infringement.” Someone with the username “FoodNetwork” is losing the username to the real Food Network.

I was on reddit long enough to remember how people used to run corporate stooges out with pitchforks.

“These are fan run forums,” they would say. The idea that you could have your username taken by a corporation was unheard of, because originally, it was considered really bad form to have anyone from the business running the subreddit, because then it wouldn’t be a neutral source of information.

Nope, now they can steal usernames and it’s totes okay for subreddits to be completely controlled by their corporate namesake.