How to Deal With a Boycott (Insider Comms From Reddit)
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What would you say to employees if suddenly your company faced a backlash from consumers?
This week about 10% of subreddits—forums on the mega-popular Reddit social platform—went dark to protest Reddit’s move to increase API prices for third-party apps.
The substance of the policy and backlash is a bit weedy, but suffice it to say that a business decision to generate revenue upset a very user-friendly fanbase.
The price increase was announced in April and goes into effect on July 1.
Reddit CEO Steve Huffman sent a memo to all employees last week addressing the boycott, which he says will blow over. (He addresses the team as “Snoos”—Reddit’s mascot is called Snoo.)
Huffman’s first paragraph gets right to the heart of the matter—no fluff or fill—closing with a “thank you” at the top.
Notable in this memo is Huffman’s caution against wearing Reddit swag in public, saying the logos could make employees the target of Redditors’ frustration. This paragraph alone should serve as a checklist item for all consumer companies facing a vocal and volatile backlash.
Compare the Reddit response to three other memos to employees about products and services that upset a significant number of consumers:
When Your Customers Don’t Share Your Politics (Target and Pride) ($)
Here’s Huffman’s memo:
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