Look, I hate reddit as much as the next person, but if you don’t realize that page is a joke, you’re too dumb for the internet.
Of course it’s a joke, but also…
Whether intentional or not, it does kinda reflect the spirit of toxic insensitivity. Also, however it started, they left it that way even after this fact was pointed out to them.
Ding ding ding. Its possible to pass off dark patterns as jokes and jokes to become dark patterns when the joke isn’t funny anymore
It’s the same reason the KKK wears masks - cowards like to hide behind dog whistle language, when they feel disinclined to face any actual consequences of their beliefs and actions.
By that comparison, Reddit’s message isn’t even so bad (as KKK hate speech!:-), but it does look like it may fall into a similar category at least.
Or not - surely its founder is totally a nice guy who really was simply joking around there with the messaging strategy, no toxicity there at all, amiright!?