interestingasfuck has been unmoderated and closed for weeks now. Other subs are going to get the same treatment, and going dark is worse than going NSFW. The most effective form of protest any sub can engage in at this point is forcing Reddit to fire and fail to replace them.
I guess people just don't want to moderate anymore.
This is what all mods should do. Their thanks for running a community unpaid for years on end is a middle finger for not letting reddit profit off of them. Users build, foster, and maintain subreddits and reddit swoops in and declares that it's all thanks to them. Mods who get demodded should wear that fact with pride when contrasted against the ones who capitulated with similar threats.
Devaluing the platform before the IPO sends a clear message to Reddit and other, similar corporations that the data on the site belongs to users, and not the site. If the userbase quietly leaves, then Reddit's behaviour will be SOP for many sites, because it woul show you can take a steaming shit onto your userbase and come away Scott clean.
Lowered user traffic is worse for their IPO than tons of user traffic and a few subs protesting. They know all those people still protesting are hooked and aren’t going anywhere. Eventually Reddit will replace all mods who don’t play ball, and things will be back to business as usual.
If everyone who was unhappy with Reddit left the platform, that would do actual damage.