@Meyerweb that's what the lesson should be, yes. I fear that reddit isn't going to care much. They've experienced (intentionally) a pretty substantial shift towards a mainstream audience over the years. Powerusers leaving might not mean much, if others willing to moderate and produce content replace those before them. With the "supermod" culture of Reddit, I wouldn't be surprised if shut down subreddits just reopened with new (already experienced) mods.