(Bloomberg) — It took approximately zero seconds for Reddit users to dissect the social media platform’s short announcement on Wednesday that it had filed for a confidential initial public offering.
On WallStreetBets, the subreddit responsible for igniting this year’s meme stock craze, the pile-ons were plentiful, the profanity more so. Many members worried that a stock market listing marked the beginning of the end of Reddit’s free-wheeling culture, while others saw the opportunity for more fun — and potentially profit.
The realization that Reddit may never be the same seemed to galvanize many users. Long threads pointed to a group strategy: Could the WallStreetBets community pump the stock as it had done for companies such as GameStop Corp. and AMC Entertainment Holdings Inc. previously? Hundreds of upvotes later, a user by the name of LowercaseG_Sol seemed to sum up the consensus:
Comments often strayed into the Reddit version of the profound. Surveillance was a clear concern. ‘KetoIsRacist’ predicted “mass censorship.” Meanwhile ‘wearethesamewave’ was convinced that the company had increased its ads to signal that change was coming.
On Twitter, people joked about the symbolism of buying shares in the ultimate meme stock company:
Details of Reddit’s planned public equity raising are still vague, with the company saying that the number of shares and proposed price range for an IPO haven’t yet been determined.
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