The memetic strain craze that began on Reddit and swept the financial world in 2021 may have died down, but it’s clear that some people still think social sharing platforms are “going to the moon.” And they want to go back to that rocket ship.
Jaime Rogozinski, creator of WallStreetBets, a popular Reddit community, submitted(opens in new tab) a lawsuit(opens in new tab) He spoke out against the company on Wednesday, years after the company fired him as the subreddit’s moderator. Rogozinski is looking to return as a moderator, and he wants to stop Reddit from using the name “WallStreetBets,” which Rogozinski holds a trademark for.
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Rogozinski founded the subreddit r/WallStreetBets in 2012. This was nearly a decade before he exploded as the ground zero of the meme stock boom that pushed stocks like GameStop and AMC to new heights as retail investors triggered short squeezes. Inflate the value of these stocks. The popularity of the memetic stock and the narrative surrounding it has fueled the WallStreetBets subreddit, which now boasts over 13.6 million subscribers.
But in 2020, before the meme strain epidemic began, Rogozinski was removed from the group he created and stripped of his moderator privileges.
According to Rogozinski, he was removed as moderator of r/WallStreetBets after he filed a trademark for WallStreetBets in March 2020. WallStreetBets: How baby boomers built the world’s biggest casino for millennials that year too.
However, Reddit claims that Rogozinski’s actions violated the platform’s policy by “attempting to monetize the community.” The company suspended his Rogozinski account, but permanently removed him as a mod for WallStreetBets. His social media platform also challenged Rogozinski’s trademark for his WallStreetBets, filing its own trademark application for the name.
Rogozinski has defended himself by claiming that he never used his moderator powers to monetize WallStreetBets and that Reddit users never marketed themselves and sold their products. . In the lawsuit, Rogozinski added that his removal from the subreddit caused WallStreetBets to spiral out of control with users sharing racist and homophobic content on their forums. are doing Rogozinski said Reddit’s actions cost him “millions of dollars” in losses in book sales, as well as his contract with his sports organization.
In a statement provided to Mashable, a Reddit spokesperson said, “This is a completely baseless, completely baseless lawsuit. The statement continues: ‘Jaime has been accepted by Reddit as a moderator of r/WallStreetBets. Dismissed and banned by community moderators for trying to enrich himself.This lawsuit is another transparent attempt to enrich himself.He has been banned by r/WallStreetBets and his It has been a long time since the community achieved mainstream popularity without any involvement. We will respond directly in court and continue to protect the best interests of our platform’s community and moderators.
on wednesday, Before news of the lawsuit, information(opens in new tab) has published a report indicating that Reddit is aiming to go public this year, potentially creating a situation where the memestock platform becomes memestock itself.As gizmodo(opens in new tab) He points out that this possibility has become a very difficult problem for members of the WallStreetBets community. Some of his Reddit users worry that the company will try to “monetize the shit” from the subreddit once it hits the stock market.
Rogozinski’s lawsuit not only asks the court to identify the owners of WallStreetBets, but also raises broader questions. What rights do you have for the communities you create on platforms like Reddit? You’ll probably have a good idea soon.
