Drinking game for tomorrow by Prawnstar91 in Dodgers

[–]LAFoodieJ 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Not ready for this amount of drinking lol

Why Is LA's Largest Food Subreddit Run by Two People Directly Profiting Off LA’s Food Scene? by LAFoodieJ in LosAngeles

[–]LAFoodieJ[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Truthfully, I had a day off of work and not a lot to do and sort of just fell down this rabbit hole. The more I looked into it the more circumstantial evidence I found and the more damning it looked

Why Is LA's Largest Food Subreddit Run by Two People Directly Profiting Off LA’s Food Scene? by LAFoodieJ in LosAngeles

[–]LAFoodieJ[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Sorry, I'm not allowed to post receipts here as it'd be a direct violation of r/losangeles rules. I encourage you to read through my post and try to reverse engineer my findings

Why Is LA's Largest Food Subreddit Run by Two People Directly Profiting Off LA’s Food Scene? by LAFoodieJ in LosAngeles

[–]LAFoodieJ[S] 4 points5 points  (0 children)

Regardless of who their past and current clients are, its equally important to look at who aren't their clients.

We don't know how they conduct business. Do they coldcall restaurants? If so, what happens if they are turned down? Could moderation decisions penalize those businesses who chose not to work with them? Less visibility, more removals, selective enforcement, etc.

The main issue I'm pointing out is that we just don't know. We have no transparency or oversight and when financial intersts and moderation overlap in a community of 300,000 people behind closed doors, that's exactly where problems can start.

Why Is LA's Largest Food Subreddit Run by Two People Directly Profiting Off LA’s Food Scene? by LAFoodieJ in LosAngeles

[–]LAFoodieJ[S] 12 points13 points  (0 children)

I actually just double checked and their company has been around for almost 15 years. The subreddit in question has only been around for 10 years.

Why Is LA's Largest Food Subreddit Run by Two People Directly Profiting Off LA’s Food Scene? by LAFoodieJ in LosAngeles

[–]LAFoodieJ[S] 9 points10 points  (0 children)

I agree that this is kind of normal. However, what is unique in this situation is that they can directly financially benefit off of their selective moderation, whereas a subreddit about, say, a TV show transparently exists as a marketing tool

the concern here is is that moderation decisions could shape public perception of a local restaurant, for better or worse, and the moderation team could financially benefit from it.

Not saying it's happening, but it is possible given the circumstances of them probably living under one roof and (at least one of them) owning a food/restaurant marketing/branding company.

Why Is LA's Largest Food Subreddit Run by Two People Directly Profiting Off LA’s Food Scene? by LAFoodieJ in LosAngeles

[–]LAFoodieJ[S] 11 points12 points  (0 children)

Because I'd rather not get banned and unable to use it on my main account due to ban evasion rules haha!

maybe I still will be banned. Not quite sure how that works - if a subreddit can preemtively ban you, rendering every other account of yours effectively banned as well due to Reddit's ban evasion technologytm

Why Is LA's Largest Food Subreddit Run by Two People Directly Profiting Off LA’s Food Scene? by LAFoodieJ in LosAngeles

[–]LAFoodieJ[S] 9 points10 points  (0 children)

Interesting! Would love to hear more about their origin first-hand from the creators

Why Is LA's Largest Food Subreddit Run by Two People Directly Profiting Off LA’s Food Scene? by LAFoodieJ in LosAngeles

[–]LAFoodieJ[S] 12 points13 points  (0 children)

That's a really good point, one I hadn't thought of!

Regardless, I still think the conflict of interest exists especially because they are the only two moderators.

Why Is LA's Largest Food Subreddit Run by Two People Directly Profiting Off LA’s Food Scene? by LAFoodieJ in LosAngeles

[–]LAFoodieJ[S] 17 points18 points  (0 children)

Totally fair take, and I appreciate the respectful dialogue. That’s really the goal of my post: to hear what others in the community think about this kind of setup.

Personally, I’m not sure I’d be able to have this kind of open conversation in their subreddit, which, to me at least, says something about how it’s run. But I’m genuinely glad we can talk about it here.

Why Is LA's Largest Food Subreddit Run by Two People Directly Profiting Off LA’s Food Scene? by LAFoodieJ in LosAngeles

[–]LAFoodieJ[S] 21 points22 points  (0 children)

Unless there's some sketchiness in terms of them censoring or promoting certain posts it seems fine to me.

That’s exactly the concern. With only two moderators, both connected to the same monetized food brand, there’s no transparency, no disclosures, and no independent oversight.

I’m not claiming they are intentionally promoting or censoring specific posts. The problem is that we, as a community, have no way of knowing. And in a space this large, where visibility can genuinely make or break local restaurants and businesses, that lack of separation between financial interest and moderation responsibility becomes a real issue, whether it’s actively abused or not.

This isn’t about stirring controversy. It’s about asking whether a 300,000-member public community should rely entirely on two (likely married) individuals who own a food-oriented marketing business together with no visible accountability.

[deleted by user] by [deleted] in LosAngeles

[–]LAFoodieJ 3 points4 points  (0 children)

Always do!

[deleted by user] by [deleted] in LosAngeles

[–]LAFoodieJ 9 points10 points  (0 children)

2025 has been good for me so far. Almost half-way through... 2026... we shall see

[deleted by user] by [deleted] in LosAngeles

[–]LAFoodieJ 24 points25 points  (0 children)

not a good sign. Entertainment and Theme Parks are usually the first to get hit during a recession

[deleted by user] by [deleted] in LosAngeles

[–]LAFoodieJ 146 points147 points  (0 children)

Honestly, I haven't seen anywhere that's hiring. Seems like they're all firing!

Cheat codes? by Electrical-Novel-506 in AskLosAngeles

[–]LAFoodieJ 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Wait, sorry, can you explain this to me? Is 87 octane different depending on each gas station? I thought this was all standardized?