People React To ‘Antiwork’ Going Under After One Mod’s Awkward Interview With Fox News
Interview
The r/AntiWork subreddit suddenly went private on Wednesday following a Fox News interview between anchor Jesse Watters and one of the moderators, Doreen Ford, a 30-year-old dog walker.
Now, this online group is locked from view. “We’re closed while we deal with the cleanup from ongoing brigading, and will be back soon,” the mods wrote in a message to the forum. On Reddit, “brigading” refers to a coordinated effort from one group to disrupt another subreddit’s work: downvoting comments to censor them, spamming with posts and messages.
The community, which describes itself as “a subreddit for those who want to end work, are curious about ending work, [and] want to get the most out of a work-free life,” was created in 2013 and since then has become one of the fastest-growing groups on Reddit with over 1.7M members.
Ford was chosen to speak on behalf of the community with Watters. Unfortunately, the interview diverged from discussing the antiwork movement to focusing on the moderator and their life aspirations. Ford’s appearance on the show attracted criticism, making followers worried about how the movement came off on TV. Read on for the whole interview.
The popular AntiWork subreddit suddenly went private after one moderator decided to go on Fox News
After receiving backlash for the interview, the mods decided to temporarily shut down the site
This did not go well with the community members, and here’s how they reacted
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The Post Responsible For Shutting Down R/Antiwork? I Took This Screenshot About 15 Minutes Ago. This Post Has Over 100 Awards In Approximately 1 Hour. Now R/Antiwork Is Gone
This was the last post before the subreddit was locked. (This is a re-port to WorkReform).
You Go Antiwork Mods!
Another self important legend in their own mind basement dwelling lazy slob that mummy needs to boot out STAT
We reached out to one of the supporters of the anti-work movement, NoSatisfaction4251, to find out more about the situation and how it has affected the community. The user told Bored Panda that the r/AntiWork subreddit voted overwhelmingly against any media interviews because they might backfire.
“The main mod AbolishWork (Doreen Ford) did not listen and took an opportunity to live interview on Fox News,” they said. “They did not shower beforehand, or make their bed (you can see their untidy dark bedroom in the background), or prepare.”
As the user found out from the interview, the moderator is “a dog walker who lives in their parent’s basement at 30 years old” and only works a few hours per week. “Their dream is to teach philosophy but they currently have no credentials to do so.”
Got Banned For This Of Course, This Sentiment Should Be Kept In Mind Going Forward
That sub was always a hot mess. I support the anti-work movement but you must be organized and know what you are doing. Or we look just as stupid as Republicans.
Fox Won This Round
Lmao please please by all means keep living in delusion. Fox simply pointed out the flaws in your community and you're just too cowardly to admit it, and we all love it 😂
They continued: “Doreen said this all on national primetime TV. Jesse Watters was making fun of them condescendingly and laughing at them. Doreen had so little self-awareness that they had no clue.”
After the interview, the moderator was heavily criticized on the subreddit for not listening to the members and making a movement of 1.7M people look bad. “There are stories all the time of minimum wage workers working 60+ hours a week or being underpaid illegally, so it’s frustrating we were forced to be represented by a part-time dog walker.”
Instead of owning up to their mistake, the moderators decided to temporarily shut down the site. “They could not stand the criticism and the many calls for them to apologize or resign, so Doreen started banning anyone who commented on antiwork about the interview,” NoSatisfaction4251 told us.
Antiwork Banned This Before Going Private
“They banned around a thousand people, including myself for expressing legitimate concerns about the interview. Now they have gone so far to make the subreddit private—de facto killing one of Reddit’s top pages.” NoSatisfaction4251 believes that the mods should step down. However, since the user has been permanently banned from the group for no reason at all, it does not affect them anymore.
While many members worry about how this incident will affect the r/AntiWork, NoSatisfaction4251 said that the movement is much larger than this subreddit. “There seems to be a push for workers’ rights everywhere right now because of the tight labor markets, COVID-19 working conditions, the PRO act legislation, the Kellogg’s and John Deere strikes, and the big pushes for unionization around the US (thinking especially about Amazon and Starbucks).”
Antiwork Could Save Others From Terrible Managers, But Not Itself
It’s ain’t saving you from s**t. It’s just another pathetic hole on the internet run by idiots who think their members are subjects and they are the Queens
A Conversation With The Mod That Did The Interview On Fox News
Of course they don't care. They are on a power trip. But literally the entire world is making fun of them now.
They explained that other subreddits are quickly growing to r/AntiWork’s size. For example, the r/WorkReform community is quickly rising in popularity. This online group believes people “should not be worked to death by their employers” and that “all labor should provide every person with all basic life necessities, which includes food, healthcare, and sheltering.” It seems that this group has gained tens of thousands of new followers since the r/AntiWork community has been shut down, and as of now has more than 348K members.
“The response we got from the situation is unrivaled. This is a clear message that no matter the name, this movement is alive, this movement is needed, and this movement will not die,” the mods of r/WorkReform claimed.
Everyone Right Now:
NoSatisfaction4251 also suggested that this online community could be the future of the anti-work movement since it “seems to be growing very fast. Also, r/LateStageCapitalism has a lot of overlap.” Still, they mentioned that “the movement does not necessarily need a Reddit page as most people know what’s going on and deal with bad bosses, long hours, low wages/salaries, and workplace stress often.”
After having been shut down for a day, the r/AntiWork subreddit has returned with a statement, saying that they “will now focus on more transparency regarding media.” Regarding the Fox News incident, “We are planning to remove AbolishWork from her moderation duties and have contacted the admins for the removal of her as a mod,” the moderators stated. “We thank her for building up the anti-work movement, but regarding the past incidents, we decided as a majority to remove her.”
Don’t Forget Why We’re Here
The Absolute State Of The Sub After That Disastrous Interview
Antiwork Banned This Before Going Private
I only have half a clue what this is all about, but the picture is getting clearer and ... just, wow :/
Seriously, Thank You
Note: this post originally had 34 images. It’s been shortened to the top 30 images based on user votes.
Some people actually felt sorry for the mod and voiced out a different opinion
I didn’t really follow this or educated myself enough. Anyway: Am I mislead thinking a 20h wanna work less dog walker might not really be the best example for a movement trying to create a more healthy and sustaining work/life balance?
One has to think that someone on Fox News did their homework and looked around for someone that they could easily mock and hammer, and they found their mark. But I feel like the anti-work movement really needs a completely different name if they want to be understood!
How was anyone surprised, especially this community, that Fox News did an interview on something and turned it around to benefit them. I mean, that's like Fox News 101!
And that is why I say I am Anti-Employee-Abuse, not Anti-Work. Good on Fox finding the narcissistic idiot, but I doubt it was hard!
I guess this means we are going to stop seeing 2-3 r/antiwork threads per day posted here.
The news host came across as far more ignorant than the mod. Professors do 20 hours a week? F**k you man. Professors do more unpaid overtime than any other profession and it requires the most years of training to do that job. https://www.timeshighereducation.com/news/teachers-and-lecturers-do-most-unpaid-overtime/2011698.article
Do they literally never read any news? Do they not understand the dangers of Fox entertainment?
There are several threads on Reddit talking about this and one cannot blame them. The subreddit is locked as they are trying to salvage the mess this person created. People are not happy.
I actually find the constant spinning in the chair and I brushed hair equally as annoying as the responses themselves. If I had a dog I doubt I’d want this person walking them
I'm not following any of this even one bit. I know the subreddit, but the mod interview with fox news, then the whole subreddit gets angry? I don't get it. Nothing's wrong from my view as non american.
I don’t actually get what this guy did wrong, save state he was a dog walker & that he’d like to teach philosophy. By my knowledge, anti-work was about better working conditions and finding job opportunities that aren’t soul-crushing and inhumane. It sounds like he found that in his career? I have a cousin who walks dogs in a big city and it’s not exactly not lucrative if you bookkeep and make sure you gather regular customers who come back. It seems like Fox News didn’t care to ask him any more questions and painted him in a terrible light without even asking about the movement itself. Unless there’s more to the interview?
I didn’t really follow this or educated myself enough. Anyway: Am I mislead thinking a 20h wanna work less dog walker might not really be the best example for a movement trying to create a more healthy and sustaining work/life balance?
One has to think that someone on Fox News did their homework and looked around for someone that they could easily mock and hammer, and they found their mark. But I feel like the anti-work movement really needs a completely different name if they want to be understood!
How was anyone surprised, especially this community, that Fox News did an interview on something and turned it around to benefit them. I mean, that's like Fox News 101!
And that is why I say I am Anti-Employee-Abuse, not Anti-Work. Good on Fox finding the narcissistic idiot, but I doubt it was hard!
I guess this means we are going to stop seeing 2-3 r/antiwork threads per day posted here.
The news host came across as far more ignorant than the mod. Professors do 20 hours a week? F**k you man. Professors do more unpaid overtime than any other profession and it requires the most years of training to do that job. https://www.timeshighereducation.com/news/teachers-and-lecturers-do-most-unpaid-overtime/2011698.article
Do they literally never read any news? Do they not understand the dangers of Fox entertainment?
There are several threads on Reddit talking about this and one cannot blame them. The subreddit is locked as they are trying to salvage the mess this person created. People are not happy.
I actually find the constant spinning in the chair and I brushed hair equally as annoying as the responses themselves. If I had a dog I doubt I’d want this person walking them
I'm not following any of this even one bit. I know the subreddit, but the mod interview with fox news, then the whole subreddit gets angry? I don't get it. Nothing's wrong from my view as non american.
I don’t actually get what this guy did wrong, save state he was a dog walker & that he’d like to teach philosophy. By my knowledge, anti-work was about better working conditions and finding job opportunities that aren’t soul-crushing and inhumane. It sounds like he found that in his career? I have a cousin who walks dogs in a big city and it’s not exactly not lucrative if you bookkeep and make sure you gather regular customers who come back. It seems like Fox News didn’t care to ask him any more questions and painted him in a terrible light without even asking about the movement itself. Unless there’s more to the interview?
