(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 (NYSE:GME) and AMC Entertainment (NYSE:AMC) 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 (NYSE:TWTR), 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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