Reddit users have been reacting with deep gloom to the firm saying it plans to sell shares to the public.

The “beginning of the end”, “good while it lasted”, and “they ruined it”, are just some of the comments made by Redditors, as they are known, since the announcement on Thursday.

The company has said its plans are “exciting” and will offer the business opportunities for growth.

However many users worry the move will fundamentally change the website.

Reddit, which was founded almost twenty years ago, is an online forum where users can post questions and comment on topics that interest them.

More than 76 million people, on average, visited every day in December 2023, drawn by features like its recurring “ask me anything” threads, in which participants ranging from anonymous ordinary people to former US president Barack Obama field questions.

Some feel the initial public offering (IPO) which has been filed with US regulators will change the site’s spirit.

“When the most important customers shift from [users] to shareholders, the product always [suffers],” said one person.

“It becomes ‘what can we do this quarter to squeak out an additional point of revenue’, instead of ‘how can we make this product better’.”