The “we did it reddit!” phrase comes from redditors trying to track down suspects of the boston bombing. Redditors found a guy they strongly suspected, then found personal info on them and began harrassing him and family, including death threats.
Imagine being that person accused! One day just living life, the next experiencing a horrible bombing, the next being tracked down by a misguided internet randos on a manhunt.
This is why having some basic privacy is important before you need it


yep. Forums used to be a thing but they have faded a long while ago for things like reddit and discord. Real websites are usually garbage designed to trip search engine results and now it’s a ton of AI slop too.
So people started including reddit in their search to get the info they wanted. And now reddit has noticed and is leaning into that