If you're looking for an example of just how grim things are over at Reddit, CEO Ellen Pao's mea culpa is a perfect place to start.

This afternoon, Pao posted a 335-word apology for Reddit's "long history of mistakes" over the past few years, in the wake of a holiday weekend crisis in which prominent subreddits were closed off to the public by moderators. The subreddit blackout was in response to Reddit's dismissal of community moderator and employee Victoria Taylor, who championed, among other things, Reddit's popular "Ask Me Anything" community. In her apology, Pao laid out some steps the company plans to take to help moderators, including better search, employee support, and new community moderation tools.

"I know these are just words, and it may be hard for you to believe us. I don't have all the answers, and it will take time for us to deliver concrete results," Pao wrote. "I mean it when I say we screwed up, and we want to have a meaningful ongoing discussion. I know we've drifted out of touch with the community as we've grown and added more people, and we want to connect more."

Far more illustrative of Reddit's quagmire, though, is the community's response to Pao's apology.

The first — and most upvoted — comment rips Pao for her decision to give a statement on the recent controversy to "third-party newsfeeds," including BuzzFeed, before first addressing it on Reddit itself. Pao responded privately to the commenter, noting that "it was hard to communicate on the site, because my comments were being downvoted. I did comment here and was communicating on a private subreddit. I'm here now."