For me I feel like reddit began declining when Victoria was fired in 2015.
She was the one who worked with r/AmA and was the liaison with all of the celebrities doing AmAs and was frequently the one actually doing the posting from my understanding.
It’s quite strange seeing all these digg migrants complaining how the platform was ruined after they joined. As a 12 year plus Reddit account holder we saw you guys as the end being nigh. Of course that’s all water under the bridge now, it’s just interesting the different perspectives. :)