Online Public Relations Thoughts

What do you say when your user community revolts against you?  This is the position in which Reddit finds itself.  More than 6,000 Reddit communities have gone dark for 48 hours in protest of the company's new API.  Several dozen have said they will stay dark until the company reverts to its original policy.  This is a significant blow to Reddit, which depends on users to carry its content forward.  The company has a choice -- give in or gut it out.  So far, Reddit has chosen the latter course, but should it blink, it will give the advantage to its rebellious user groups.  It is not a good position to be in.  One wonders what the company said to its user groups before it imposed changes.  Was it enough?  Was it not listening as it spoke?  Does it even care what  users think?