Interim Reddit Chief Executive Officer Ellen Pao resigned from her role as head of the “front page of the internet” Friday after months of ineptitude in running the site, resulting in near constant user outrage.

The announcement came via Reddit itself, with Reddit admin samaltman writing that Pao had stepped down from the position by mutual agreement, and that former Chief Executive Officer and site Co-Founder Steve Huffman was returning to his previous position.

“We’re very happy to have Steve back. Product and community are the two legs of Reddit, and the board was very focused on finding a candidate who excels at both (truthfully, community is harder), which Steve does” the Reddit post reads. “He has the added bonus of being a founder with ten years of Reddit history in his head. Steve is rejoining Alexis, who will work alongside Steve with the new title of co-founder.”

Showing that perhaps Reddit as a whole still doesn’t quite get why people didn’t like Pao, the post went on to attack those who criticized her, saying that “it was sickening to see some of the things Redditors wrote about Ellen,” before praising her complete failure as Chief Executive Officer as one of bringing “focus to chaos” and (you have to laugh at this given how many have abandoned the site for Voat,) one of driving “growth.”

Despite the social justice pledge of unrequited love to Pao, the Reddit admin did make a commitment to Reddit moderators going forward, adding that “Mods, you are what makes Reddit great. The Reddit team, now with Steve, wants to do more for you. You deserve better moderation tools and better communication from the admins.”

Can the damage be reversed?

The decision by the board to push Pao out of her position (make no mistake, she was pushed) has come far too late given the massive havoc and damage Pao’s leadership has done to the site.

The fact that the board took so long to push her as well may be reflected that it was not only Pao with the social justice warrior stance, but many of those who backed her as well.

The question then becomes one of can the damage be reversed?

Hundreds of thousands, possibly even millions of users have left the site and joined Voat, Reddit’s main competitor, and that ongoing flow of users away from the site is not like a tap you can simply turn off; indeed some claim that Voat already has around 25 percent of Reddit’s traffic and has already reached critical mass.

As a long term Reddit user I do hope though that with this change they can reverse the damage, although given the sneering comments of the admin post, I’m not in the least bit confident as yet, but I guess we’ll wait to hear what the new, returning Chief Executive Officer has to say.