The problem is that downvotes are used as a disagree button rather than a terrible content button. It's why many places discontinued their dislike button, and why like/dislike has replaced a * or number system, because people think they're so important their opinion should weigh the most (and consequently give a 1 or 10).
Either way, that's not my point. My point is that up/downvoting created this hugbox where people are afraid of posting certain opinions, while amplifying the established opinion. It shaped the community to become a hugbox. Another example. Youtube allowed you to run more ads if you went over 10 minutes, creating a lot of videos that were padded to fit 10 minutes. When youtube promoted long-form videos by counting minutes watched over watched: yes/no, it stimulated long videos.
My conclusion: complaints about the reddit audience can be addressed by a change in platform mechanics. Reddit has a layer of mods that ruin communities. The new platform could change the community by removing this aspect.