Of course it's about monetization. There's a difference between how Reddit-the-company (and its investors) view the site, and how its users do.
It's like with cafés - visitors likes them quiet, and would very much enjoy having an electrical outlet near the table (to charge up phone) and even free Wi-Fi. But cafés aren't in business of making peoples' life better and more enjoyable, they're in business of selling coffee - so they'll actively remove electrical outlets, remove their Wi-Fi and make the place noiser, to increase turnover.
I’m in the Midwest. All of them do something to discourage staying all day. Most don’t have many seats with access to electrical. WiFi is restricted to a couple hours per session and not any faster than it needs to be. Most of them are echoey on purpose. It’s been several years since one tried to make bringing a computer at all difficult, though. I credit this to the re-emergence of Dunkin Donuts in our area, reducing the gain from competing for customers without much time for coffee.
It's like with cafés - visitors likes them quiet, and would very much enjoy having an electrical outlet near the table (to charge up phone) and even free Wi-Fi. But cafés aren't in business of making peoples' life better and more enjoyable, they're in business of selling coffee - so they'll actively remove electrical outlets, remove their Wi-Fi and make the place noiser, to increase turnover.