I’d imagine if Reddit were to do it we’d be up in our arms.

Reddit does have a list of blocked domains, apparently they even wholesale block things on the .ru top level domain.

Reddit the business, or Reddit the subreddit managed by free mods?

The former does do this, and has for a very long time. The mods of each subreddit can ban whatever domain they want.

I also think the managers should come with conversation starters to these meetings. Be curious about what your reports do and proactively ask them about something specific they did last month and anything they can do to improve. Coming with a blank slate because you think you are doing someone a favor by giving them your time will always lead to status updates or awkward silences.

The conversation starter needs to be chosen carefully though. If it's a question about a project, it may be easily construed as dissatisfaction on the progress of the project, when the manager is neutrally curious.

Good point! These etiquette do make a difference.

I feel it all comes down to communicating your strengths to your bosses, assuming they are reasonable engineers themselves. I am hoping to learn such a trick from someone who might have done that or partially attempted doing it and learnt something.

Nobody's ever cared about the stuff I made never happen by being good ahead of time. They've only ever really cared about the fixes to stuff that blew up. It helped that whatever blew up wasn't mine, I guess, but not that much.

Really, a lot of places just put up with your personal desires for excellence as long as you keep saving their bacon. Stop saving their bacon or throw the "balance" off from their point of view, and they won't appreciate you any more.

Sorry, but management tends to suck in this regard. If you find someplace that's different, hang onto it!