Subreddits

When I was having an early Christmas dinner with some friends, we started talking about subreddits. I had never heard of a subreddit: “What does that even mean?” I asked. My friends explained that there was a subreddit for everything and anything you could think about. “It’s like a community for people who like a show, club, place, activity, or any topic you could possibly imagine”. My friend showed me some subreddits that might interest me: ‘foodie’, ‘The Office’, ‘cute dogs’. But then, somehow, the conversation took a whole different turn…

The Insanity of Subreddit Topics

Apparently, there are quite some very controversial subreddit topics. For example, in order to explain the absurdity and unlimitedness of subreddits, my friend told me about how subreddits exist specifically for ‘incest’. Curious as I am, I wanted to read a few stories on this subreddit (my curiosity has no boundaries).

Between my shock and surprise over some of the stories I had read on the ‘incest’ subreddit, my curiosity still wasn’t satisfied. In fact, it had only gotten hungry for more crazy stories and insane subreddits. Fortunately, like always, Google and Wikipedia had my back. A little Google search soon granted me a whole Wikipedia page dedicated to ‘Controversial Reddit Communities’. Subreddits on this list include topics like Beatingwomen, Creepshots, FatPeopleHate, NoNewNormal, MensRights, TheRedPill, and more. Many of these controversial Reddit communities are highly inappropriate, sharing pictures and stories of harming women, sexualized photos of people taken without their knowledge. They tend to promote antifeminism, racism, rape culture, and a large range of other hate-bearing movements. Some of these ‘communities have been banned (and i.m.o. most rightly so), but the existence and suspension of these subreddits make me question the actions of moderators on this platform.

Banned Reddit community NoNewNormal (Techspot)

Moderators can be considered as a certain kind of ‘overseer’ of discussions, topics, and pictures on social media platforms. Mods are supposed to assess whether pictures, discussions and/or comments adhere to Reddit’s rules. In case they find that there is an issue with any of these, they are able to remove posts, and ban users. On Reddit, the creator of a subreddit automatically also becomes the moderator of the community. This manner of appointing a moderator seems to me to be a little faulty, especially considering that apparently, some people create harmful communities and this very fact makes me personally question their moral judgment. Fortunately, this is not where the hierarchy of moderators ends. Reddit appoints volunteers which further oversee communities and delete these if they violate Reddit’s guidelines. Moderation isn’t as clear-cut as it may seem, because rules and guidelines may vary per community, and the scope of a community can be overwhelming to a moderator. Especially considering the shocking topics which moderators could face. Having read only a few of the stories on some of these subreddits, I could not imagine having to deal with them on a daily and it is then no surprise, that Reddit works along with mental health organizations to help moderators cope.

Reference List

Business Insider, The Reddit Starter Pack

Reddit, What’s a moderator?

Protocol, How a screenshot started a fight that took over Reddit