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The tension that The_Donald and many alt-right subreddits place on reddit in general seems to be reaching a boiling point. I get the feeling the admins are just

The tension that The_Donald and many alt-right subreddits place on reddit in general seems to be reaching a boiling point. I get the feeling the admins are just waiting for a credible reason to present itself that lets them cleanly wipe out all of them.

return0 10y ago
the donald is well moderated, esp. from doxxing and other personal stuff. they are of course very lively and get to the nerves of leftists, but that's about it. it's actually quite entertaining if you can leave behind enmities (and don't take it too seriously).
- pavanky 10y ago
  "lively" would be a very very generous representation of what that sub is.
- SquareWheel 10y ago
  Considering the thread thread above, I certainly wouldn't call it "well moderated". The all caps and inciting users come off as extremely childish and unprofessional. I don't know what Steve was thinking, but 10 seconds in that thread makes me start to understand.
- marxbroseph 10y ago
  /r/The_Donald is a place where a mix of trolls, fascists, and white nationalists get riled up, and work to start a horrifying new chapter in history. Fascists and white nationalists defend it by claiming it's just clownish fun. (which, unamusingly, is EXACTLY the same explanation given by the supporters of fascism in Italy, and Russia, and Germany). Trolls really are having fun, they just don't give a fuck. It's propaganda. It's gross. All of the donald's loser readers and writers have the right to share their bad ideas; but they have no particular right to say it on Reddit.
  - golergka 10y ago
    Having had talked to actual russian nationalists and fascists, it's complete bull. Their views are based on search for sincerety and almost religious revelations, it's a completely opposite mindset of internet trolls.
    - vowelless 10y ago
      Having lived in the middle east where fascism and totalitarianism is the norm, the Donald subreddit was child's play. The politics sub reddit had more Implicit propaganda in favor of trump and Bernie (from my cursory readings) but both were pretty bad. I don't remember any pro Hillary propaganda when I used to visit the website. I just stopped going to reddit during this election. I think that helped me keep my sanity.
  - dglass 10y ago
    /r/The_Donald has changed a bit since the election has passed. There was some serious investigative work being done on the wikileaks podesta files. They uncovered things that the maintream media missed because they were too busy convincing people Hillary was going to win by a landslide. Things were uncovered that got some powerful people fired. It's since turned back into mostly memes and shitposting though. All I'm asking is to not automatically dismiss it all as propaganda. Regardless of your political affiliation, the podesta files should be looked at very closely. Most of the mainstream media glossed over it and the only place that really dissected the emails was /r/The_Donald. It's concerning that wikileaks was rarely, if ever, mentioned in /r/politics.
    - marxbroseph 10y ago
      If that's their positive contribution to the world, then consider me unimpressed. I abhor the notion that it's acceptable to hack the private communications of a political opponent, and publish them wholesale. I hate that people have decided it's somehow normal (or worse, noble) to engage in such chicanery because it was politically expedient. It's entirely different than other forms of leaks. Wholesale surveillance is a terrible idea no matter who is doing it. It's really effective propaganda, because most folks aren't clever enough to realize that the lack of countervailing scandal is solely because the other party didn't do any hacking... but it's a terrible precedent, and anybody who participated in it should be deeply ashamed of themselves. Anybody who praises it should borrow a moral compass.
gottam 10y ago
What is the tension about exactly? That they don't align with their own personal political views?
- Mithaldu 10y ago
  That you think they're actually expressing their political views instead of shitposting to rile up actual trump voters while pissing off the rest of the internet is fairly naive.
  - gottam 10y ago
    I dont think anything, it was a genuine question and I'm out of the loop. I don't go to reddit much so its the first I've heard of this.
    - Mithaldu 10y ago
      Fair enough. Your question sounded leading to me and given the atmosphere i failed to provide benefit of the doubt. That particular sub-reddit is a mixture of real people, and trolls who pose as trump supporters to egg the supporters on, as well as scaring and pissing off people against trump. The result being that with little effort and prodding on their side they get to see glorious internet mudfights. However due to the way they're doing it, it's hard to tell which is which. That puts reddit admins in a bind and they have to balance things. Do they keep distance and let subtle trolls go unscathed? Do they take harsher measures and hit actual trump supporters? How much of this spills over into other reddits? How to handle the /all pollution? Letting it get in there just increases the mudfights, but if they take steps they'll be accused of censorships.
    - nicky0 10y ago
      Don't worry, I go to Reddit every day and this is the first I've heard of it.
  - 551199 10y ago
    Exactly. It's not even trying to be non biased. The bigger issue is with subreddits like r/politics that you would think to be at least somewhat non partisan but was controlled by correct the record during election.
odonnellryan 10y ago
Do they need a reason? It is their platform + they need their advertisers to stick around...

return0 10y ago

the donald is well moderated, esp. from doxxing and other personal stuff. they are of course very lively and get to the nerves of leftists, but that's about it. it's actually quite entertaining if you can leave behind enmities (and don't take it too seriously).

pavanky 10y ago
"lively" would be a very very generous representation of what that sub is.
SquareWheel 10y ago
Considering the thread thread above, I certainly wouldn't call it "well moderated". The all caps and inciting users come off as extremely childish and unprofessional. I don't know what Steve was thinking, but 10 seconds in that thread makes me start to understand.
marxbroseph 10y ago
/r/The_Donald is a place where a mix of trolls, fascists, and white nationalists get riled up, and work to start a horrifying new chapter in history. Fascists and white nationalists defend it by claiming it's just clownish fun. (which, unamusingly, is EXACTLY the same explanation given by the supporters of fascism in Italy, and Russia, and Germany). Trolls really are having fun, they just don't give a fuck. It's propaganda. It's gross. All of the donald's loser readers and writers have the right to share their bad ideas; but they have no particular right to say it on Reddit.
- golergka 10y ago
  Having had talked to actual russian nationalists and fascists, it's complete bull. Their views are based on search for sincerety and almost religious revelations, it's a completely opposite mindset of internet trolls.
  - vowelless 10y ago
    Having lived in the middle east where fascism and totalitarianism is the norm, the Donald subreddit was child's play. The politics sub reddit had more Implicit propaganda in favor of trump and Bernie (from my cursory readings) but both were pretty bad. I don't remember any pro Hillary propaganda when I used to visit the website. I just stopped going to reddit during this election. I think that helped me keep my sanity.
- dglass 10y ago
  /r/The_Donald has changed a bit since the election has passed. There was some serious investigative work being done on the wikileaks podesta files. They uncovered things that the maintream media missed because they were too busy convincing people Hillary was going to win by a landslide. Things were uncovered that got some powerful people fired. It's since turned back into mostly memes and shitposting though. All I'm asking is to not automatically dismiss it all as propaganda. Regardless of your political affiliation, the podesta files should be looked at very closely. Most of the mainstream media glossed over it and the only place that really dissected the emails was /r/The_Donald. It's concerning that wikileaks was rarely, if ever, mentioned in /r/politics.
  - marxbroseph 10y ago
    If that's their positive contribution to the world, then consider me unimpressed. I abhor the notion that it's acceptable to hack the private communications of a political opponent, and publish them wholesale. I hate that people have decided it's somehow normal (or worse, noble) to engage in such chicanery because it was politically expedient. It's entirely different than other forms of leaks. Wholesale surveillance is a terrible idea no matter who is doing it. It's really effective propaganda, because most folks aren't clever enough to realize that the lack of countervailing scandal is solely because the other party didn't do any hacking... but it's a terrible precedent, and anybody who participated in it should be deeply ashamed of themselves. Anybody who praises it should borrow a moral compass.

gottam 10y ago

What is the tension about exactly? That they don't align with their own personal political views?

Mithaldu 10y ago
That you think they're actually expressing their political views instead of shitposting to rile up actual trump voters while pissing off the rest of the internet is fairly naive.
- gottam 10y ago
  I dont think anything, it was a genuine question and I'm out of the loop. I don't go to reddit much so its the first I've heard of this.
  - Mithaldu 10y ago
    Fair enough. Your question sounded leading to me and given the atmosphere i failed to provide benefit of the doubt. That particular sub-reddit is a mixture of real people, and trolls who pose as trump supporters to egg the supporters on, as well as scaring and pissing off people against trump. The result being that with little effort and prodding on their side they get to see glorious internet mudfights. However due to the way they're doing it, it's hard to tell which is which. That puts reddit admins in a bind and they have to balance things. Do they keep distance and let subtle trolls go unscathed? Do they take harsher measures and hit actual trump supporters? How much of this spills over into other reddits? How to handle the /all pollution? Letting it get in there just increases the mudfights, but if they take steps they'll be accused of censorships.
  - nicky0 10y ago
    Don't worry, I go to Reddit every day and this is the first I've heard of it.
- 551199 10y ago
  Exactly. It's not even trying to be non biased. The bigger issue is with subreddits like r/politics that you would think to be at least somewhat non partisan but was controlled by correct the record during election.

odonnellryan 10y ago

Do they need a reason? It is their platform + they need their advertisers to stick around...