6 ms·

How Reddit Bureau of Investigation solves mysteries while avoiding witch hunts

57 points by rayascott 8y ago

Karunamon 8y ago
Tangentially related, but this: >Hipson, who is also the sole moderator of r/PayPal, says he was brought on as an RBI mod because he “loves banning” people. That sentence right there describes one of the main problems with reddit. Power-seeking moderators who are more interested in flexing on users than making good communities.
- renholder 8y ago
  >That sentence right there describes one of the main problems with reddit: Power-seeking moderators who are more interested in flexing on users than making good communities. Agreed. Reddit went from being an active discussion board (if I can call it that) to having controlled dialogues. Echo chambers now exist, everywhere. Essentially, each sub is - veritably - it's own version of r/TumblerInAction on 'x' given topic, whether it be politics, social discourse, or what-have-you. Even the ban against "hate subs" doesn't seem to take into the fact that a lot of hate subs still exist[0], espousing hate and dehumanisation of people. (Far more have sprung-up since this list was made but do note that the list referenced has a political leaning to it, as well. Perhaps, though, this has more to do with the radicalisation of politics.) [0] - https://www.reddit.com/r/AgainstHateSubreddits/comments/68damg/list_of_hate_subreddits/ https://www.reddit.com/r/AgainstHateSubreddits/comments/68da...
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  - szrp1u 8y ago
    "AgainstHateSubreddits" is more like "AgainstExtremeRightSubreddits". Fascism? Bad. Communism? Good!
- duxup 8y ago
  I've moderated some forums in my time. The fact is the folks who REALLY want to be moderators, are almost always the folks who should not be. When I moderated a large gaming forum years ago, anyone who lobbied too hard was automatically out as a moderator candidate, the pattern was just way to clear that the folks who want to moderate badly, are the worst. It was amusing as when you denied those folks, they usually did something terrible... (forum rules wise, not really terrible). I agree, one of the issues with Reddit is that there is a chain of moderators who bring their buddies along or seem to horse trade moderator duties. I've seen more than one sub have issues after these full time mods show up as moderators in forums they don't seem to have participated in (yes I know they use alt accounts) and behave as if they do not understand the forum.... or just don't actually do anything and the forum falls prey to the usual low effort memes, "hey look at this pic" and such issues.
- Waterluvian 8y ago
  I moderated /r/science for a number of years. Such a high effort thankless job. Banning people was the worst part. It just creates conflicts with people who have not much more to lose on that front.
- Razengan 8y ago
  It's never right when a handful of people get to decide what communities of thousands get to see and talk about. The whole peer-voting system should have eliminated the need for moderators, instead it's become just another means of homogenizing opinion and stifling dissent.
  - dcbadacd 8y ago
    And curbing massive amounts of spam and just vitriol. Communities without strict moderation end up as cesspools.
    - 50656E6973 8y ago
      Communities with too many users end up as cesspools regardless of moderatiom
      - dcbadacd 8y ago
        If you word it like that of course. But "many" users is totally handleable without becoming a cesspool, HN is a good example.
        kortilla 8y ago
        Right, but HN is moderated with a very narrow scope of rules by the moderators. The rest is all community driven. dang isn’t running around pulling articles because they don’t fit a narrative
        50656E6973 8y ago
        Reddit has about 100x as many unique monthly active users as HN
- diminoten 8y ago
  I believe Slashdot's "king for a day" moderation style is still the best way to moderate a social news platform. It's actually weird how we haven't seen any innovation in this space for a long time; not just from Reddit, but from any other site like it. No one is trying anything new.
Traster 8y ago
It's kind of important to note that "Reddit Bureau of Investigation" is just one sub-reddit on reddit, not an actual custom thing endorsed by reddit and the next time a disaster happens /r/LearnsNothingFromThePast will be sure to pin the next crime on whichever brown person they can find first. In fact, the more you find out about this sub-reddit the more it sounds like Wired is making an erroneous link between the actual problem of vigilante-ism on reddit and some harmless Lost & Found style sub-reddit. If you actually want to follow the thread of reddit's amateur sleuths it doesn't go via /r/RDI it goes via /r/conspiracy. Having spent the entirity of 2016 claiming that Hilary Clinton was party to a secret pedofile ring in a pizza restaurant culminating in a vigilante shooting up the restaurant, they've now moved on. Joe Biden is pedofile this time! They've got video of him making physical contact with children in public spaces in front of cameras to prove it and they're going to run with this one till they've got their man! I just feel this story is a little ridiculous.
- jessaustin 8y ago
  Just so long as old Joe weren't colludin' with no foreigners!
- m0zg 8y ago
  > Joe Biden is pedophile this time! There seems to be a coordinated push against Biden, driven hard through the entirety of mainstream press at the moment. People who have been quiet for decades are coming out of the woodwork to #metoo the guy. I guess whoever owns the DNC really doesn't want him to run. By the looks and sheer force of the hit job, it seems that HRC (or someone of equal political weight) might run again.
  - jayd16 8y ago
    What kind of tin foil hat is this? Isn't it simply more likely that any number of announced opponents, Republican, Democratic or independent would dig up dirt (real or otherwise)?
    - nothal 8y ago
MisterTea 8y ago
I wonder what the future holds when faux social interaction with no repercussions seems to be the norm now.
exabrial 8y ago
If it we're purely fact finding, that'd be great. Instead it turns rapidly into doxing and "social justice".

57 points by rayascott 8y ago

Tangentially related, but this: >Hipson, who is also the sole moderator of r/PayPal, says he was brought on as an RBI mod because he “loves banning” people. That sentence right there describes one of the main problems with reddit. Power-seeking moderators who are more interested in flexing on users than making good communities.

renholder 8y ago
>That sentence right there describes one of the main problems with reddit: Power-seeking moderators who are more interested in flexing on users than making good communities. Agreed. Reddit went from being an active discussion board (if I can call it that) to having controlled dialogues. Echo chambers now exist, everywhere. Essentially, each sub is - veritably - it's own version of r/TumblerInAction on 'x' given topic, whether it be politics, social discourse, or what-have-you. Even the ban against "hate subs" doesn't seem to take into the fact that a lot of hate subs still exist[0], espousing hate and dehumanisation of people. (Far more have sprung-up since this list was made but do note that the list referenced has a political leaning to it, as well. Perhaps, though, this has more to do with the radicalisation of politics.) [0] - https://www.reddit.com/r/AgainstHateSubreddits/comments/68damg/list_of_hate_subreddits/ https://www.reddit.com/r/AgainstHateSubreddits/comments/68da...
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- szrp1u 8y ago
  "AgainstHateSubreddits" is more like "AgainstExtremeRightSubreddits". Fascism? Bad. Communism? Good!
duxup 8y ago
I've moderated some forums in my time. The fact is the folks who REALLY want to be moderators, are almost always the folks who should not be. When I moderated a large gaming forum years ago, anyone who lobbied too hard was automatically out as a moderator candidate, the pattern was just way to clear that the folks who want to moderate badly, are the worst. It was amusing as when you denied those folks, they usually did something terrible... (forum rules wise, not really terrible). I agree, one of the issues with Reddit is that there is a chain of moderators who bring their buddies along or seem to horse trade moderator duties. I've seen more than one sub have issues after these full time mods show up as moderators in forums they don't seem to have participated in (yes I know they use alt accounts) and behave as if they do not understand the forum.... or just don't actually do anything and the forum falls prey to the usual low effort memes, "hey look at this pic" and such issues.
Waterluvian 8y ago
I moderated /r/science for a number of years. Such a high effort thankless job. Banning people was the worst part. It just creates conflicts with people who have not much more to lose on that front.
Razengan 8y ago
It's never right when a handful of people get to decide what communities of thousands get to see and talk about. The whole peer-voting system should have eliminated the need for moderators, instead it's become just another means of homogenizing opinion and stifling dissent.
- dcbadacd 8y ago
  And curbing massive amounts of spam and just vitriol. Communities without strict moderation end up as cesspools.
  - 50656E6973 8y ago
    Communities with too many users end up as cesspools regardless of moderatiom
    - dcbadacd 8y ago
      If you word it like that of course. But "many" users is totally handleable without becoming a cesspool, HN is a good example.
      - kortilla 8y ago
        Right, but HN is moderated with a very narrow scope of rules by the moderators. The rest is all community driven. dang isn’t running around pulling articles because they don’t fit a narrative
      - 50656E6973 8y ago
        Reddit has about 100x as many unique monthly active users as HN
diminoten 8y ago
I believe Slashdot's "king for a day" moderation style is still the best way to moderate a social news platform. It's actually weird how we haven't seen any innovation in this space for a long time; not just from Reddit, but from any other site like it. No one is trying anything new.

Traster 8y ago

It's kind of important to note that "Reddit Bureau of Investigation" is just one sub-reddit on reddit, not an actual custom thing endorsed by reddit and the next time a disaster happens /r/LearnsNothingFromThePast will be sure to pin the next crime on whichever brown person they can find first. In fact, the more you find out about this sub-reddit the more it sounds like Wired is making an erroneous link between the actual problem of vigilante-ism on reddit and some harmless Lost & Found style sub-reddit. If you actually want to follow the thread of reddit's amateur sleuths it doesn't go via /r/RDI it goes via /r/conspiracy. Having spent the entirity of 2016 claiming that Hilary Clinton was party to a secret pedofile ring in a pizza restaurant culminating in a vigilante shooting up the restaurant, they've now moved on. Joe Biden is pedofile this time! They've got video of him making physical contact with children in public spaces in front of cameras to prove it and they're going to run with this one till they've got their man! I just feel this story is a little ridiculous.

jessaustin 8y ago
Just so long as old Joe weren't colludin' with no foreigners!
m0zg 8y ago
> Joe Biden is pedophile this time! There seems to be a coordinated push against Biden, driven hard through the entirety of mainstream press at the moment. People who have been quiet for decades are coming out of the woodwork to #metoo the guy. I guess whoever owns the DNC really doesn't want him to run. By the looks and sheer force of the hit job, it seems that HRC (or someone of equal political weight) might run again.
- jayd16 8y ago
  What kind of tin foil hat is this? Isn't it simply more likely that any number of announced opponents, Republican, Democratic or independent would dig up dirt (real or otherwise)?
  - nothal 8y ago

MisterTea 8y ago

I wonder what the future holds when faux social interaction with no repercussions seems to be the norm now.

exabrial 8y ago

If it we're purely fact finding, that'd be great. Instead it turns rapidly into doxing and "social justice".