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As we know most users on a subreddit do not create the content for each other. Its a tiny minority. Additionally, Reddit themselves, in the effort to identify a
by thinkingemote 5y ago
As we know most users on a subreddit do not create the content for each other. Its a tiny minority. Additionally, Reddit themselves, in the effort to identify and quarantine/ban bad behaviour labelled subreddits "communities". Previously users would subscribe to a bunch of subreddits as a kind of casual action, now the site itself is framing it as joining a community, as an identity. (Communities from outside can join reddit and create a subreddit, bringing their users but this is a different case and not what I'm talking about.)
Taken together the subreddits themselves can identify their own subscribers as forming a community. However the actual numbers are very low and the cohesiveness of the subreddit is illusory. Subreddits created from within reddit are not communities in actuality. They might have some dedicated people within it, but they won't be able to bring their community and the numbers they would like with them because the community doesn't actually exist.
- mid-kid 5y agoThis reminds me of a part of 4chan history that the old admin (moot) talked about in his final q&a, where people used to post in all sorts of different boards all the time, but over time as the population grew, more people started staying on a single board, causing cultures to diverge, people to form their identities based on a small subset of boards, and starting cross-board flame wars and a general distaste for cross-boarders. I think these might case studies in societal behavior rather than directly being influenced by moderator action.