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I've been on Reddit since 2008 myself and was an avid user of forums etc for years before that. When I started on Reddit there was already an element of things

I've been on Reddit since 2008 myself and was an avid user of forums etc for years before that. When I started on Reddit there was already an element of things having changed, a move away from niche technology discussion towards lowest common denominator stuff and discussion by meme. In general this was fine as you could just move to smaller subreddits, and the bigger pages had fun cultures that permeated the others and gave it all a sense of unity and shared interest even when you were in your bubble. The difficult change I've seen in the past few years is the rising number of hate and harassment subs, and Reddit tolerating them. If you scroll through the top of /r/BanFemaleHateSubs or /r/AgainstDegenerateSubs you'll see how bad things have become and how unsafe the general environment is. It's not that discussion has become worse in an Eternal September way, it's that discussion has become openly threatening, with innocent women having their pictures and social media links shared for strangers to discuss rape and murder fantasy, and this gets 10s of 1000s of subscribers and Reddit routinely ignores reports about it.

0x138d5 4y ago
Reddit always had an element of \dchan in it ever since user subs were created. Coontown (and the preceding slur subreddit), FPH etc. In my view this is just a symptom of the wider populace gaining access to internet forums and the cultural shift mass internet usage brought. As in, there have always been darker corners of the internet, just that the people who frequented them had to have some level of nerdiness/geekiness and {nerds}∩{violent racists} is smaller than {whole population}∩{violent racists}.
- AlecSchueler 4y ago
  There always having been elements of racism and violent misogyny doesn't preclude there being either a quantitative or qualitative shift in how much Reddit as a whole is steered by such ideas. Back in 2010 there would be discussions about places like /r/jailbait, about the tradeoffs between free speech and public safety etc. Now there are subreddits openly sharing child pornography with links to the social media accounts of the children and their families, and Reddit auto responds that these things don't violate their usage policies when reported.
Dracophoenix 4y ago
> The difficult change I've seen in the past few years is the rising number of hate and harassment subs, and Reddit tolerating them. If you scroll through the top of /r/BanFemaleHateSubs or /r/AgainstDegenerateSubs you'll see how bad things have become and how unsafe the general environment is. The r/BanThisandThat subreddits are little more than morality police. Many of those posts will take statements out of context or regard any "cis-het" sexual fantasies as threatening to women. > It's not that discussion has become worse in an Eternal September way, it's that discussion has become openly threatening, with innocent women having their pictures and social media links shared for strangers to discuss rape and murder fantasy, and this gets 10s of 1000s of subscribers and Reddit routinely ignores reports about it. Firstly, social media accounts aren't secret. Anyone who publishes to a Twitter or FB account cannot claim a retroactive right to privacy. The other contention I have is that Reddit should not punish a written expression of thought merely because it's unpalatable to a certain section of its userbase. Pandering to a moral minority sets up a precedent for the most loudest performing "victims"-of-the-day to decide what everyone else is allowed to say, hear, or think.
- AlecSchueler 4y ago
  Have you looked at the subs they're talking about? They're sharing collections of zip folders of girls openly advertised as as young as 13, they're stalking women via social media sending descriptions of their potential rape to their family, they're robbing women's houses and sharing their stolen belongings, they're flashing, groping and ejaculating on women in public and filming it for upvotes. Call it morality police if you want but it's targeted sexual violence against minors and women who don't consent. I guess your morality and mine don't align. If I'm in the "morality minority" on this one then that's very sad and I would encourage yourself and other members of "morality majority" to reflect on how women are treated in your society. Out of interest, would you mind sharing your Facebook or Instagram profile here, so that someone could share you pictures on a subreddit for rape and murder fantasy about you, linking back to the account? It's only fantasy right, would be a shame of the morality police ruined the fun.
  - claudiawerner 4y ago
3qz 4y ago
- AlecSchueler 4y ago
  This is pure FUD and very dangerous. Firstly, you're talking about a different sub that what I linked to, grouping these together. The subs I linked are female led and moderated, at least BFHS. Secondly, they also have large numbers of participants from a range of backgrounds with a range of motivations. The subreddits they are discussing tend to have 10s of 1000s of followers actively engaging in various levels of harassment, I doubt that's a single sock puppet. Thirdly, do you have a source for anything you're claiming? Finally, if what you're saying is true then someone is posting child pornography to Reddit. Regardless of his intentions we should be concerned about that.
  - 3qz 4y ago
    - AlecSchueler 4y ago
      Could you explain a little more about your source and how it relates to the matter at hand? Your second point is simply false. There are plenty of real women active on Reddit, and many active as moderators. Yes I am sure of it.
    - IntelMiner 4y ago
      "male women" You mean transgender people? Because that's a pretty offensive description
  - Marsey 4y ago
    https://grahamlinehan.substack.com/p/theres-another-abusive-male-at-reddit https://grahamlinehan.substack.com/p/theres-another-abusive-...
    - 3qz 4y ago

0x138d5 4y ago

Reddit always had an element of \dchan in it ever since user subs were created. Coontown (and the preceding slur subreddit), FPH etc. In my view this is just a symptom of the wider populace gaining access to internet forums and the cultural shift mass internet usage brought. As in, there have always been darker corners of the internet, just that the people who frequented them had to have some level of nerdiness/geekiness and {nerds}∩{violent racists} is smaller than {whole population}∩{violent racists}.

AlecSchueler 4y ago
There always having been elements of racism and violent misogyny doesn't preclude there being either a quantitative or qualitative shift in how much Reddit as a whole is steered by such ideas. Back in 2010 there would be discussions about places like /r/jailbait, about the tradeoffs between free speech and public safety etc. Now there are subreddits openly sharing child pornography with links to the social media accounts of the children and their families, and Reddit auto responds that these things don't violate their usage policies when reported.

Dracophoenix 4y ago

> The difficult change I've seen in the past few years is the rising number of hate and harassment subs, and Reddit tolerating them. If you scroll through the top of /r/BanFemaleHateSubs or /r/AgainstDegenerateSubs you'll see how bad things have become and how unsafe the general environment is. The r/BanThisandThat subreddits are little more than morality police. Many of those posts will take statements out of context or regard any "cis-het" sexual fantasies as threatening to women. > It's not that discussion has become worse in an Eternal September way, it's that discussion has become openly threatening, with innocent women having their pictures and social media links shared for strangers to discuss rape and murder fantasy, and this gets 10s of 1000s of subscribers and Reddit routinely ignores reports about it. Firstly, social media accounts aren't secret. Anyone who publishes to a Twitter or FB account cannot claim a retroactive right to privacy. The other contention I have is that Reddit should not punish a written expression of thought merely because it's unpalatable to a certain section of its userbase. Pandering to a moral minority sets up a precedent for the most loudest performing "victims"-of-the-day to decide what everyone else is allowed to say, hear, or think.

AlecSchueler 4y ago
Have you looked at the subs they're talking about? They're sharing collections of zip folders of girls openly advertised as as young as 13, they're stalking women via social media sending descriptions of their potential rape to their family, they're robbing women's houses and sharing their stolen belongings, they're flashing, groping and ejaculating on women in public and filming it for upvotes. Call it morality police if you want but it's targeted sexual violence against minors and women who don't consent. I guess your morality and mine don't align. If I'm in the "morality minority" on this one then that's very sad and I would encourage yourself and other members of "morality majority" to reflect on how women are treated in your society. Out of interest, would you mind sharing your Facebook or Instagram profile here, so that someone could share you pictures on a subreddit for rape and murder fantasy about you, linking back to the account? It's only fantasy right, would be a shame of the morality police ruined the fun.
- claudiawerner 4y ago

3qz 4y ago

AlecSchueler 4y ago
This is pure FUD and very dangerous. Firstly, you're talking about a different sub that what I linked to, grouping these together. The subs I linked are female led and moderated, at least BFHS. Secondly, they also have large numbers of participants from a range of backgrounds with a range of motivations. The subreddits they are discussing tend to have 10s of 1000s of followers actively engaging in various levels of harassment, I doubt that's a single sock puppet. Thirdly, do you have a source for anything you're claiming? Finally, if what you're saying is true then someone is posting child pornography to Reddit. Regardless of his intentions we should be concerned about that.
- 3qz 4y ago
  - AlecSchueler 4y ago
    Could you explain a little more about your source and how it relates to the matter at hand? Your second point is simply false. There are plenty of real women active on Reddit, and many active as moderators. Yes I am sure of it.
  - IntelMiner 4y ago
    "male women" You mean transgender people? Because that's a pretty offensive description
- Marsey 4y ago
  https://grahamlinehan.substack.com/p/theres-another-abusive-male-at-reddit https://grahamlinehan.substack.com/p/theres-another-abusive-...
  - 3qz 4y ago