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Reddit is visited by tens of millions of people of virtually every demographic. Corralling them as "internet nerds" seems a bit like you're trying for some bull

Reddit is visited by tens of millions of people of virtually every demographic. Corralling them as "internet nerds" seems a bit like you're trying for some bullying yourself. In any case, talk about much ado about absolutely nothing. A bunch of people said silly things, largely under the assumption that it was no consequence (that no one was hurt, etc): In many ways the comments on there are performance art. It is the most astonishingly meaningless thing going, and really the purpose of this entry that we're discussing is the chap talking a moment to extend that fifteen minutes. Above all other things, internet communities is what makes me cynical about humanity. People declaring their cynicism about humanity (or trite variations like "faith restored") make me cynical about humanity.

yetanotherphd 13y ago
>Corralling them as "internet nerds" seems a bit like you're trying for some bullying yourself. Exactly. Encouraging the stereotype that in addition to having deserved bullying in high school for their poor social skills, nerds deserved bullying because they are mean spirited and just waiting till it's their turn to be the bully.
jmduke 13y ago
Reddit is visited by tens of millions of people of virtually every demographic. Corralling them as "internet nerds" seems a bit like you're trying for some bullying yourself. The post to which you're replying didn't even mention Reddit. Reddit is by no means the only place where a nerdy demographic (and I'll define 'nerdy demographic' as 18-25 that skew towards STEM education and exhibit above-average internet usage) tends to engage in destructive behavior, but they're certainly guilty of it. A bunch of people said silly things, largely under the assumption that it was no consequence (that no one was hurt, etc) The whole point of the article is the inherent falsity of the assumption that what you do online has diminished/no consequences. People who are on the Internet tend to forget that literally everybody else is on the Internet too. Being a jackass isn't somehow excusable just because you don't know who you're being a jackass to (in fact, some would argue that it makes it worse.)
- jlgreco 13y ago
  > The post to which you're replying didn't even mention Reddit. Didn't this all kick off with a mean-spirited reaction to a photo on Reddit? The ancestor post hardly needs to mention Reddit explicitly...
- stonemetal 13y ago
  He did in fact mention it. It's also interesting to see how many times Reddit (and other communities) fly into a rage-fest because of lack of context,
- xvolter 13y ago
  The article mentions Reddit being the place where C.D. Hermelin was textually abused for being a hipster; or more accurately, accused of being a hipster solely because he was using a typewriter. Reddit is the only place where the internet nerds in discussion come from. Reddit however is not made up of internet nerds. Reddit is made up of average joes who know enough about computers to register at facebook and reddit. The average reddit user is no more advanced than the average 13-year-old nowadays - can browse the internet, turn of a computer and install some games on their smartphone and tablet. They were never made fun of for being internet nerds, because they're not nerds nor geeks. They're just average joes; because as you say, everybody is on the internet nowadays, and those who are the truly advanced users who MAY have been made fun of more because of it generally do not spend their time raging about a hipster. I say may because honestly, geeks are not the object of ridicule as they once were.
  - brianpgordon 13y ago
    Reddit is a heterogeneous collection of wildly different subreddits. Some subreddits (/r/pics, /r/funny, /r/WTF) are "average" as you described, but others have different demographics.
    - bashinator 13y ago
      For example, I would hardly call the typical user of /r/TalesFromYourServer to be a 20-25 year old male STEM-educated nerd.
brownBananas 13y ago
People declaring their cynicism about humanity (or trite variations like "faith restored") make me cynical about humanity. This is very intriguing. Although I have some idea of what you mean, I would love it if you could elaborate on this.
- jlgreco 13y ago
  I think he meant it as snark, but I could easily understanding despair at the fact that so many people seem to "give up" on humanity for such ultimately fleeting reasons. What hope is there for humanity if everybody is so dreadfully defeatist?
flumbaps 13y ago
Even though people from all walks of life visit Reddit, that does not mean every demographic is equally represented.

yetanotherphd 13y ago

>Corralling them as "internet nerds" seems a bit like you're trying for some bullying yourself. Exactly. Encouraging the stereotype that in addition to having deserved bullying in high school for their poor social skills, nerds deserved bullying because they are mean spirited and just waiting till it's their turn to be the bully.

jmduke 13y ago

Reddit is visited by tens of millions of people of virtually every demographic. Corralling them as "internet nerds" seems a bit like you're trying for some bullying yourself. The post to which you're replying didn't even mention Reddit. Reddit is by no means the only place where a nerdy demographic (and I'll define 'nerdy demographic' as 18-25 that skew towards STEM education and exhibit above-average internet usage) tends to engage in destructive behavior, but they're certainly guilty of it. A bunch of people said silly things, largely under the assumption that it was no consequence (that no one was hurt, etc) The whole point of the article is the inherent falsity of the assumption that what you do online has diminished/no consequences. People who are on the Internet tend to forget that literally everybody else is on the Internet too. Being a jackass isn't somehow excusable just because you don't know who you're being a jackass to (in fact, some would argue that it makes it worse.)

jlgreco 13y ago
> The post to which you're replying didn't even mention Reddit. Didn't this all kick off with a mean-spirited reaction to a photo on Reddit? The ancestor post hardly needs to mention Reddit explicitly...
stonemetal 13y ago
He did in fact mention it. It's also interesting to see how many times Reddit (and other communities) fly into a rage-fest because of lack of context,
xvolter 13y ago
The article mentions Reddit being the place where C.D. Hermelin was textually abused for being a hipster; or more accurately, accused of being a hipster solely because he was using a typewriter. Reddit is the only place where the internet nerds in discussion come from. Reddit however is not made up of internet nerds. Reddit is made up of average joes who know enough about computers to register at facebook and reddit. The average reddit user is no more advanced than the average 13-year-old nowadays - can browse the internet, turn of a computer and install some games on their smartphone and tablet. They were never made fun of for being internet nerds, because they're not nerds nor geeks. They're just average joes; because as you say, everybody is on the internet nowadays, and those who are the truly advanced users who MAY have been made fun of more because of it generally do not spend their time raging about a hipster. I say may because honestly, geeks are not the object of ridicule as they once were.
- brianpgordon 13y ago
  Reddit is a heterogeneous collection of wildly different subreddits. Some subreddits (/r/pics, /r/funny, /r/WTF) are "average" as you described, but others have different demographics.
  - bashinator 13y ago
    For example, I would hardly call the typical user of /r/TalesFromYourServer to be a 20-25 year old male STEM-educated nerd.

brownBananas 13y ago

People declaring their cynicism about humanity (or trite variations like "faith restored") make me cynical about humanity. This is very intriguing. Although I have some idea of what you mean, I would love it if you could elaborate on this.

jlgreco 13y ago
I think he meant it as snark, but I could easily understanding despair at the fact that so many people seem to "give up" on humanity for such ultimately fleeting reasons. What hope is there for humanity if everybody is so dreadfully defeatist?

flumbaps 13y ago

Even though people from all walks of life visit Reddit, that does not mean every demographic is equally represented.