7 ms·

"Cult" does not necessarily have the same meaning as "niche" or "obscure." Here they're using it to describe the fanaticism rather than the small audience. You

"Cult" does not necessarily have the same meaning as "niche" or "obscure." Here they're using it to describe the fanaticism rather than the small audience. You could legitimately call star trek a "cult show" IMO.

raldi 12y ago
Do you think it would be fair to refer to football (either one) as a sport with a cult following?
- JonnieCache 12y ago
  Good point. Probably not. It needs some sort of outsider status. Which star trek doesn't really have any more but that's debatable.
  - raldi 12y ago
    But that's my whole point -- reddit may once have been comprised of outsiders, but those days are long gone. It's bigger than Twitter was in 2012. Could you imagine a journalist in 2012 calling Twitter a cult website?
    - JonnieCache 12y ago
      I didn't know it had grown that large. How much bigger has twitter gotten in the last two years? I agree that in the context of journalism it's a loaded term that's probably not fair. The outsider status is about more than the user count though. They maintain that status with all the weird stuff they get up to.
      - raldi 12y ago
        > How much bigger has twitter gotten in the last two years? They're up to 284M: https://about.twitter.com/company https://about.twitter.com/company
    - glomph 12y ago
      I think users of reddit still approach it like it is composed of outsiders (even though it isn't). For example plenty of people I know use the site but people don't talk about it like they would twitter. Using twitter is a sort of normal social network. Reddit is treated far more analogously to a tv show that some people like and others don't. Of course I can't really back this up with anything as it is just a feeling.
    - riffraff 12y ago
      I don't think "cult" means "small group" in this context, but "strongly followed". At least, that is how I always interpreted stuff like "apocalypse now is a cult movie".

raldi 12y ago

Do you think it would be fair to refer to football (either one) as a sport with a cult following?

JonnieCache 12y ago
Good point. Probably not. It needs some sort of outsider status. Which star trek doesn't really have any more but that's debatable.
- raldi 12y ago
  But that's my whole point -- reddit may once have been comprised of outsiders, but those days are long gone. It's bigger than Twitter was in 2012. Could you imagine a journalist in 2012 calling Twitter a cult website?
  - JonnieCache 12y ago
    I didn't know it had grown that large. How much bigger has twitter gotten in the last two years? I agree that in the context of journalism it's a loaded term that's probably not fair. The outsider status is about more than the user count though. They maintain that status with all the weird stuff they get up to.
    - raldi 12y ago
      > How much bigger has twitter gotten in the last two years? They're up to 284M: https://about.twitter.com/company https://about.twitter.com/company
  - glomph 12y ago
    I think users of reddit still approach it like it is composed of outsiders (even though it isn't). For example plenty of people I know use the site but people don't talk about it like they would twitter. Using twitter is a sort of normal social network. Reddit is treated far more analogously to a tv show that some people like and others don't. Of course I can't really back this up with anything as it is just a feeling.
  - riffraff 12y ago
    I don't think "cult" means "small group" in this context, but "strongly followed". At least, that is how I always interpreted stuff like "apocalypse now is a cult movie".