Reddit: more racist than Stormfront

Charlie Don't Surf

Charlie Don't Surf

http://gawker.com/how-reddit-became-a-worse-black-hole-of-violent-racism-1690505395

TW: every slur possible, lots of violence

yet another brick in the "I never go to Reddit for anything ever" wall I have built here


Racist websites and organizations do sometimes benefit from racist subreddits like the Chimpire. That's because subreddit users often post links to other racist sites, and those links drive traffic to those other sites, which in turn typically sell merchandise in addition to pushing racist ideology and recruiting.
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HCGLNS

HCGLNS

You are perhaps the most hate filled individual I have had the misfortune to associate with.

But you amuse me, so I think I'll keep you.
 
fade

fade

Staff member
I think some of the comments summed it up nicely: the subscriberships on the subreddits mentioned in the article are very small, which feels very clickbait-y.
 
Charlie Don't Surf

Charlie Don't Surf

Just a general question, would y'all keep posting on Halforums if we had a subforum called "The Chimpire" ?[DOUBLEPOST=1426020890,1426020796][/DOUBLEPOST]
fade said:
I think some of the comments summed it up nicely: the subscriberships on the subreddits mentioned in the article are very small, which feels very clickbait-y.
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I dunno if you scrolled past the text of the article to the comments or not, but I'll help out

Within a year, the Chimpire network had grown to include 46 active subreddits spanning an alarming range of racist topics, including "Teenapers," "ApeWrangling," "Detoilet," and "Chicongo," along with subreddits for both "TrayvonMartin" and "ferguson," each of them dealing with the controversial and highly publicized shooting deaths of unarmed black teenagers.

Then, last November, Reddit's most racist community evolved once again, adding the subreddit called CoonTown in the aftermath of a dispute between several top moderators at GreatApes. In just four days, CoonTown had reached 1,000 subscribers. And its popularity continues to grow.

According to Reddit Metrics, as of Jan. 6, there were 552,829 subreddits. CoonTown, with its 3,287 subscribers, ranked 6,279th, placing it in the top 2% of subreddits. It is the 680th fastest-growing subreddit on the site despite — or because of — violently racist material including a large number of threads dedicated to videos of black-on-black violence.
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HCGLNS

HCGLNS

So by your own data 0.1% of Redditors are racist.

You need to find yourself a girl mate.

Or a windmill.
 
Ravenpoe

Ravenpoe

Charlie Don't Surf said:
Just a general question, would y'all keep posting on Halforums if we had a subforum called "The Chimpire" ?
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If this was a place like Reddit where users created the boards, then yes, because while I wouldn't post there and wouldn't like the content, I believe in freedom of speech, even terrible speech.

Similarly, I live in a country that allows the KKK to exist. Does that means the USA endorses them? No (though I wouldn't be surprised if some congressmen where members.)
 
fade

fade

Staff member
No I saw that. Those percentage numbers as presented don't mean much. Top 2% of a cloud of subreddits with single digit subcribers. The actual subscriber population--3287--is minuscule by popular subreddit standards.

http://redditlist.com/

The top subreddits have hundreds to thousands of times as many subscribers by comparison.
 
tegid

tegid

Charlie Don't Surf said:
Just a general question, would y'all keep posting on Halforums if we had a subforum called "The Chimpire" ?
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I don't think you get how reddit works. It's not a forum, it's a platform where something like forums can be created. I mean, I know of political parties that have a subreddit and use it as their main means of discussion and as a significant part of their decision making. Obviously reddit does not endorse, not even care, about their political ideas!
 
Bowielee

Bowielee

Honestly, if there was a thread like that on this board that received support, I would seriously consider leaving the community. It wouldn't be an issue of free speech. it would be an issue of taking by business somewhere that doesn't support racism.

But, I think communally, something like that on these boards would get shut down by the community.

Also, it's against our very own TOS.
 
Ravenpoe

Ravenpoe

Bowielee said:
Honestly, if there was a thread like that on this board that received support, I would seriously consider leaving the community. It wouldn't be an issue of free speech. it would be an issue of taking by business somewhere that doesn't support racism.

But, I think communally, something like that on these boards would get shut down by the community.

Also, it's against our very own TOS.
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We are a single community, though. Reddit is a space for thousands of communities. And some of them are racist.
 
SpecialKO

SpecialKO

That is a click-bait-y headline, even for Gawker.

It's like someone at Gawker decided "Condé Nast turns blind eye to racists Reddit users" was too proportionally accurate.
 
Dave

Dave

Staff member
Would we ever have anything like that? No. No we would not. Would we tolerate people talking like that? No. No we would not.

But here's the thing - we're not Reddit. We have more of a narrow focus than 4chan or Reddit, even if we do wander afar at times. And yes, Reddit has some absolute shit, but it also has some great stuff. But let's take it a step farther. Should we censor the web because there are hate sites out there? Should we start to impinge on the free speech of others just because we don't like it? Should we shut down the Westboro Baptist Church because we don't like their message of intolerance? Of course not. And even if we should start shutting down things like that, who decides what is intolerable or not? What if the person in charge was a militant Black Panther supporter and decided to make the web ethnic? Or christian and decided that everyone had to adhere to one religious rule, much like some radical muslim governments?

Free speech isn't about being able to say what's popular or politically correct, it's also about being able to say any damned fool thing that your hate-filled brain can think of, as long as it doesn't specifically impinge on the rights of others or cause a DEFINABLE danger - not the ones in the "patriarchy" or "old white man" horror stories that SJWs love to throw around. Is there real racism, sexism, and terribleness? Hell to the yeah there is. But I will defend to the death your ability to talk like that as long as you are aware that your statements might have consequences. Take the recent songs at Oklahoma State University. Those people absolutely had the right to sing that stupid-ass song and be as racist as they pleased. But the university also had the right to expel them.

If you refuse to go to Reddit because a minuscule portion of the subreddits - which you can block, by the way - offend you, then you should never get on the internet again because, brother, there's a lot worse stuff out there.
 
Dave

Dave

Staff member
To me Reddit is like Pandora. When you first start it's filled with music you'd never want to listen to ever, ever, ever. So you block those songs. As you use it more and more, the songs (topics, subs) start to align more and more to your tastes. (Especially if you use RES.) Pretty soon Reddit looks like an aggregate site that you might just enjoy. If all you want to see is porn and funny cat pictures, then by gum that's what you'll get. If you want news then you can go to /r/news, /r/worldnews, etc.

Like anything else, Reddit is what you make it to be.
 
Jay

Jay

Pretty much what Dave says.

Create an account, UN-subscribe to shit you hate, subscribe to other stuff you like, get RES.... enjoy content.

Ignore certain posters without issue!

uM6gTer.gif
 
Simfers

Simfers

Map pornography? So, like... Do they show the meridians and everything? Do they need certain latitudes and longitudes to be legal? Would globes be considered their BBWs?

I'm a bit confused here.
 
Zappit

Zappit

Staff member
Here's why Reddit attracted the most vicious racists: it's an open forum. Any open forum on the Internet will attract the following without fail:

Partisan Politics: The words "libtard" and "Repugnicans" have lost all bite and meaning, as they constitute 20% of words in those posts. These arguments can start over anything, such as the sharing of birthday photos. Also, it's Obama's fault, because no other politician every fucked anything up ever ever ever. (Except Bush) One side also has a tendency to point out that our melting pot is a Christian nation, with Christian founders, so Christian Jesus Repent Traditional Marriage Prayer in School Lazy Millennials Call it Christmas Because That's What it is Damnit.

Racists: They just need to explain why all other races are inferior and are their own worst enemy, and that whites are the only really oppressed people. Now why do so many folks have a problem with that?

Spambots: You made how much money working from home?

Trolls: Let's threaten some women, call people names, and try to push people to suicide. Lols.

You give people anonymity, you invite the worst in them to come out. But there's a way to avoid it. There's a way to deny those loonies power and an audience.

You can ignore them.
 
blotsfan

blotsfan

I read that article, and I don't even think the "Chimpire" is the big problem with Reddit racism. There are always hugely bigoted jerks, and a lot of those subs are for shock value. If you go to a lot of the default subreddits though, there are massive amounts of racism and sexism all over the place in areas that really shouldn't be expected to have it. For the most part, I try to stick to Reddit for the sports areas, as those tend to be very well moderated and have good communities.

Edit: For more detail, a big area that has soured on me a lot is "Tumblr In Action." I used to go on it a lot and read all of posts from the lunatics on Social Issues. Over time though, I've noticed its gotten a lot less "make fun of people that make ridiculous statements" and a lot more "make fun of people that aren't MRAs." For that matter, the term SJW being used as an insult for basically anyone who supports any kind of tempering of offensive language rather than people who say things like "being straight makes you a worse person than being gay" has really encouraged dismissal of opposing ideas.
 
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GasBandit

GasBandit

Staff member
I used to spend a fair amount of time on the Space Engineers subreddit. But I really don't like reddit's layout.
 
Bowielee

Bowielee

Also, for the record, I fully support the first amendment knowing full well that I will HATE what that allows others to say. But that's the double edged sword of freedom. For me to be free to do what I want, assholes also have to be free to do what they want.

I think the Westboro Baptist Church are a bunch of lunatic asshats who have no regard for anyone outside of their incestuous family, but I would defend their right to spew their hate speech just as much as I would defend the local GLBTQA group's right to march for marriage equality.
 
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