"Popcorn Tastes Good"

Reddit’s Veil of Anonymity: Predictors of engagement and participation in media environments with hostile reputations

“…Research on personality characteristics of social media users shows that strong personalities are more likely to engage online through social networking, blogging, and messaging than others (e.g., Guadagno, Okdie, & Eno, 2008; Li & Chignell, 2010). Correa, Hinsley, and Gil De Zuniga (2010) found that extraversion and openness were the most likely predictors of social media use. In addition, Park’s (2013) work on Twitter adopted Noelle-Neumann’s (1985) itemizations of personality strength to understand opinion leadership within the social network of Twitter.…”

“…(For the most up-to-date privacy policy information, see https://www.redditinc.com/policies/privacy-policy.) Centivany and Glushko (2016) argue that freedom of expression is an essential Reddit value, mirrored in Reddit's practical design choices (e.g., the voting system). While comments and posts in some subreddits are subject to moderation by Redditors (Matias, 2016a(Matias, , 2016b, many subreddits remain unrestricted.…”

“…Reddit is “known for its sometimes misogynistic content” (e.g., Herring & Stoerger, 2014, p. 569). Centivany and Glushko (2016) note that “[w]hile particularly offensive or vitriolic content typically never reaches the front page, there are many subreddits dedicated to racist, sexist, violent, and particularly disturbing pornographic content.” Reddit has consistently appeared in headlines that describe some threads as “woman-hating” (Mettler, 2017), “low-key toxic” (Caffier, 2017), and the “black hole of violent racism” (Hankes, 2015). Massanari’s (2017) ethnography of Reddit shows that the site serves as a “nexus for toxic technocultures to thrive” and a breeding ground for misogyny and anti-feminism (p. 333).…”

Effective voice: Beyond exit and affect in online communities

“…Low-cost voice has produced changes in behavior in realms such as consumer products (Kucuk, 2008; Rezabakhsh et al, 2006), government services (Meijer, 2007), employee grievances (Martin et al, 2015), and protest movements (Tufekci, 2017), to name a few. The above-mentioned revolt among Reddit users saw moderators engage in concerted action that succeeded in deposing a CEO (Centivany and Glushko, 2016; Matias, 2016). Platforms have enabled the rise of powerful and persistent counterpublics among marginalized people, such as “Black Twitter” (R.…”

“…Whitney Phillips (2015), for instance, came to recognize her study of online trolling to be "as much a critique of dominant institutions as it is of the trolls who operate within them" (p. 12)-for deviance mirrors back what institutions ignore or attempt to suppress. A study of the "AMAgeddon" revolt among Reddit users observes, "Users made it clear that they were no longer content with supplying and moderating all of Reddit's content; they also wanted a voice in the governance and policy determinations impacting the community" (Centivany and Glushko, 2016). By these accounts, both urban rioting and online miscreantry have at their source the failure of institutions to hear.…”