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Reddit Racism: An Open Secret

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Re: Reddit Racism: An Open Secret

#4
It feels like a sea change over the last year or so. Reddit used to feel pretty progressive, but now, even in the tamest subreddits, it feels like casual racism flourishes. Guess that's how it goes with social networks; they always start off with interesting people and interesting dialogue, and as the community matures and grows, the mob-mentality breaks down the doors, says "nice round-table you have here" and proceeds to ruin the place.

Re: Reddit Racism: An Open Secret

#5
Pseudo anonymity lets people show off their unfettered natures for good and bad. Unfortunately, there seems to be a lot of bad.

It's not that this racism doesn't exist, it's just that showing it explicitly is not socially acceptable in public settings.

Re: Reddit Racism: An Open Secret

#6
Prejudice is apart of every human society, so it should not be surprising that it shows up in our online communities. Egregious racist comments are no good to anyone, but I generally feel like anything that creates a dialogue is better than the alternative. If someone, with the veil of anonymity, can articulate their prejudices, then the dialogue that results from that will ultimately be better for reasonable people (with the assumption that all humans have some prejudice, but still hold the capacity to reasonably correct their thinking).

Re: Reddit Racism: An Open Secret

#8
post #4

It feels like a sea change over the last year or so. Reddit used to feel pretty progressive, but now, even in the tamest subreddits, it feels like casual racism flourishes. Guess that's how it goes with social networks; they always start off with interesting people and interesting dialogue, and as the community matures and grows, the mob-mentality breaks down the doors, says "nice round-table you have here" and proce…

I believe it is a StormFront initiative, because all racist comments in a targeted thread will be flooded with upvotes, and all comments in any way critical will receive an equal number of downvotes. I did a little research and did find some StormFront threads discussing YouTube comment initiatives, /r/politics initiatives, etc. so I don't think this scenario is at all unlikely. The clear patterns set it apart from the "ugly people speaking their minds" hypothesis. In general I have observed this pattern in specific, seemingly targeted Disqus comment threads, etc. since ~2010. Notably, the comments usually intersect with criticisms of Obama.

Re: Reddit Racism: An Open Secret

#9
post #8
post #4

It feels like a sea change over the last year or so. Reddit used to feel pretty progressive, but now, even in the tamest subreddits, it feels like casual racism flourishes. Guess that's how it goes with social networks; they always start off with interesting people and interesting dialogue, and as the community matures and grows, the mob-mentality breaks down the doors, says "nice round-table you have here" and proce…

I believe it is a StormFront initiative, because all racist comments in a targeted thread will be flooded with upvotes, and all comments in any way critical will receive an equal number of downvotes. I did a little research and did find some StormFront threads discussing YouTube comment initiatives, /r/politics initiatives, etc. so I don't think this scenario is at all unlikely. The clear patterns set it apart from t…

There's no way there are that many Europeans on Stormfront. The single most caustically racist topic on the website is Muslim immigration in Europe, particularly when it's discussed on /r/worldnews. And the ugliest rhetoric comes from Europeans. At least self-described Europeans.

Re: Reddit Racism: An Open Secret

#10
post #9
post #8

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I believe it is a StormFront initiative, because all racist comments in a targeted thread will be flooded with upvotes, and all comments in any way critical will receive an equal number of downvotes. I did a little research and did find some StormFront threads discussing YouTube comment initiatives, /r/politics initiatives, etc. so I don't think this scenario is at all unlikely. The clear patterns set it apart from t…

There's no way there are that many Europeans on Stormfront. The single most caustically racist topic on the website is Muslim immigration in Europe, particularly when it's discussed on /r/worldnews. And the ugliest rhetoric comes from Europeans. At least self-described Europeans.

I'm a bit annoyed that you conflate racism with Islam. Muslims come from religious and cultural backgrounds which encourage and excuse violence, gang rape, and hysterical fervor over any potential insult. It's fucking terrifying to be a woman in many parts of Europe now, and especially (in fact, almost exclusively) in Muslim neighborhoods.

It's not a matter of hating other races. East Asians and Latinos have assimilated fantastically well with European values of women's rights and non-violence. But North African and Middle Eastern cultures are the worst in the world, and they're taking deep root in Europe thanks to people like you who accuse everyone else of racism and "Islamophobia."

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