4 upvotes, 1 direct replies (showing 1)
View submission: Let's talk content. AMA.
I really, really appreciate your comment. It's insightful, thought provoking, well thought out, and clear as a bell. It's this sentiment that made me love reddit as much as I do as well, and it's comments like these that have kept me here over the years because reddit as a whole, for lack of a better term, has made me feel like I'm not the only one who feels like this.
That being said, all of this will be ignored, and none of it matters to what's on the table, the actions reddit is about to take, and why they're taking them.
They're banning /r/rapingwomen because it garners negative press, which in turn scares away advertisers and leaves them answering uncomfortable questions at investment meetings and social gatherings. The exact same truth is what lies behind the banning of /r/jailbait, /r/creepshots, and /r/thefappening (with the added benefit of lawyers being involved in that one). /r/fatpeoplehate was banned because of the commerical interest reddit shares with Imgur and Imgur staff members being called out and "harrassed" by members of FPH.
I'll continue to use reddit until /r/gamedeals starts to suck (if it ever does) so I'm not one of these "I'm going to voat!" like people, but at the same time I'm saddened. I was never a fan of any of the reddits banned, but I was not happy about any of their bannings for the same reasons you are expressing. They were there to show the parts of our society that we don't like. Just because they're banned doesn't mean they don't exist. I'd much rather they were out in the open and that we didn't have this terrible mentality that just because we shove things like this under the rug means we're ok now and everything is status quo.
The FBI/Attorney General has tried many cases against the porn industry for violating "community standards." These trials have happened in the same communities where cable companies report large portions of their profits coming from pay-per-view porn. This line of reasoning, "because I don't like this thing it shouldn't exist" is no different then the crazy people who take over PTA groups and demand Harry Potter books be banned from school.
If you're offended, change the channel. It's an argument as old as the radio. There's a reason for that. I think the people who created reddit understood this argument loud and clear. Their previous statements support this conclusion. They're actions do not. Why? That's where the money comes in, and the rubber meets the road.
Edit (just cause it's still pissing me off): /r/fatpeoplehate gets banned and /r/coontown stays...[1]. Fewer things have ever made me feel the admins play favorites for their friends and care less then half a rats shit about anything else besides that and money.
1: https://i.imgur.com/gT9E86T.jpg
Comment by marvin at 17/07/2015 at 10:33 UTC
2 upvotes, 0 direct replies
Thanks for this very eloquent and well-written line of reasoning. It's really a shame that money controls this. I would prefer to be in a community that took a principled stance on this, and will switch if one shows up. It appears that reddit will have enough of the relevant parts left that such a meta-community can't get a foothold, which is really too bad.
It ruins my belief in the principles of reddit as a company and a platform for democracy and free speech (and also, as you say, as a mirror of society's goods and ills, and a place where its development can be followed in real time), so I'll have a more cynical view on it from now on.
