59 upvotes, 1 direct replies (showing 1)
View submission: ELI5:What or Who is a 'Circlejerk'?
So, the original definition of a circlejerk is where a lot of people get together, and literally begin to masturbate the people next to them.
Metaphorically, a circlejerk is a self-congratulatory discussion or community. In other words, like-minded people come together and tell each other how great they are. The term gets tossed around a lot on reddit because the very way the voting system works tends to reinforce circlejerks. Both comments and posts get voted up or down based on popularity. On something like, say, /r/politics, the most likely things to be voted up are things which are popular opinions among the readership. Unpopular opinions, even if they're well-formed, tend to be voted down, because people don't want to hear something that contradicts what they believe. The result is that you get a community that is very enthusiastic about certain opinions which, compared to the general population, are a little bit out there. But if you spend enough time reading a circlejerk, you start to think their opinions are completely mainstream, and that people who think differently than the circlejerk are just weird. That's kind of the danger of them.
Also, another usage that you see on reddit is "circlejerk subs" which can have more than one definition. One can be what I described above, but there are subs like /r/circlejerk or /r/mfacirclejerk that are dedicated to making fun of various reddit circlejerks.
Comment by zfolwick at 08/07/2013 at 20:38 UTC
1 upvotes, 1 direct replies
synonym of "circlejerk": groupthink, cult mind, hive mind, (any more?