Earlier this week, Reddit announced a perplexing new plan to “contain” the worst bigots on the site. Instead of simply banning the bigots, their subreddits would simply be “reclassified.” Redditors would have to sign into them much as they now sign into the site’s NSFW subreddits, and, presumably to avoid angering advertisers, Reddit would remove all ads from them.
In other words, as I noted the other day, Reddit has decided to fight the bigots … by funding ad-free forums for them.
Well, the folks in the 4/chan subreddit (not 4chan itself; the Reddit incarnation of it) want to get into that sweet, sweet ad-free action. So one enterprising channer suggested that they spam a thread with the n-word to prove they’re as hateful as the hateful assholes of r/coontown:
![NIGGER POSTAs many of you have heard, reddit admins are now providing ad-free bandwith to racist hate subs... (self.4chan) submitted 21 hours ago by reese_ridley/he does it for free/[M] - stickied post ...and apparently the admins think we aren't racist enough to receive these great benefits. What the fuck? ITT we spam "nigger" to remove ads from /r/4chan forever](https://i0.wp.com/www.wehuntedthemammoth.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/07/4chann.png?resize=433%2C249&ssl=1)
And spam they did. Here’s a portion of the top comment in the thread:
The comment continues on for a time in this fashion.
Other commenters had similar ideas; this one was so relentless I made a half-hearted attempt at censoring it.
![TasselHat [score hidden] 14 hours ago If you smell something funny when you walk down the street, you're in Coon Town. You look and see garbage all over the street, you're in Coon Town. Up and down the street there ain't nothing but trash, nigger girls trying to get a nigger boy's cash. Then you even see a spook with a big moustache, in Coon Town. On the corner there's a nigger with a drink in his hand, that's Coon Town. Trying to bum a nickel from whoever he can, in Coon Town. Don't be surprised, you can make a bet, if you go back tomorrow he'll be there yet. He's trying to get drunk and drunk he's gonna get, in Coon Town. Niggers never bother about going to work, in Coon Town. They seem to think that work is for jerks, outta Coon Town. They don't do nothing but sleep and doze, he don't wake until his eyes are tired of being closed. It's half a day's work for him to scratch his toes, in Coon Town. It amazes me to see the way they live, in Coon Town. They do all the taking while we have to give, to Coon Town. The White man worries, the nigger don't care, cause at the end of the month his check will be there. Every nigger earns his living off the old welfare, in Coon Town. Every nigger earns his living off the old welfare, in Coon Town. I HATE NIGGERS YES I DO I HATE NIGGERS AND YOU SHOULD TOO I HATE NIGGERS YES I DO I HATE NIGGERS AND YOU SHOULD TOO I HATE NIGGERS YES I DO I HATE NIGGERS AND YOU SHOULD TOO I HATE NIGGERS YES I DO I HATE NIGGERS AND YOU SHOULD TOO I HATE NIGGERS YES I DO I HATE NIGGERS AND YOU SHOULD TOO I HATE NIGGERS YES I DO I HATE NIGGERS AND YOU SHOULD TOO I HATE NIGGERS YES I DO I HATE NIGGERS AND YOU SHOULD TOO I HATE NIGGERS YES I DO I HATE NIGGERS AND YOU SHOULD TOO I HATE NIGGERS YES I DO I HATE NIGGERS AND YOU SHOULD TOO I HATE NIGGERS YES I DO I HATE NIGGERS AND YOU SHOULD TOO I HATE NIGGERS YES I DO I HATE NIGGERS AND YOU SHOULD TOO I HATE NIGGERS YES I DO I HATE NIGGERS AND YOU SHOULD TOO I HATE NIGGERS YES I DO I HATE NIGGERS AND YOU SHOULD TOO I HATE NIGGERS YES I DO I HATE NIGGERS AND YOU SHOULD TOO I HATE NIGGERS YES I DO I HATE NIGGERS AND YOU SHOULD TOO](https://i0.wp.com/www.wehuntedthemammoth.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/07/f4channcens.png?resize=580%2C486&ssl=1)
You get the idea.
Brilliant move, Reddit admins! You surrendered to the bigots and now they’re walking all over you.
H/T — r/GamerGhazi
contrapangloss-
*Raises her hand and looks around the classroom*
http://lessons.tfiaa.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/03/Students-raising-their-hands1.gif
I guess it was.
So, basically they’re supporting these racist viewpoints by acting like they’re not there… and hiding them in the open.
You know we tried that in the South and then those sheet wearing asshats started burning crosses in people’s yards. Never mind the subtle threats to anyone who didn’t agree with them.
Today I was flipping through a guide for geek girls at the bookstore, and there was a chapter covering the major social media sites. The section on Reddit assured readers that, yes, there’s a lot of trolling, but they’ll be safe if they stay in positive, women-friendly subreddits like r/makeupaddiction.
To which I thought, “Oh, makeupaddiction? The place creepy guys visit to collect photos of women to masturbate to, harass with pornographic PMs, and/or stalk?”
Reddit is just the worst.
Shaenon-True. It seriously must be shut down, the whole site is toxic
While the new Reddit policy is terrible those two examples from Reddit are trying way too hard to be offensive. It’s actually kind of funny in a sad way. Seriously when did people start thinking being as offensive as possible was funny. The thing about humor that crosses some line is that there is a subtle nuance to it that mostly keeps it from being offensive or at least funnier than offensive. Shame that most people on the internet are incapable of even thinking about such a nuance.
Hey now, cloacas are useful and perform necessary functions.
Don’t be sullying cloacas by comparing them to Reddit!
It’s dumb and unworkable. Last night I checked to see if the ‘philosophy of rape’ sub was still up and it is, though apparently he’s bought a domain name to start up their own web site, the wordpress blog got taken down (not so hard, is it?).
I actually came across a couple of posts that got me worried. Some guy going on about a girl he intends to rape. It’s probably utter BS, too full of sexist tropes to be plausible, but still I’m concerned there’s a specific girl out there in danger and her would be attacker is getting advice on the internet. Why can’t reddit track his IP address and report him to the police?
@sn0rkmaiden:
Freeze peach.
@PI,
but freedom not to be investigated for bragging about criminal behavior?
Seconding other people’s point about how a sub qualifies for ad free protected space, it’s absurd. I wouldn’t want the job of moderating the hidden subs to make sure they’re remaining nasty enough to stay hidden.
Reddit just aren’t thinking it through are they? They need some smart, capable person to knock it into shape. Oh hang on, she resigned.
Slightly OT: @Pandapool, I am in awe of your profound fluency in reaction gifs.
Back to the OP, I’m still fully expecting this garbage to happen in the more reputable, presentable subreddits, too. I don’t foresee the trolls running out of steam anytime soon, and I can’t imagine them being satisfied with getting all their own subreddits quarantined. Because now there are big lulz to be had in trying to take down, like, the kittens subreddit or something.
Giving power to the worst dregs of the site: what could possibly go wrong?
Yup. They’re going to get bored in their own little ad-free echo chambers after a while, and nothing’s stopping them from just seeping out into the un-quarantined bits to try and drag them down with them.
Like a kracken pulling down a ship. But the Kracken is made of shit and bile, and the ship is tiny and full of baby animals.
http://nick-intl.mtvnimages.com/uri/mgid:file:gsp:scenic:/international/style-intl/general-news/february/1-ellen-page-juno.gif?height=246&width=545&matte=1
Goddamnit embed mammoth.
http://nick-intl.mtvnimages.com/uri/mgid:file:gsp:scenic:/international/style-intl/general-news/february/1-ellen-page-juno.gif
Oh my goodness. Their amazing plan to give preferential treatment to bigots has backfired? I’m shocked. Shocked, I tell you.
http://bite-prod.s3.amazonaws.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/09/iago-burn.gif
What? Their brilliant plan failed? I’m SHOCKED, I say, SHOCKED!
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v145/Sephirajo/tumblr_inline_n9ykmhGeNm1qfc86g_zpseicdvc8n.gif
Paradoxical Intention sez:
Sooner rather than later, I’d guess, since where are all the grudge-bearing assholes from the banned subreddits going to be congregating?
What’s the point of going to Reddit as a geek girl if I can’t go to the places that are, you know, geeky? If I’m looking at a guide for geek girls, I’m not looking for how to talk about makeup online – there are other resources for that. I’m looking for how to talk about geeky stuff like, say, Magic the Gathering – a community that is, unfortunately, in a big argument over whether they should defend a convicted rapist or not.
Now, I’m not saying people geeky people can’t care about makeup – just that it seems kind of unrelated to the sort of advice that I would expect them to offer.
Yeah, the problem with “containment” boards is that nobody is being contained at all. There has never been a special place on the internet where all the shitty people ae kept. they are simply given spaces and playgrounds. Further, they are given tips and tricks, and convincing lies to spread across the internet.
No ideologue or propagandist will ever be confined to an echo chamber. they want more than anything to spread their hate. giving them a playground is always a bad idea.
Micharion
Oooooooh, miss! I know this one. Pick me, pick ME!
Starts at around 4 years old saying poo! bum! wee! to grandma. Then — this is where my expertise from 10 years worth of tutoring schoolkids kicks in — ages 8 to 11 try out seeing how far they can get bringing in jokes and obscenities from the schoolyard into their dealings with adults.
And then there’s year 9. Many teachers nightmares from this least popular group. (Though there are plenty who find this age group interesting and rewarding.)
Not all of them do it in the first place. Most of them that do tend to give up on it by the time they’re in year 11.
And the nasty scum left over from all of those who’ve grown up to be half way decent young adults? They find new homes on the internet.
Sadly, I fear that’s all too true. And it’s not just nowadays; I’ve had regular Internet access for something like 20 years now, and this has always happened. It happened to me then, and still does now. Woman sticks her head up, woman gets dogpiled with gendered slurs. Nonwhite person gets racist slurs. LGBT+ person gets homophobia. Etc. Race to the bottom? You got it. Assholes trying to out-ass each other everywhere. It makes one reluctant to venture even a vague hint at an independent opinion anymore.
Anonymity emboldens the worst; giving them freeze peach basically lets them know they won’t be stopped. Doesn’t matter if you’re not a newbie for the longest time now; you can still get a wankfest of trolls on your head anywhere, anytime, as long as someone, somewhere, allows them.
We’re now looking at kids who weren’t even born when the Internet went mainstream, who know nothing else, and who honestly believe themselves entitled to do whatever the hell they want online because that’s the way it’s been for as long as they can remember. Is it any wonder that flibbertigibbertarianism is THE troll philosophy par excellence? The Internet was built on it, on the “principle” that if free speech is good, all speech should be given a platform. Great idea in theory; in practice, a gigantic headache. The trolls are now so used to untrammelled power that they get shit-spitting mad if anyone so much as hints that they can’t do that anymore. You’d think that Mom had just trashed their game console.
And heaven forfend that you should complain about them or try to draw a line somewhere…because then you get accused of censorship, by those who will do literally anything to silence a dissenting voice. Right up to and including swatting. Irony? Wut dat?
[/rant]
What if this containment policy was all a cunning plan to get various bigots to show their asses, and “ad free opt-in subreddits” was the equivalent of sending the family dog to a nice farm upstate? Like one day all the assholes go to access their private little hategrounds, and oops the subreddit’s been deleted and the assholes are banned?
Is it bad that I know that those are the “lyrics” to a Johnny Rebel song?
Up until about two weeks ago, I was very fond of Reddit. Understand, I despised the hate subreddits just as much as any reasonable person, but viewed them as more of the nasty underbelly that wold occasionally belch up a cretinous troll and all the nastiness said troll would bring along. Besides, my interests were literally anywhere else, Kerbal Space Program, New York news, AskHistorians (Which remains the best subreddit I’ve been to) and endless pictures of cats. I ignored the seedy underbelly because that’s what I mistakenly thought it was. It was the removal of the fatpeoplehate subreddit and the ridiculous backlash against Ms. Pao that really soured me to the community as a whole.
I stayed out of the drama, of course. Reddit seemed to get worked up about something new every week, and the removal of fatpeoplehate was something I was sure would be forgotten about before too long. Of course, as it became clear Ms. Pao had nothing to do with Victoria getting fired, and that the decision to remove FPH for being a brigading subreddit had little to do with her, there was a deafening silence.There were no people standing up for her, nobody owning up to being an ass, just reactionary anger.
Still, I held out hope that maybe, just maybe, the removal of a hate site meant the others were not far behind. I had hoped the announcment regarding hate groups would be “Your shit is not welcome here. Now, shoo.” As it stands, I refuse to allow my page views to subsidize hate groups. There are other places I can talk with people about the things I like, KSP has its own forums, and cat pictures pretty much rule the internet. Had to install an app to block Reddit for me, as I keep impulsively typing “red” into my browser bar and pressing enter when I’m bored, but small steps.
So completely surrendering to the racists is a sound policy? Alrighty then.
P.S. Hope this means that so many reddit forums will need to be ad free that the entire site loses loads of $$$.
@micharian: “Seriously when did people start thinking being as offensive as possible was funny.”
The first examples I can think of are the minstrel shows. I’m sure it was around far before then though. Still the same audience though. I can’t decide if I should weep for humanity or grab my lawn chair and gleefully watch it all burn.
It’s a tidy and appealing idea that Reddit’s new policy will make the mods of subreddits actually WANT to be classified in the new NSFW category, but it ignores something pretty significant: That classification means they won’t be promoted anywhere on Reddit.
“This classification will require a login, must be opted into, will not appear in search results or public listings…”
Insincere 4chan trolls notwithstanding, few mods would actually want this obscurity, especially mods of subreddits that are trying to influence public opinion. Making it to the front page of Reddit is the grand prize of traffic. Showing up in Reddit search results and Google search results is the bread and butter of traffic. The new NSFW classification is the death of all that traffic.
Once the policy is implemented we’ll be able to look at the public traffic stats of the affected subreddits. It is almost certain that those charts will show a steep dropoff in both traffic and new subscribers as soon as the subreddit was classified. It would be the rare mod who would look at those charts and sincerely say, Yeah, I want that to happen to my subreddit, too.
The new policy does not offer hateful subreddits a net reward. It offers them a slight reward (no advertising) that comes with a steep penalty (massively reduced traffic and subscribers). Isolating the slight reward distorts the actual economics in play.
(And, word to the wise, believing in the sincerity of a 4chan troll, which this post seems to do, is never a good idea.)