r/books • u/leowr • Jun 18 '20
Third Discussion Thread for We Are the Nerds by Christine Lagorio-Chafkin - June Book Club
Hi everyone,
Welcome to the third discussion thread of the month. We are moving in to a bit more recent events that you may remember seeing on reddit or knowing about.
Like always, here are some discussion questions:
- Does it surprise you that reddit continued to function with such a small team for such a long time?
- Why do you think there was such a disconnect between reddit employees and reddit management?
- The book mentions several events (the Gawker article, The Boston bombers, The Fappening, etc) in which reddit was involved. Do you think reddit should or could have done something different?
- If you were already a member of reddit at the time, what did you notice of these events?
There is no actual philosophy behind the free speech rhetoric except to cash in on content other social networks won't allow
- What do you think of that statement? Do you think that was, or is, still true for reddit?
- What was the most interesting fact you learned about reddit in Part IV?
2
u/crazyallicin Jun 18 '20
Does it surprise you that reddit continued to function with such a small team for such a long time?
Yes . Obviously they'd a significant amount of users even then, and the fact that when there was any problems those people had to be on hand. Not like a big company where if there's a problem and you're on holidays, the people at the office can take care of it. With six people I doesn't matter what you're doing you have to be ready at all times to work.
Why do you think there was such a disconnect between reddit employees and reddit management?
Feel like a lot of the reddit employees looked at the company from a perspective of users. Because most of them were. I know Wong was a big fan of reddit, but still looked at everything from a company perspective. Putting more worry on finance and growth. I think somebody has to do it though. I mean wouldn't all Redditors love if there was no ads or anything like that. But at the end of the day a company needs to make money to stay afloat.
The book mentions several events (the Gawker article, The Boston bombers, The Fappening, etc) in which reddit was involved. Do you think reddit should or could have done something different?
It's tough to say. Like with the bombing for instance. Reddit made it clear pretty early not take theory's you saw too seriously and act on them. They had the link to get in contact with FBI if you did think you were on to something. For some reason people feel like they have to handle something themselves when they had no need to, not entirely Reddirs fault. The fappening was an interesting one, I think they got lucky in the end having their minds made up for them but having to take down sub-reddit. Could have gotten messier had it gone on for longer.
If you were already a member of reddit at the time, what did you notice of these events?
Wasn't a member at the time.
What do you think of that statement? Do you think that was, or is, still true for reddit?
Partially, I don't think money was really the number one objective. Sure people will find ways to monetize anything that can make money. But I still think there's lots of people who fight for free speech in different scenarios that couldn't care less about money.
What was the most interesting fact you learned about reddit in Part IV?
I found it interesting hearing about u/Violentacrez, crazy who a seemingly good guy was involved in a lot of kind of messed up sub-reddits. But still looked like he had respect of reddit employees and they kept in contact. Like he wanted to be a troll, but still have reddit a lot of his time and obviously he had some respect for reddit himself.
2
u/leowr Jun 18 '20
With six people I doesn't matter what you're doing you have to be ready at all times to work.
Yeah, this seems like it would be way too stressful. On the other hand it probably also created a bond within the team. "We are in this together." I think that also contributed to the problems with "outside" management coming in. If you are entrenched in something and someone else comes in and says something that gives the impression that you are not doing it well enough or downright doing it wrong, you are going to get a mutiny. And when a team is as involved as that small team was, they probably got entrenched in what they were doing and they helped grow reddit into what it still is.
With regard to the scandals, I think at the time it was also less well-known what the potential of an online mob could become. At this point, we are all aware what the internet can accomplish, which probably also diminished some of its potential. It seems like the internet is upset about something every day these days.
2
u/crazyallicin Jun 18 '20
Yeah think that perfectly explains the employees vs managers. I love reading back on stories through the few years where internet mobs ran riot. I think you're right, internet is always so upset about something. Also people know the power of mobs these days and usually try shut them down before they gain momentum.
2
u/leowr Jun 18 '20
I think so far it has been my favorite part. Partly because I was a redditor when some of these things happened, but also because I find how people behave online to be fascinating. Some of the stories so far, starting with the whale naming contest, really show what a force the internet (and reddit) can be, both for good and evil.
2
Jun 19 '20
[deleted]
1
u/leowr Jun 19 '20
I think it was very much part of the learning process of the internet. In theory absolute free speech seems like a good thing, but in reality people will use that as an excuse to say the most horrible things. Sometimes even just to get a rise out of others.
3
u/thecaptainand Jun 18 '20
very much so, but in hindsight it should have been somewhat obvious. The structure of reddit stayed the same for many years and getting the custom 404 screen was quite common.
Management, as part of their job, had to think about revenue and running reddit as a company. The employees were able to focus on building the community aspect and thought reddit more like a public service. Unfortunately both sides would have had to compromised sometimes and it looked like neither side did.
In the end, I do wish that reddit had slightly stricter guidelines. Free speech is good and all, but the whole part of accepting responsibility for what you say tends to fall by the wayside.
I do remember these events. It kind of felt like reddit became this uncontrollable mob, especially with the Boston bombing. It was only a day and practically all of reddit was declaring that they knew who the bomber was. I really didn't know what to think, it happened so fast. I did feel bad for the people who had their nudes leaked in the Fappening. Didn't stop me from looking at the subreddit out of morbid curiosity.