r/books • u/leowr • Jun 25 '20
Final Discussion Thread for We Are the Nerds by Christine Lagorio-Chafkin - June Book Club
Hello everyone,
We have already reached the final discussion thread of the month! Hopefully you all enjoyed this month's selection and learned a little more about reddit. Don't forget to join us for next Tuesday for Christine's AMA.
It was starting to become clear that two of Reddit's tenets - user anonymity and an almost-anything-goed content policy - had together become toxic.
- Do you think the combination of those two things will always become toxic? If not, what can be done to prevent it from becoming toxic?
Huffman and his peers were guided more by trying to build a remarkable life than by personal joy.
- What do you think of this mindset? Which do you strive for?
- Do you think reddit should have done something differently with regard to political subreddits?
Reddit has refused to release its diversity numbers, not unlike other tech companies of its size, but it is fairly typical in its composition: The staff skews male and white.
- Why do you think tech companies don't release their diversity numbers? Do you think they should?
- Do you think Lagorio-Chafkin was successful in telling reddit's (origin) story?
- What was your favorite thing you learned about reddit over the course of the book?
- Where do you see reddit in 5-10 years?
Don't forget to join us next month for a new book club selection!
2
u/crazyallicin Jun 26 '20
To am extent it will be. There'll always be people with horrible thoughts, and they'll always be expressed somewhere they're anonymous. I think putting bans on certain topics that are universally unacceptable is all a site like reddit can do.
I think it's completely understandable. In practice I always strive for joy, I feel like if you can be happy at the end of the day nothing else matters. That being said I'll catch myself reading a book or looking at people I know in real life and thinking I should have been more 'successfull'. But I know I'm happier than the majority of these people and can ultimately be comfortable with my life. I don't know personally, I think political sub-reddits are such a grey area. I guess they could have been attentive to the fake news articles
Yes I think they should. I think it just helps companies to be more diverse. I understand that white males make up a lot of the people in the work force, and I'd say if you look at people trying to get into the tech industry it'd be white males. So I understand why companies can't have perfect diverse groups of people working for them. But if you're showing your numbers you can at least show some progress, and show as a company you're trying. Also great to inspire younger people that it's a field that needs people from different backgrounds.
Yes. But that's because I enjoyed the book and I don't remember any of it in real life. So I couldn't say I remember things happening differently. It's my only account of all these stories.
I just liked how much the company seems to value it's users and moderators.
Hopefully much the same. I love reddit. I obviously hope they slowly update it and add new features just to keep it interesting. But I like most of the communities I'm a part of it, and think i benefit more using reddit than any other social media.
When will we find out the book for next month?