Sunday, September 23, 2012

Reddit: A Strange Digital Artifact


Reddit: A Strange Digital Artifact

            How is a nation created? How about a community? Define a community. Define a friendship. Can these be created online with a digital media artifact? It seems so. There is a web site that seems to do just that. Reddit is a social media website that has created quite the stir. It has been known in the political world as a united community willing to create a change in politics. This is the first time a digital artifact has created quite a difference in the political sphere. The simulated world that Reddit created for itself is rather intriguing. Reddit is by far one of the strangest digital media artifacts that have been created.
            Reddit is basically a social media website with a twist. The website is basically a list of articles, stories, and pictures that people link on the website have found interesting. Users can “upvote” or “downvote” posts depending on if they like the post or not. The posts with the most “upvotes will end up at the top of the list, while the ones with the least amount of “downvotes” will end up at the bottom of the list. One can also browse the list by certain subjects. Reddit is like a large community. The top list is like a nation. It is one’s first impression of the whole website. It is also where the general rules for the entire website are enforced. The main moderators, presidents if you will, moderate this part of the website. There are then subreddits, which are like states. These “states” are all about different subjects.  The subreddits all have their own special rules and their own moderators, governors if you so please. This is why reddit is a strange digital artifact. (Giltmen)
            Reddit has always been a place where word about a topic can be spread very fast. An example of how Reddit has been able to do this is when the president did an AMA. AMA is short for ask me anything. In this kind of post someone starts a thread in which the users of Reddit can post a comment to the thread asking any question they please; in turn the person that started the thread (OC or original creator) answers the question. President Obama answered any question that was asked him. He quickly spread the word about what he plans to do if he was re-elected as well as what is currently going on in the political world. Coverage for this event was quite large. It was talked about in several large media sources and many smaller media sources. (Guarini)
            Now Reddit has taken an even bigger awareness program. The users are currently supporting an internet bus to travel across Middle America. During this time the bus will be helping advocate the importance of the freedom of the internet. This was inspired by the SOPA blackout that happened about a year ago. In this instance Reddit did not allow anyone to use their website, because it would have been shut down if the SOPA bill passed through congress. This made quite the impact. SOPA was immediately thrown out and Reddit had succeeded in keeping their website open. (Patterson)
            This type of media is not only effecting politics, but also how people communicate. The absolute anonymous messages on Reddit make people believe that they can say anything. The idea that no one will ever find out who you are makes people believe it is okay to say anything. The same thing happens in the subreddits as well. The content is not very important in this situation, but how these people communicate. The content will change from message to message and from comment to comment, but the way the users are communicating. The anonymous messages and comments lead to the user being able to tell the truth, all of the truth. Nothing is held back when there is no risk of people figuring out who you are. This anonymity shapes Reddit into a controversial community filled with new ideas. There is no fear of personal ridicule or attacks outside the community. One can also delete their comment or message. This means that the ridicule will slowly go away. When there is no concern for what one says, then why hold back? (McLuhan)
            This nation in the internet is a type of simulation. The community creates friendships that exist in a virtual reality and a sense of unity. The idea of simulation is very much a debated topic. Is simulation a real world thing or is a virtual world a false world. The existence of a nation in the internet is quite strange. Can people unite to form a union as strong as a nation without ever meeting each other? It seems like it is possible that this simulated place has created quite that.  Reddit has a strong sense of unity amongst its users. Not very many of the users know each other in person though. Ideas are created, and sometimes even implemented between people who have not met and have no plans of meeting. This could be a problem. Can you be friends with someone without even knowing what their face looks like? It seems like no. How can you truly know someone unless you know how their voice sounds like? (Baudrillard)
             The idea of a one simulated nation under the internet is rather complicated. There are so many questions, like is it possible? How are the users united? What impact will it have? It will take time to find out the answers to these questions. The digital artifact has survived for quite some time with its own laws and policies. Reddit has even won its own personal war against SOPA.  It has already been seen that Reddit can have an impact on the political sphere of the world. It will take time to see if this strange digital artifact will be able to hold its own throughout the years.
Work Cited

Baudrillard, Jean. "Jean Baudrillard - SIMULACRA AND SIMULATIONS - 1998." The European Graduate School - Media and Communication - Graduate & Postgraduate Studies Program. The European Graduate School, n.d. Web. 23 Sept. 2012. <http://www.egs.edu/faculty/jean-baudrillard/articles/simulacra-and-simulations/>.
Guarini, Drew. "Reddit AMA: Obama Talks Small Business." Breaking News and Opinion on The Huffington Post. The Huffington Post, 30 Aug. 2012. Web. 23 Sept. 2012. <http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/08/30/during-reddit-ama-obama-t_n_1843105.html?utm_hp_ref=elections-2012>.
McLuhan, Marshall, Quentin Fiore, and Jerome Agel. The medium is the massage: an inventory of effects. Corte Madera, CA: Gingko Press, 2001. Print.
Patterson, Sean. "Reddit Launches Bus Tour to “Promote the Open Internet” | WebProNews." WebProNews - Breaking News in Tech, Search, Social, & Business. WebProNews, 11 Sept. 2012. Web. 23 Sept. 2012. <http://www.webpronews.com/reddit-launches-bus-tour-to-promote-the-open-internet-2012-09>.
"reddit: the front page of the internet." reddit: the front page of the internet. N.p., n.d. Web. 23 Sept. 2012. <http://www.reddit.com>.

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