3.4 Data collection: Sub-reddit rules
3.4.2 Subreddit content
This section discusses the nature and general content of the subreddits selected for analysis of their community guidelines.
3.4.2.1 /r/funny
/r/funny focuses on humourous content, of any format. Generally, this takes the form of still or animated pictures.
While the description of the subreddit reads“You may only post if you are funny.”, the subreddit rules of /r/funny specifically forbid certain types of content, and direct users who wish to post these kinds of content to other, more specialised subreddits. Examples include “no reaction gifs or HIFW [“how I feel when”] posts; no pictures of just text; no DAE [“does anyone else”]posts.”
3.4.2.2 /r/pics
/r/pics describes itself as “a place to share interesting pictures”. Content submitted to /r/pics is required to be a still, non-animated picture.
Like /r/funny, the overall description of the subreddit is quite broad: “A place to share photographs and pictures.”. However, the description goes
3.4. DATA COLLECTION: SUB-REDDIT RULES
on to state: “note that we are not a catch-all for general images (of screenshots, comics, etc.)”
Accordingly, the subreddit rules include specific restrictions on certain types of post, including nudity, gore, personal information, or images with superimposed text. Several competing image-based subreddits exist, in- cluding /r/AnythingGoesPics, which encourages all submissions.
3.4.2.3 /r/AskReddit
/r/AskReddit is a platform that allows users to pose questions to the com- munity at large, in the aim of creating an interesting discussion. Submis- sions are required to be text-based (that is, no links to other sites, and no links to media like pictures or videos.)
Questions are open-ended, though are sometimes aimed at specific de- mographics. Examples include “Older people of Reddit, what is something that was something you never thought was possible, but is available today?3” and“What fads of the 2010s will be ridiculed in the 2020s?4”
3.4.2.4 /r/todayilearned
/r/todayilearned is a subreddit that focuses on interesting facts. Users post a summary of the fact, and link to additional information. Posts to this subreddit are required to begin with “TIL”, an abbreviation for “Today I Learned”.
An example of this format is“TIL in Ancient Persia, the men used to debate ideas once sober and once drunk, because the idea needed to sound good in both
3http://www.reddit.com/r/AskReddit/comments/1joe8t/older_
people_of_reddit_what_is_something_that_was/, active as at October 24 2014
3.4. DATA COLLECTION: SUB-REDDIT RULES
states in order to be considered a good idea.5”
3.4.2.5 /r/science
/r/science is a community for discussing recent research. Posts are re- quired to be either direct links to papers, or to scientific news sites dis- cussing recent research, and editorialising is not permitted.
Posts submitted to /r/science are annotated with the field of research - for example, environmental science, medicine, astronomy, and so on. This allows visitors interested in particular fields to choose to only see posts relevant to their interests.
3.4.2.6 /r/IAmA
/r/IAmA is a “public interview” platform, in which users who believe they have an interesting history, profession or knowledge to discuss make themselves available for public questions.
/r/IAmA has become known as a platform for media personalities and celebrities, who often use /r/IAmA as a promotional tool, due to the pub- lic and open-ended nature of the discussions that take place there. Some of the more well-known discussions involved President Barack Obama, Bill Gates, and Arnold Schwarzenegger; however, non-celebrity users are equally popular and more commonplace. At the time of writing, one of the top posts on the page was“I am a wind turbine technician. AMAA [ask me almost anything].6”
5http://www.reddit.com/r/todayilearned/comments/1jnyow/til_in_ ancient_persia_the_men_used_to_debate/; the user is referencing Herodotus (430 BCE)
6http://www.reddit.com/r/IAmA/comments/1jmm8j/iama_wind_ turbine_technician_amaa/, active as at October 24 2014
3.4. DATA COLLECTION: SUB-REDDIT RULES
3.4.2.7 /r/WTF
/r/WTF is an area for users to post disturbing, curious, surprising or oth- erwise interesting content that is not suitable for general consumption.
Content submitted to /r/WTF frequently contain gore and pornogra- phy, although the ostensible intent of the community is not to arouse. As a result, /r/WTF is one of only a few subreddits that does not show preview thumbnail images of content.
3.4.2.8 /r/explainlikeimfive
/r/explainlikeimfive is a community for providing simple answers to com- plex topics or questions. Users post requests for explanations of topics, such as“Why aren’t people buying the$1 houses in Detroit?” or“Explain like I’m 5: Different types of assets: shares, bonds, options, funds and derivatives.”
While answers are not expected to be written as though for people who are actually five years old (the subreddit rules note that“preschooler- friendly stories tend to be more confusing and patronizing”), the subreddit ex- pects that users take care to explain things as simply and clearly as possi- ble.
3.4.2.9 /r/YouShouldKnow
/r/YouShouldKnow is a location for users to share“obscure things that most should already be aware of, but aren’t.” Content posted by users generally takes the form of links to resources, facts, or other information that users consider worth knowing about.
The subreddit focuses on self-education and general advice; in terms of content, it shares a common area of focus with /r/todayilearned, though /r/todayilearned users generally prefer specific facts, rather than advice.
3.4. DATA COLLECTION: SUB-REDDIT RULES
3.4.2.10 /r/pokemon
/r/pokemon is a subreddit for discussing the Pok´emon media franchise created by Nintendo (Nintendo Inc. 2014). Posts are generally links to Pok´emon-related images, with occasional links to articles discussing the Pok´emon games.
/r/pokemon specifically bans, among other content, “anything unre- lated to Pok´emon” and “links to or requests for ROMs[pirated copies of the Pok´emon games]”.
3.4.2.11 /r/GameOfThrones
/r/GameOfThrones is a discussion community for Game of Thrones, the television show based on “A Song Of Ice And Fire”, a series of fantasy books written by George R. R. Martin (1996).
Like many episodic stories, this series of books and televisions shows is prone to “spoilers” - that is, premature disclosure of plot information. To prevent community members from inadvertently exposing themselves to spoilers, /r/GameOfThrones implemented a system of tags and labels for content submitted to the subreddit: users who wish to discuss the story consequences of an event that takes place at a particular point in the story are able to label their submission as containing “spoilers” for that point. This allows people who have not yet reached that point in the story to browse the rest of the community without accidentally exposing them- selves to spoilers.
3.4.2.12 /r/Skyrim
/r/Skyrim is a discussion community for the video game “Skyrim” (Bethesda
3.4. DATA COLLECTION: SUB-REDDIT RULES
of the plot, sharing of screenshots, and discussions of user-created modifi- cations to the game.
However, the /r/skyrim subreddit prohibits (among other content) images with superimposed text. This prohibition is shared with /r/pics, /r/pokemon and /r/GameOfThrones.
3.4.2.13 /r/tattoos
/r/tattoos is a discussion community for tattoos. Posts to this subreddit are generally photographs of tattoos, and discussions of same; the subred- dit specifically prohibits offers of sales of goods or services.
The community also prohibits any kind of discussion relating to the pricing of tattoos, in an effort to keep the discussion focused on the artistic merits of the tattoos themselves.
3.4.2.14 /r/circlejerk
/r/circlejerk is a subreddit that exists to satirise Reddit as a whole. Posts to this subreddit generally parody current trends on Reddit, and make fun of phrasing commonly used in the manipulation of ranking of content on Redit:
“I told my friend that /r/circlejerk Would Upvote a Sock to the Front Page, And He Said There Was No Way7.”
3.4.2.15 /r/photoshopbattles
/r/photoshopbattles is a “creative battle forum”, in which users post an innocuous image, and other users post modified versions for humourous