Boycotting the Knowledge Makers: How Reddit Demonstrates the Rise of Media Blacklists and Source Rejection in Online Communities

Liza Potts; Rebekah Small; Michael Trice

doi:10.1109/tpc.2019.2946942

IEEE Transactions on Professional Communication Dec 2019

Boycotting the Knowledge Makers: How Reddit Demonstrates the Rise of Media Blacklists and Source Rejection in Online Communities

Liza Potts Michigan State University ; Rebekah Small IBM (United States) ; Michael Trice Massachusetts Institute of Technology

Abstract

Background: In this article, we address the use of metatags as a form of community knowledge formation and gatekeeping within digital platforms. Situating the case: The subReddit KotakuInAction is a well-known hub of the GamerGate community on Reddit, but one that has avoided the bans common to other aggressive subReddits and GamerGate communities on platforms such as 4chan and GitHub. We contextualize the aggressive nature of the subReddit and the reasons why participants' uses of metatags are meaningful for understanding subReddit culture and moderation practices. Methodology: To better understand the destructive behavioral patterns of KotakuInAction, we coded for the frequency of certain behaviors, such as linking and tagging, as well as the shift in certain keywords and vocabularies between the front facing or predetermined tags and the user-customized or admin-altered tags. We also examined how tags shifted over time and whether certain users dominated particular tags. About the case: What we found was a hybrid culture on KiA that applied Chan culture values and flaming, but increasingly localized the behavior to KiA rather than direct readers out of the site. We also found key shifts in topics away from gaming and activism toward broader complaints about social justice. In addition, we found that a tiny core group of nine influencers (out of tens of thousands of users) accounted for 20% of the top conversations. Conclusions: We suggest a closer examination of how communities self-organize around meta naming structures. Knowledge of this activity can help with predicting and engaging with aggressive and hostile communities by describing how topics shift over time, how they adapt to platform moderation, and who the influencers within a community might be.

Journal: IEEE Transactions on Professional Communication
Published: 2019-12-01
DOI: 10.1109/tpc.2019.2946942
CompPile: Search in CompPile ↗
Open Access: Closed
Topics: race and writing
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Tweeting an Ethos: Emergency Messaging, Social Media, and Teaching Technical Co…

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Switching in Twitter’s Hashtagged Exchanges

Journal of Business and Technical Communication
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Coming to Content Management: Inventing Infrastructure for Organizational Knowl…

Technical Communication Quarterly

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Boycotting the Knowledge Makers: How Reddit Demonstrates the Rise of Media Blacklists and Source Rejection in Online Communities

Abstract

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