Expect this trend to continue, not only on Reddit, but throughout the internet. Not a hidden ban list, but the same dynamic in play.
From the mods in the post above:
In early May, we noticed some changes to our sub. Overnight, weekly visits to our sub went from 8M to 2M. The ability to award posts and comments was disabled. Our visibility in community topics and categories like ‘Celebrities’ and ‘News’ vanished. We have been a community on Reddit for years with no issues so we figured it was a glitch and the issue would clear up on its own. It didn’t.
On May 13th, a member of our mod team reached out to Reddit admin to inquire how we fix the issue. They responded on May 15th saying, “It looks like in this case your community's content might be considered sensitive, thus the topic tab may not be visible.”
We continued to follow up.
On May 23rd, we finally received a response saying, “Subreddit rankings, awards, and achievements are tied to the types of content featured in a community. If the posts and comments in a community are considered sensitive, these features may be disabled. In this case these cannot be enabled.”
Again, we followed up to ask what exactly it was that made them consider our content to be ‘sensitive content’. Our posts are no different than other celebrity or even news subs. It quickly became clear to us we were being given the runaround. Admin wouldn’t even tell us for sure our community’s content was “sensitive”, just that it might be, nor would admin inform us why our sub’s content was potentially being considered sensitive. We asked if it was due to our celebrity, pro-Palestine, and/or anti-Trump content. We didn’t receive a response even after multiple follow ups.
On May 27th, a different mod reached out to admin asking for clarity on why it appeared our sub’s content was labeled "sensitive" and how we fix the issue.
An automated bot responded to us informing us that, “A subreddit may be designated as 'sensitive content' and face reduced visibility or loss of features if it is found to be in violation of Reddit's sitewide rules. This can include repeated violations or the presence of content that is not suitable for a general audience. In such cases, Reddit may apply restrictions such as adding NSFW tags, quarantining the community, or other enforcement actions to limit exposure and protect users. When enforcement action is taken against a subreddit, moderators are notified of the reason for the action. This notification includes instructions on how to appeal the decision. Moderators can submit an appeal within six months of receiving the notification. Appeals are reviewed in a timely and non-discriminatory manner, and if it is determined that the initial assessment was incorrect, the enforcement action may be reversed. To resolve the designation, moderators should carefully review the notification, follow the provided appeal instructions, and ensure that the community complies with Reddit's rules moving forward. This process is designed to be transparent and to encourage positive contributions to the platform.”
This confused our team as we were never notified of any enforcement action against our subreddit nor were we given any opportunity to appeal. So again we followed-up. Multiple times. We continued to get the runaround. When we asked about it admin would send us vague responses and questions back like they had no clue what we could possibly be referring to.
The last communication with admin we had was on June 3rd. We were told, “We have already shared all the information we can provide at this time. There is no notice of enforcement because no enforcement action has been taken. Your subreddit content may be considered sensitive, which can result in the subreddit topic not being visible and could affect how easily people come across the community. However, users can still find the community, join it, and interact with its content. This is part of the platform's normal ecosystem behavior. If there is a significant change in the nature of the posts or comments within the community in the future, you are welcome to reach out to us. We can then review the subreddit again and assess whether the current topic classification remains accurate. For now, this is all the information we can share. We hope this helps!”
This confused our team even more and again we followed up. How are we supposed to know if there is a change in the nature of our posts if we are not being told by Reddit why they “might” be sensitive in the first place? We received no response after multiple follow-ups.
After weeks of questions with vague responses we still have not been told by Reddit why our content MAY be considered sensitive nor have we been informed why our content is considered so sensitive it has to be quarantined. Just that it’s how Reddit’s “normal ecosystem behavior” works. A platform where racism, homophobia, transphobia, xenophobia and sexism run rampant. Our mod team has faced harassment including slurs, death threats, rape threats and threats of doxxing for allowing pro-Palestine posts, anti-Trump posts, pro-Amber Heard posts as well as posts calling out racism, transphobia and other forms bigotry. But it seems that’s just part of Reddit’s normal ecosystem.
The truth is we know why our content “might” have been designated “sensitive”. Our mod team is made up exclusively of BIPOC and/or members of the LGBTQIA+ community, so we are not unfamiliar with these patterns. Marginalized people having a voice or any sort of platform is the issue. Speaking out against fascism and up for those in marginalized communities is the issue. Calling out Trump and Israel is the issue.
We do not plan on making any changes to the kind of content we allow and we will continue to try to create a safe space for our members. In the meantime, finding our content might be more difficult, but now you know why.
there's an old saying that only sounds misogynistic, but it's true because the genders could be swapped or it could apply to samesex couples and still work:
"behind every woman, no matter how hot, is a guy who's tired of her bullshit."
That guy could even be her dad, so shut it.
I don't think anyone understands what you're trying to say
Boomer 'wife bad' drivel by the looks of it
I'm trying to say that some people are shit and claiming that your demographic is exempt from that because they are said demographic is the type of mindset that rather prooves the shittyness of the person claiming they arent shitty.
Victims can be complicit in their victimhood, women can be sexist, black people can be racist, and trans folks can be self absorbed assholes. Being a douchebag is equal opportunity. Inclusion in a minority isn't a get out jail free card for poor morality. See et al, Israel if you are in doubt of that.
(I'm not the person who down voted you)
Nobody said any demographic is exempt from people in it being shitty, thats not an argument anyone made.
I'm taking about the way that engagement based algorithms warp our perception and surface only things that generally receive certain kinds of emotional responses. In the cases where someone beats up a woman because she's being an antagonistic asshole, she's still being an antagonistic asshole. It wouldn't do well on the platform if she wasn't; it only performs well if people can feel righteous rooting for the man beating a woman up. If you were to believe reddit and the way the front page depicts reality, women are generally antagonists who are asking for it. If you go to the right parts of reddit you can watch a never ending feed of women getting their asses beat for being a jerk over and over and over, and it starts to feel like thats actually what reality looks like. If you believe the YouTube algorithm, women are all selfish entitled pieces of shit.
These are things that perform well in an engagement based platform, but by statistics and by being in community with women, women do not broadly go around antagonizing people and starting fights thinking they are beyond reprisal, they go around afraid the man walking behind them is going to assault them. But an engagement based platform the stories that reinforce peoples biases or are cathartic, or make you angry, or make you feel superior to those you hate, will rise to the top. Those videos consistently perform.
On YouTube watching court you see almost the entire ommision of naratives featuring men being abusive partners. But they often are. The only time you see videos whose narrative based on a male villain are generally when theyre part of different demographic people love to hate- like cops. You can see men or women both taken down a peg if they're cops. But if they're in court as a parent? The algorithm is showing you a mother who is kniving and spiteful and an obvious villain.
Engagement based algorithms do this because narratives of women being put in their place are vindicating to a segment of the population, and it normalizes that narrative as a depiction of reality to everyone else.
While i do get that it's a lot of confirmation bias, (which is basically what your getting at) swinging the other way to say "this is an overblown "Issue" is not the correct response either. We all need to work toward dumping our prejudices and preconceived notions. Treating these issues as exceptionalism doesn't fix the problem, it just sweeps it under the rug. Calling this stuff out may look cringe or provocative, but it's how we put an end to it. Sunlight is the best disinfectant.
I'm not saying its an overblown issue, I'm saying its disproportionately represented in a way that shapes our worldviews, and that does harm. That doesnt change whether you should call something out as wrong, it changes whether you should recognize the pattern and keep yourself grounded in an accurate understanding of the world. You cannot unpack your biases in a space that is constantly showing you evidence of your biases. The law of large numbers means there will always be a million and one examples of any given worldview, but that doesnt mean its accurate, and until you unpack the way your perception can be manipulated by the platform you're on you can't really work on any of those biases. You can learn to understand how the platform you're on shapes your perception while still considering it wrong if a woman does something shitty, or if anyone does something shitty.
Nor am I treating it as exceptionalism, I frankly don't even follow how that term would apply here.
I don't mean to be rude, but I can't tell if you're just not a great communicator over text, or if your ideas on this subject just don't make a ton of sense. Every comment I've had to read like 4 times to follow what you're saying and I don't generally have to do that