Reddit is a network of communities where users can vote on posts and dive into their interests.
Reddit thrives on their community aspect where users moderate communities. Reddit is mostly used for
personal purposes but can also be used for vocational purposes.
Lets dive into how this works…
Create Your Profile
The steps to creating a profile is as follows:
- Create a unique username, add your email and password.
- Pick from several options to tailor content to you (skippable):
- How you identify as
- Pick 3 interests
- Pick from a few communities
- Select an avatar. An avatar is a customisable character which you can pick outfits, facial
expressions and so much more for!
Post, Comment and Vote
The three main features of reddit is posting, commenting and voting. With voting you can upvote or downvote posts.
The most interesting content rises to the top.
Communities or Subreddits
A reddit community or subreddit is a section or page which are created and moderated by Redditor's that look at a specific topic.
For example, r/cscareerquestions is as the name implies to ask questions about careers in computer science.
You browse communities for all sorts of interests, for example:
- Art
- Sports
- Careers
- Gaming
- And so much more!
There are also some communities or subreddits to find communities. For example:
- r/all
- r/newreddits
- r/popular
Businesses can also play ads for specific communities to be able to get the most out of your advertisements.
r/place
One interesting community is r/place. This community is a canvas where you can add a single coloured pixel every five minutes to a large canvas.
You can overwrite existing pixels too!
The goal is to have a collaborative piece of art. This shows and encapsulates Reddit's community or collaborative work.
In Summary
In summary, Reddit operates in a community-like way. This is achieved through sub communities, user moderation and voting.
Reddit can also be used for business by allowing business to target their advertisements to certain Redditors. Reddit can also be used
for vocational purposes by going to subreddits that discuss careers.
Threats
I will focus on three threats that can occur as a result of using social media:
-
1
Identity theft
-
2
Cyberbullying
-
3
Social Media Overload
Identity Theft
This can occur to anyone who has shared any personal information online.
This could include, where you live, phone number or details about medical records.
Identity theft is when someone steals information about you to use it for their own gain.
For example, getting trusted relatives to send them money.
People share lots of information online and sometimes forget that anyone can see what they post.
Cyberbullying
“Roughly 40% of Americans have experienced some form of cyberbullying”
- According to pandasecurity.com
Cyberbullying is using social media to harass, embarrass or threaten someone.
You can prevent cyberbullying by keeping your social media account on private mode or only visible to trusted family
and friends. If the cyberbullying has already started you can also report it. Many social media platforms have a
zero-tolerance policy for bullying. An example, would be Instagram.
Social Media Overload
“Media overload is hurting our mental health” - American Psychological Association
Media overload is not a medically recognised term,
however psychologists are witnessing that many people are suffering due to stress because of the news.
While the APA (American Psychological Association)
was referring to news specifically this can also apply to social media.
According to calm.com social media overload can occur due to watching too social media.
This is a result of the pressure to continuously be engaged, which can cause stress and anxiety.
Ethical and legal implications of social media
Finally, social media can have ethical and legal implications. This could include Copyright Infringement or the need to follow Terms and conditions.
Copyright Infringement
We aren’t legally allowed to reuse other people’s work on the internet. It should be treated as normal material.
However, using social media people may occasionally post art or content and claim its their own.
For example, on Instagram or Reddit I occasionally see comments saying that the art is stolen and people
linking the user who originally posted it.
Terms & Conditions
When you go to a site or sign up to it, you may be presented with terms & conditions.
Terms & conditions could be something normal. However, if you do not read the terms & conditions the social media site
could note that they will sell your data to third-parties. Always make sure to double check the terms & conditions and
the reliability of a company.
References
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