Exploring Cultural Balance as Reddit Turns 20

The Roast/Toast Effect: Celebrating our whims and obsessions

I was recently scanning r/SexAndTheCity to get a temperature check on the “new chapter,” when I couldn’t help but wonder: What would the World Wide Web be like without the “heart of the internet?” For starters, it would lack a subreddit where that pop culture reference might be appreciated.

To explain Reddit’s cultural impact over 20 years in “pop terms,” millions visit daily to peruse one of 100,000 active communities where there r/NoStupidQuestions and you’re welcome to vent about r/MildlyInfuriating things, unleash an r/UnpopularOpinion, or lurk and give nothing in return. Like YouTube, founded the same year, the platform evolved from humble beginnings and today’s model has a few bells and whistles, though you can continue living like it’s 2005 on old.reddit.com.

The app is hard to quit if you’re extremely online and insatiably curious. As humans, we’re drawn to headlines like “I’m a Lobster Diver Who Recently Survived Being Inside a Whale. Ask Me Anything!” because storytelling is a “fundamental part” of our communication and aligns with how our brains are wired to understand the world. There’s also science behind why we can’t look away from tragedy, which explains the rubbernecking over on r/LinkedInLunatics. And “we have to go back!” so someone can explain the ending of every complex TV show and film ever made.

But perhaps an unspoken rule on Reddit is “the balance must be respected.” It’s fine to knock down the thick-skinned souls literally asking to be mocked and ridiculed on r/RoastMe. But we must also lift up those seeking validation on r/ToastMe.

To offset the overall rise in toxicity, the platform needs volunteers to donate their time to helping those in need. While we can’t save everyone from traps like r/TrueRateMe, we can answer requests for career and relationship advice, tech support, skincare routines, identifying earworms and r/WhatIsThisThing.

If you’re crunched for time, bookmark r/AmIUgly and tell everyone struggling from low self-esteem how beautiful they are. Or at the very least, tell a fellow redditor you dig their “flair.” Just a few minutes a day can make a difference (and boost karma).

At recess, Reddit serves as a welcomed diversion for the “work hard, play hard” crowd. Though instead of playing tag to reduce stress, relief comes from sharing a photo of your dog or cat in the midst of “a beeeeeeeg stretchhhhh” on r/OooBigStretch.

And since the health benefits of humor are no joke, the platform’s top community is filled with amateur comedians working for upvotes in lieu of a two-drink minimum and cover charge.

Are you not entertained?! My guilty pleasure is r/CommercialsIHate, where ads suitable for the “How Did This Get Made?” podcast are roasted, but perhaps some are worthy of “second opinions.” This passionate community taught me that 30-second spots are DOA if they promote a medication or whole body deodorant, use AI or contain needless shouting à la “Everybody Damp Rid!”

We must protect this silly place filled with niche topics and interesting AF content that remains firmly in the hands of “we the people” at all costs.

But can we work together to maintain the proper Reddiquette needed to reach the next vicennial?

While that question marinates, I’d like to propose a toast. Cheers to r/GoodNews, cheers to r/InternetParents and cheers to the things that make you go r/hmm.

As Pam Beesly once said, “There’s a lot of beauty in ordinary things.” So I’m sure she’d appreciate r/ChairsUnderwater and r/BreadStapledToTrees. She could also teach a thing or two to the folks in r/paper.