*Edit: *  This short write up was part of an assignment for a college class where I had to present an argumentative essay either in support or against the website Reddit (there was no option to be neutral or objective.)  Personally, both at the time written and currently, the author has no opinion of the website Reddit.  In hindsight, the fact that I was put in the position to have to put a stance on the quality of this website as an assignment to been fiendishly offensive.  I very much loathe the fact that this essay has been lingering on the internet for as many years as it has.  I would have deleted it, but I felt that an addendum might be more helpful as to indicate the dangers of publicly displaying coursework online.  

All information below is the unedited information that was part of the original posting:

“Small potatoes” like Reddit seem to be more harmful then helpful. Reddit is a smaller website that provides nothing that any of the major websites could offer. Reddit is about forming a clickish community that isolates itself from the rest of the world at large. The community deciding what is important does nothing in terms of what an individual may decide is important. I find it preferable to choose what I 'like' on Facebook over what is chosen for me on a site like Reddit. With sites like Facebook and Twitter out, the need for small sites like Reddit becomes non-existent. If the smaller sites could be assimilated into the mainstream then more could be done to create a greater online community. The site is ugly, confusing, and lacks the overall substance that Twitter or Facebook possess.

Reddit also has a habit of creating what are called “Online Witch Hunts.” These occur when online posters feel too powerful in an isolated world like Reddit. There would likely be less of these witch hunts if Reddit simply closed down. In a larger mainstream community these voices of troublemakers would be reduced simply due to the larger amount of people sharing ideas and questioning such online vigilantes. There is a case of a shooting in a Navy yard where Reddit posters decided to pursue whoever were the suspects (Mai-Duc). Reddit was forced to close down such posting due to similar problems with the Boston Marathon bomber. It is in cases such as this, this site is forced to control its unruly posters. Since this site is an 'alternative' to the mainstream, people may feel that they can post whatever they want without fear of the larger community. Reddit had a sub community called “findnavyyardshooters” that amateur sleuths created to solve this crime by themselves (Mai-Duc). This all stems from a community of outsiders that think that they can do whatever they want due to the fact that they don't have to face the majority of the world like the more popular social media sites.

Works Cited:

“Reddit Halts Amateur Sleuths From Speculation on Navy Yard Shooter.” Christine Mai-Duc. http://articles.latimes.com/2013/sep/17/nation/la-na-nn-reddit-navy-yard-shooter-20130917. September 17, 2013. Web.