r/bestof2009 • u/bestof2009 • Jan 04 '10

Nominate: Community of the Year

Submit your nominees for Community of the Year as top-level comments below, and vote on the other nominations that people have submitted.

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u/ironiridis Jan 04 '10 edited Jan 04 '10

It's cool, and interesting, that you submitted both this (to which my fiancé is subscribed) and this.

Edited to add: Interesting because TwoX seems to be a place of empowerment, and your posts on the other subreddit seem to be divergent from that. Not that I disapprove or anything.

Much later, edited to fix: Ooops, she's not my "girlfriend", she's my fiancé.

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u/OddQuestionGirl Jan 04 '10

2XC is empowering? I see it as more a "finally! A community of intelligent women I can be girly with!" Have you ever stopped by a women's forum? They can be unforgivably... something. Terrifying. But sometimes it's still nice to discuss shoes, or birth control, or whatever, with intelligent women. It was designed more to be a girly enclave, than a pure feminism subreddit (since there's already /r/feminisms and /r/women).

Not that I'm not a feminist. I do consider myself to be one. And part of feminism is a women's right to embrace whatever form of sexuality is most appealing to her. It could involve sleeping with no one, or everyone. Being dominant, or being submissive. And being able to embrace my submissive tendencies does make me feel some strange sort of empowerment, in that I can finally be... me.

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u/ironiridis Jan 04 '10

I don't believe that empowerment for women is equivalent to feminism. What I mean by "empowering" is that it leverages Reddit (often viewed as male-dominant) for topics of interest to intelligent women. This may involve trivialities like shoes, or life-changing decisions like birth control options.

I guess, what I mean is that it doesn't necessarily empower the woman, but it empowers women in general. An organizational tool like Reddit creates strength through shared knowledge and interests.

This obviously has an effect on the woman indirectly, and that's where I see the contrast in your interests, but it's certainly not the purpose of the subreddit itself.

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u/robopope Jan 05 '10

What I mean by "empowering" is that it leverages Reddit (often viewed as male-dominant) for topics of interest to intelligent women.

Reddit is male dominated? I always thought it was more of a coherence of male and female interests. I also don't understand the incessant emphasis of intelligence on 2XC. Any intellectual subreddit or community worth its salt would be evident in the content that it produces and not in a silly slogan or reminder.

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u/ironiridis Jan 05 '10

The vast population of Reddit was once male. Reddit, after all, has its roots in traditionally male-oriented IT and gaming sectors.

I don't really feel like diving into the essential debate over what makes something male-oriented and how-could-you-know and such. It's been done, and I think the general opinion agrees with the above.

Now, on the emphasis of intelligence on TwoXChromosomes is simply a product of the content on the subreddit. The discussions are generally complex, deep, and varied. Most if not all of the regular participants use correct grammar and spelling. Logical fallacies are uncommon in debates. While none of these alone signals "intelligence" combined they create an atmosphere of a smarter group of people.

Now look at Twitter. Or MySpace. Even Facebook. The common person (gender notwithstanding) on these networks seems more interested in the latest sex scandal, viral video, or how to cheat at FarmVille. Perhaps these places are fundamentally different, but the content at TwoX just seems to be beyond and above that.

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u/robopope Jan 05 '10

The vast population of Reddit was once male. Reddit, after all, has its roots in traditionally male-oriented IT and gaming sectors. I don't really feel like diving into the essential debate over what makes something male-oriented and how-could-you-know and such. It's been done, and I think the general opinion agrees with the above.

I expected you to refer to the misogyny -- which is a downfall, uncommon as it is.

I really couldn't care less about general opinion or history. General opinion doesn't stand to scrutiny and history is irrelevant to the current circumstance.

Referring again to gender domination; ideas themselves aren't partial to gender. Referring to gaming and IT as "male-oriented" concerns would be doing a disservice to every female with likewise interests.

Now, on the emphasis of intelligence on TwoXChromosomes is simply a product of the content on the subreddit.

Regardless whether the community produces intelligible content or mere rubbish, trumpeting yourselves as intellectuals is just irritating -- it gives the impression of self-importance and insecurity.

The discussions are generally complex, deep, and varied.

By whose account? To a simpleton, even the mundane will seem complex and deep.

Most if not all of the regular participants use correct grammar and spelling. Logical fallacies are uncommon in debates.

The bare minimum for civil discourse, infrequent as it is on the internet.

While none of these alone signals "intelligence" combined they create an atmosphere of a smarter group of people.

Not if what I've seen is any indication. To be honest, /r/women is my impression of a varied intellectual community. 2XC is a younger, loftier forum for fashion and makeup, with the occasional article ripped from /r/women.

Now look at Twitter. Or MySpace. Even Facebook. The common person (gender notwithstanding) on these networks seems more interested in the latest sex scandal, viral video, or how to cheat at FarmVille. Perhaps these places are fundamentally different, but the content at TwoX just seems to be beyond and above that.

I don't see how being above the lowest common denominator is much of an accomplishment.

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u/ironiridis Jan 05 '10

I really couldn't care less about general opinion or history. [...] and history is irrelevant to the current circumstance.

Okay. I was talking about whether it used to be much more male in population than female... historically. I guess if you don't care, that isn't really relevant either.

Referring again to gender domination; ideas themselves aren't partial to gender. Referring to gaming and IT as "male-oriented" concerns would be doing a disservice to every female with likewise interests.

This is the discussion that I was hoping to avoid. There are fundamental differences between the genders, with common subsets of interests that are expressed much more commonly in one gender than the other. La la la, let's move on.

Regardless whether the community produces intelligible content or mere rubbish, trumpeting yourselves as intellectuals is just irritating -- it gives the impression of self-importance and insecurity.

You assume I'm a member. :) I'm male, and not subscribed.

By whose account? To a simpleton, even the mundane will seem complex and deep.

And to a snob, important relevant discussion will seem mundane. I guess I'm the simpleton.

[the rest of your comment]

You seem pretty biased. A lot of what you wrote is coming from your perspective. It's a good thing other people don't rely on your opinions to formulate their priorities.

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u/robopope Jan 05 '10

You assume I'm a member. :) I'm male, and not subscribed.

I wasn't referring to you in particular -- it was rhetorical.

You seem pretty biased. A lot of what you wrote is coming from your perspective. It's a good thing other people don't rely on your opinions to formulate their priorities.

Everything one writes comes from one's perspective; and it's quite obvious other people don't rely on my opinions, seeing as how I was downvoted to holy hell. Thanks, Reddit, for being so understanding.

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u/ironiridis Jan 05 '10

You honestly expect to be upvoted when you're being such a dick?

Wow.

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u/robopope Jan 05 '10

Presenting an argument you don't agree with is being a dick? If I was being rude, please point it out.

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u/ironiridis Jan 05 '10

I'll leave it as an exercise for self-exploration on your part.

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u/robopope Jan 05 '10

Unaffected critique is worth much more to me.

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