Even though I posted potential sites, implying I was going to look at multiple possibilities, I pretty much already knew (and decided upon) that I would use Reddit.
According to the data collected by Alexa, Reddit ranks as the #116 most visited site in the world, and 43rd in the United States. Almost half of the traffic comes from the US, but the site is also extremely popular in India, the United Kingdom, Australia, China, and Canada, to name a few.
Statistically, a large portion of Reddit's population are 18- to 34-year-old men, many of whom are unmarried and are without children (surprise..). Redditors also employed their own survey, located here. The top most popular subreddits include topics regarding memes, marijuana, atheism, ask science (where verified specialists answer science questions), and Star Craft. Pollsters also reported that one of the top favorite cheeses is cheddar. Another Redditor graphed some of the information.
I will participate by registering a new account, so that I can establish myself in a new subreddit without having any conflicting ties with my current post history. I will select a subreddit I don't already participate in.
I like this site, because it has greatly increased in traffic and exposure over the past year, and is an Internet cultural touchstone. It attracts millions of unique page views a month, and has tens of thousands of registered users. Internet memes, video games, different languages, politics and world news are prolific on subreddits. It can only yield a goldmine of data! (I hope..)
I like this idea of “an Internet cultural touchstone.” It too often seems that information on the Internet is so fleeting – especially memes; having sites like this that compile such information and encourage users to do a sort of analysis on it, share it with others, and duplicate it helps to build the cultural and communal aspect of the Internet. How much do the users actually create the content that is discussed in the forums (like recursive demotivational posters), or is it more of a media consumption site? It’s fun to see what sorts of situations spur individuals into what David Bawden defines as digital literacy – a chance to one-up each other? Opportunity to create for a different audience? Community building?
ReplyDeleteThis blog entry is fairly clear – I know that you mentioned a more specific forum in class, so I look forward to hearing more about that. What are you focusing on in that forum?