Crosspost "One Year Follow Up: Prevalence of Hate Directed at Women" from /r/ModSupport:

Today marks the 1 year anniversary of my favorite post on r/redditsecurity (is it weird to have a favorite post on r/redditsecurity?): Prevalence of Hate Directed at Women. As a moderator, the data shared in this post came as no surprise. I've directly witnessed the increased hate targeted at women on Reddit through my time in the modqueue and modmail. Experiencing that firehose of misogyny firsthand highlights the seriousness of the issue in ways that raw data fails to capture. There's this line from an article on the Uvalde shooter's behavior online I read a year ago that still haunts me:

Some also suspected this was just how teen boys talked on the Internet these days — a blend of rage and misogyny so predictable they could barely tell each one apart. One girl, discussing moments when he had been creepy and threatening, said that was just “how online is.”

I see this same sentiment expressed across reddit. I have no choice but to share it as well when the misogynists I report making death threats are given the chance to continue participating on reddit. This defeated acceptance of this status quo is soul crushing.
I hope by speaking plainly I haven't caused confusion. My heart aches, this situation is grave, and I am feeling desperate. But desperation rarely makes for promising discussion, so I am trying another route.

Seeing recognition that “the rising tide raises all boats” approach will never be enough to adequately deal with the ever accelerating flood of toxicity gave me hope that reddit is invested as well. You close the post with the following statement, which I would love to continue this conversation from:

Measurement without action would be pointless. The goal of these studies is to not only measure where we are, but to inform where we need to go.

In the report, you mention the role that moderators play in combating misogyny on the platform. The data you have is powerful and could be utilized to better inform the approach community leaders take in the future to continue this fight against hate. I would love to see resources on best practices, perhaps through a conversation where we can collaborate and help one another while also helping women feel more welcome. Such transparency and action would emphasize Reddit's commitment to being a healthy home for a diverse user base.

A Call to Action:

  • Include these metrics in your quarterly safety reports. Understanding sitewide trends is vital to contextualize what we’re seeing in our communities.
  • Update us on what measures and initiatives you’ve taken to specifically address the increased hate against women on the platform in the past year. As community leaders we are able to interact with and know our communities in a way and at a scale that you can’t. Leverage that knowledge by providing us with transparency so that we can build upon what you are doing.
  • Share any research you’ve done on why certain communities respond more negatively to this hate so that we can all learn from those best practices. If you haven't done this research, now is a perfect time to start. Access to data on which communities are better tackling hate and how they are doing so would allow all of us to recognize trending patterns, take action on problematic changes, and improve by following data-driven approaches in our own communities.

As I'm sure you know, this post comes from a place of caring -- caring for my fellow humans as well as this platform so many of us visit to find support, have a few laughs, share our interests, and just connect with one another. I'm hopeful that Reddit's community leaders and Reddit's administrators can continue to work together to make this a place that truly remembers the human, and I am eager to reopen this dialogue and learn what you have to share so that we can all do better in the future.

Posted by techiesgoboom | 7 April 2023 | Link