Curricular Research
Curricular Research
Curricular Research
A Balancing Act - How r/AskWomen Creates a Safe Space for Women
A Balancing Act - How r/AskWomen Creates a Safe Space for Women
Tulika Banerjee, Ramyani Ghosh, Jingyi Wan
Tulika Banerjee, Ramyani Ghosh, Jingyi Wan
Tulika Banerjee, Ramyani Ghosh, Jingyi Wan
CS 6470 Design of Online Communities, Georgia Institute of Technology
CS 6470 Design of Online Communities, Georgia Institute of Technology
CS 6470 Design of Online Communities, Georgia Institute of Technology








Abstract
Reddit is one of the largest social networks today, boasting over a billion registered users and 430 million monthly users. One of the dominant reasons for its popularity is the existence of around 130,000 subreddits, each catering to different subgroups and interests. From hugely popular topics like r/gaming to those catering to more niche passions like r/lawnpopping (yes, this is a thing), one can say that an internet user will almost certainly find a subreddit that piques their interest.
Oldenburg (1999) writes about the third place, a place that is “inclusively sociable, offering both the basis of community and the celebration of it.”
In this paper we discuss r/AskWomen, a subreddit that doubles up as a third place. The r/AskWomen subreddit is a community for asking and answering questions, created for the benefit of women. Being a thriving community with strict moderation, r/AskWomen makes for a great place to study the many nuances of gender, gender roles, and stereotypes, both practiced and perceived.
In this paper, we use Amy Jo Kim’s “9 Timeless Principles For Building Community” to analyze r/AskWomen’s impact as a community and the role that its moderation plays in shaping it. We also present the perspectives of ten members of the community who agreed to interview with us and speak about their involvement in r/AskWomen.
Keywords
Reddit, online moderation, safe space, women, community, human-subjects study
Method
30+ Hours of Participant Observations followed by 10 Semi-structured Interviews. Finally, coding and analysis of gathered data.
Access
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Multimodal Sentiment Analysis
NLP, Jupiter NB, Python
Multimodal Sentiment Analysis
NLP, Jupiter NB, Python
Multimodal Sentiment Analysis
NLP, Jupiter NB, Python
©2023 Tulika Banerjee
©2023 Tulika Banerjee
©2023 Tulika Banerjee
Abstract
Reddit is one of the largest social networks today, boasting over a billion registered users and 430 million monthly users. One of the dominant reasons for its popularity is the existence of around 130,000 subreddits, each catering to different subgroups and interests. From hugely popular topics like r/gaming to those catering to more niche passions like r/lawnpopping (yes, this is a thing), one can say that an internet user will almost certainly find a subreddit that piques their interest.
Oldenburg (1999) writes about the third place, a place that is “inclusively sociable, offering both the basis of community and the celebration of it.”
In this paper we discuss r/AskWomen, a subreddit that doubles up as a third place. The r/AskWomen subreddit is a community for asking and answering questions, created for the benefit of women. Being a thriving community with strict moderation, r/AskWomen makes for a great place to study the many nuances of gender, gender roles, and stereotypes, both practiced and perceived.
In this paper, we use Amy Jo Kim’s “9 Timeless Principles For Building Community” to analyze r/AskWomen’s impact as a community and the role that its moderation plays in shaping it. We also present the perspectives of ten members of the community who agreed to interview with us and speak about their involvement in r/AskWomen.
Keywords
Reddit, online moderation, safe space, women, community, human-subjects study
Method
30+ Hours of Participant Observations followed by 10 Semi-structured Interviews. Finally, coding and analysis of gathered data.
Access
Abstract
Reddit is one of the largest social networks today, boasting over a billion registered users and 430 million monthly users. One of the dominant reasons for its popularity is the existence of around 130,000 subreddits, each catering to different subgroups and interests. From hugely popular topics like r/gaming to those catering to more niche passions like r/lawnpopping (yes, this is a thing), one can say that an internet user will almost certainly find a subreddit that piques their interest. Oldenburg (1999) writes about the third place, a place that is “inclusively sociable, offering both the basis of community and the celebration of it.” In this paper we discuss r/AskWomen, a subreddit that we believe fits the criteria he lays out for a third place, including being a leveler and on neutral ground, and being accessible. The r/AskWomen subreddit is a community for asking and answering questions, created for the benefit of women. According to the description posted, it is “a subreddit dedicated to asking women questions about their thoughts, lives, and experiences; providing a place where all women can comfortably and candidly share their responses in a non-judgmental space” Being a thriving community with strict moderation, r/AskWomen makes for a great place to study the many nuances of gender, gender roles, and stereotypes, both practiced and perceived. In this paper, we use Amy Jo Kim’s “9 Timeless Principles For Building Community” to analyze r/AskWomen’s impact as a community and the role that its moderation plays in shaping it. We also present the perspectives of ten members of the community who agreed to interview with us and speak about their involvement in r/AskWomen.
Abstract
Reddit is one of the largest social networks today, boasting over a billion registered users and 430 million monthly users. One of the dominant reasons for its popularity is the existence of around 130,000 subreddits, each catering to different subgroups and interests. From hugely popular topics like r/gaming to those catering to more niche passions like r/lawnpopping (yes, this is a thing), one can say that an internet user will almost certainly find a subreddit that piques their interest. Oldenburg (1999) writes about the third place, a place that is “inclusively sociable, offering both the basis of community and the celebration of it.” In this paper we discuss r/AskWomen, a subreddit that doubles up as a third place. The r/AskWomen subreddit is a community for asking and answering questions, created for the benefit of women. Being a thriving community with strict moderation, r/AskWomen makes for a great place to study the many nuances of gender, gender roles, and stereotypes, both practiced and perceived. In this paper, we use Amy Jo Kim’s “9 Timeless Principles For Building Community” to analyze r/AskWomen’s impact as a community and the role that its moderation plays in shaping it. We also present the perspectives of ten members of the community who agreed to interview with us and speak about their involvement in r/AskWomen.
Keywords
Reddit, online moderation, safe space, women, community, human-subjects study
Method
30+ Hours of Participant Observations followed by 10 Semi-structured Interviews. Finally, coding and analysis of gathered data.


