Reddit isn’t just a social news site full of hilarious memes, inappropriate but comical images and entertaining YouTube videos. It’s also stock full of AMAs, or Ask me Anythings. AMAs allow the Reddit community to ask a certain individual questions. The individual who initiated the AMA will provide the answers. AMAs allow the Reddit community to ask one another anything and everything with an open mind.
Popular AMAs include:
· I am a Columbine survivor named Brooks Brown AMA
· I am a closet pedophile in my early 20s AMA
AMAs have taken social media to a whole new level. Average Joes and celebrities expose themselves online, allowing the Reddit community to question them truthfully without preconceptions.
Reading celebrity AMAs are definitely entertaining, but reading AMAs from everyday people sets Reddit apart from other online communities.
For example, take the closet pedophile in his early 20s. The topic starter states that he is a closeted pedophile and tells the community that they can ask him any question they want about it. I couldn’t help but wonder: would this person be as open and honest about his life if he were talking to individuals face to face as opposed to screen to screen?
As I scrolled through the thread, I felt like I had to brace myself for endless name-calling and judgment. In a Web 2.0 world where people feel they have the right to say anything online, I assumed that this AMA would be full of hateful comments. It turns out I was wrong. Those who commented were supportive and asked insightful questions about the person’s struggle.
Outside of Reddit, the AMAs topic could be considered taboo. The fact that the Reddit community is so receptive suggests that sometimes getting your message through is not just easier through social media, but sometimes it’s the only way.
Who would you like to see doing an AMA? And, if you had the opportunity to tell a secret online anonymously, would you?
I think the AMAs are great on reddit! There have been some b-list celebrities that have done some like Aziz Ansari (http://azizisbored.tumblr.com/) which have been really interesting.
ReplyDeleteI think it would be really neat to see an influential person like Oprah Winfrey do an AMA. It's a really creative feature online and I agree that it has done a lot in terms of connecting people through social media.