Reddit, Marketing, Political Correctness and Censorship - aka, This is Why We Can't Have Nice Things

Reddit just lost some of its marketing value by trying to become more marketing-friendly.

I don't really have the energy to type out anything lengthy, so I'm going to make this simple by typing out a series of short semi-coherent sentences and paragraphs.

Reddit, with its ever growing popularity and ability to attract large amounts of money to be thrown at it by large brands, just shot itself in the foot.

link here:
https://np.reddit.com/r/announcements/comments/39bpam/removing_harassing_subreddits/

Reddit just banned 5 "harassing" subs (including gems like /r/fatpeoplehate)

The gem is in the opening paragraph:
"Today we are announcing a change in community management on reddit. Our goal is to enable as many people as possible to have authentic conversations and share ideas and content on an open platform. We want as little involvement as possible in managing these interactions but will be involved when needed to protect privacy and free expression, and to prevent harassment."

This nearly incomprehensible action by my best estimates is code for "Our big brand and celebrity endorsements were being threatened b/c some idiots in their respective PR departments saw non-PC material in certain subreddits, went into 'brand protection overdrive mode' and we didn't have the balls or the brains to think for a second and tell them to chill the f out and realize we have more leverage than they do in this case. So we're starting small and hitting 5 subreddits that we don't think people will care too much about... we survived /r/jailbait being taken down, right? And besides, the /r/fatpeoplehate mods started it!"

Sorry for saying "balls" - if I had posted this on reddit, it might have landed me in /r/SRS

Marketing people (not excluding myself here) and politically correct idiots are why we can't have nice things.

Racism, sexism, and other forms of bigotry will never go away via political correctness, being collectively offended, or by an inflated sense of moral superiority. Banning certain forms of speech because you don't agree with it is a very dangerous path to go down... if they are actually wrong and terrible, let them be known and open about it and let people decide for themselves. Professional victims can have Tumblr; leave reddit alone, please (or stay in your respective subs for crying out loud).


All American redditors who don't have an issue with those subreddits being taken off (let's be honest, very few people actually agree with the exaggerated amount of hate and harassment on those subs) should remember this paraphrased phrase: "I may not agree with what you have to say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it." And while reddit as a company can do as they like, they best remember that this mindset is what makes the internet wonderful and reddit the powerhouse community hub and marketing tool that it is.


That all being said, /u/SmokingPopes kinda hits the real conclusion well

"I mean the vast amount of people who use this site don't have an account and won't even know what happened. Hell the announcement thread is pretty buried at this point. Long term this has no real effect, and everything will calm down in a week.

Reddit never has and never will be this free speech haven everyone makes it out to be. People need to cool it with the Golden Age Syndrome and histrionics."

Why an Hourly Wage Doesn't Make Sense for Graphic Design

The comic above makes a solid point -
A brilliant design can come with a single stroke of a pen or a 100 hours of struggle and pain.

The balance in pricing lies in the predicted # of hours worked, the # hours of experience in the field, a arbitrarily calculated value of the logo to the company, and the max allocated budget for the project from the client's viewpoint.

The Future of Korean-Japanese Relations Summed Up in 30 Seocnds

*Disclaimer: I know next to nothing about geopolitics*

My theory: The future of the relationship between Japan and Korea is more of a interest-based marketing question than a political, economic, or territory-based one since...

Pop Music

Pictured: The men(?) of Big Bang

Anime

Pictured: Dragonball Z

K/J-Dramas

Pictured: Rain (Bi) in Full House

Martial Arts

Pictured: Judo

and Videogames

Pictured: Tekken

have more influence on the public opinions between the nations than Prime Minister Shizo Abe or President Park Geun Hye will ever have.


My point is that this stuff: 

"In recent years, however, the relationship between South Korea and Japan has greatly deteriorated over many disputes, including the territorial claims on Takeshima, Japanese prime ministers' visits to Yasukuni Shrine, and differing views on history of Imperial Japan, during Korea under Japanese rule.

According to a 2014 BBC World Service Poll, 13% of Japanese view South Korea's influence positively, with 37% expressing a negative view, while 15% of South Koreans view Japanese influence positively, with 79% expressing negatively, making South Korea, along with China, the country with the most negative perception of Japan in the world."

from: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Japan%E2%80%93South_Korea_relations


"In her speech to mark the anniversary of Korea’s liberation from colonial rule on 15 August 1945, Park called upon ‘Japan’s leaders to take a correct view of history and especially to take proactive measures acceptable to the comfort women victims of the Japanese imperial military while they are still alive’."

from: http://www.eastasiaforum.org/2014/09/23/why-history-is-a-problem-for-park-geun-hye-in-confronting-japan/


...basically matters f*ck all in the grand scheme of things in the era of globalization (much to the dismay of political analysts, bitter old folks, and war hawks on both sides), and I think the younger generations from both countries generally understand this fact and will eventually turn the old neighbor/extended family dispute into a much more arbitrary, productive, and friendlier one focused around shared interests and industries to improve the economic potential for both countries. China can come too.