One message Allam received even mentioned his employer: "I will fucking murder you in your London flat when you walk back from your work at Supload, you might want to take this shit seriously for once." They're going to fixate on you as a moderator."
"They're going to fixate on you as a moderator." "Let's say someone is calling someone the N-word and I ban him. "Let's say someone is calling someone the N-word and I ban him," said Allam.
In trying to keep the conversation clean, they can become targets. Robert Allam, Reddit moderator and Chief Marketing Officer at Supload It's down to an army of dedicated volunteer moderators to keep Reddit clean - and they too often get caught in the crossfire. At its best, Reddit is a place where people discuss topics with other like-minded individuals there are subreddits devoted to just about any topic imaginable - there's even one for people who like to Photoshop human arms onto pictures of birds.Īt its worst, Reddit is awash with sexist threads, spam and threats. Reddit overtook Facebook this year to become the third most popular website in the US, behind Google and YouTube. Known by his username, GallowBoob, Allam moderates r/tifu ("today I fucked up"), where more than 13 million subscribers share their schadenfreude anecdotes, and r/oddlysatisfying, where 1.8 million subscribers post content that is inexplicably satisfying to watch. "Even if you're having the best day, reading a message like 'I'm going to kill you' or 'walk in front of a bus,' is shitty," said Robert Allam, Chief Marketing Officer at Supload, an online sharing platform. abrownn asked only to be known by their username.Īll the moderators interviewed confirmed they had received death threats, which they said can take a toll. "I had three death threats this past month," said abrownn, who moderates r/Futurology, with more than 13 million subscribers, and r/technology, with more than 6 million subscribers.
You nasty disgusting slut fuckmeat."įurther down in the diatribe he adds, "I want you to come across a mean STD nigger and he tears your shit hole up so bad you'll never ever have to push your shit out."Įmily, a moderator for several popular subreddits I want you to get cancer, your mother, sister, brother, father, grandparents I want them all to get cancer and when they open their mouths I wanna piss in them. In one rambling attack, a Redditor told Emily, "I want you to get cancer because I wanna see your own body killing you. One sent to Emily reads, "I hope you get shot in the face with a bullet."īut others are profoundly disturbing and more creative. "People are willing to dedicate their time to make you feel threatened for the hell of it," she said. "And when people find out you're a woman, you get rape threats." That's why Emily tries not to mention she's a woman on Reddit: The torrent of abuse is far less likely to turn sexual. "I've had a few death threats," said Emily, who asked to be referred to by her first name and her Reddit username, lolihull, to prevent the online harassment from spilling over into her real life. You can disable notifications at any time in your settings menu.