The making of a narrative on Reddit.

Reddit alien (2013)

Reddit is an online forum that allows a user to post about many different topics. They vary from personal topics I.e. financial advice, relationship advice but also topics about certain hobbies and also topics that allow you to escape reality and ‘roleplay’ (pretend to be someone you are not). The different way you can interact with the other people on Reddit helps you write your personal story and shapes who you are as a person. Paul Brucks (neuropsychologist): All the personhood of a person is…a story you tell yourself. Identity is the story of what happened to that body over time. (2013 lecture on narratives by Ariella Van Luyn)

The concept of narrative exists in everyday life and also online, it lets people figure out what area of the online world they want to be a part of. They way that we speak to each other to what kind of knowledge we give to the others allows us to shape our online narratives. Reddit helps this by giving us very specific ‘Subreddits’ ranging from a certain book or television show, to space itself. What they call this kind of forum is a ‘public sphere’, “a discursive space in which individuals and groups associate to discuss matters of mutual interest and, where possible, to reach a common judgment about them” (Hauser 1999, p. 61). Reddit is an expansive public sphere with many different smaller public spheres inside of it which allows the community to unit quickly and come to the common judgement that they seek.

Kuttainen, V (2016) BA1002: Networked Narratives, week 6 notes [PowerPoint slides]

Gerard, H (1999) Vernacular Voices Columbia, South Carolina: South Carolina Press

Reddit picture (2013) retrieved from http://www.redditsecrets.com/