Sensationalism on Reddit vs. Sensationalism off Reddit
In order to better understand the role that Reddit plays in sensationalizing the news, I decided to follow the news articles that were posted by Redditors and compare them to the original article that was linked in the submission. I chose to analyze the front page since the use of up votes as a form of voting would follow the trend of human interest, as noted by Kanazawa, and would effectively bring the most sensationalized news articles to the front page of Reddit.
Reddit Front Page Analysis: By only examining the news posts side by side with their original news sources I cut out unnecessary differences between individual posts.
Spot Number 1:
Title: “Muslim community tipped off Canada about terror plot”
Link: http://www.torontosun.com/2013/04/22/muslim-community-tipped-off-rcmp-about-terror-plot
Analysis: The title of the post is almost exactly the same as the title of the article, no use of sensationalism found.
Spot Number 4:
Title: “Patriot Guard Riders preventing the WBC from picketing Boston bombing victim's funeral.”
Link: http://i.imgur.com/FkR3XhM.jpg
Analysis: The title of the article is misleading as the PGR do not prevent the WBC from protesting but rather prevent them from getting close to the family or event. May be a case of accidental misuse of wording or a misunderstanding by the Original Poster. Inconclusive.
Spot Number 8:
Title: “The most mystifying things the Tsarnaev brothers did.”
Link: http://www.motherjones.com/mojo/2013/04/eleven-most-mystifying-things-tsarnaev-brothers-did
Analysis: The title of the post is almost exactly the same as the title of the article. No sensationalism found.
Spot Number 1:
Title: “Muslim community tipped off Canada about terror plot”
Link: http://www.torontosun.com/2013/04/22/muslim-community-tipped-off-rcmp-about-terror-plot
Analysis: The title of the post is almost exactly the same as the title of the article, no use of sensationalism found.
Spot Number 4:
Title: “Patriot Guard Riders preventing the WBC from picketing Boston bombing victim's funeral.”
Link: http://i.imgur.com/FkR3XhM.jpg
Analysis: The title of the article is misleading as the PGR do not prevent the WBC from protesting but rather prevent them from getting close to the family or event. May be a case of accidental misuse of wording or a misunderstanding by the Original Poster. Inconclusive.
Spot Number 8:
Title: “The most mystifying things the Tsarnaev brothers did.”
Link: http://www.motherjones.com/mojo/2013/04/eleven-most-mystifying-things-tsarnaev-brothers-did
Analysis: The title of the post is almost exactly the same as the title of the article. No sensationalism found.
As I browsed through the news articles and the corresponding front page posts I was alarmed to find, although pleasantly so, that Reddit could be considered no more sensationalized than the original articles. Now whether or not that was saying something about the integrity of the Redditors who acted as community watchdogs or if it was indicative of the current state of our sensationalized media I can not judge; but it was not being created by Reddit and thus it wasn't completely within the grasp of the public appetite. Just because it is human nature to seek out stories of a sensationalized fashion has not caused the community to allow these types of stories to overtake them. Perhaps this can also be related back to Kanazawa's original theory in that although we as humans have evolved to be able to survey our surroundings for quick indicators of our safety, we also have learned a natural distrust of the man behind the curtain.
My Final Thoughts on the sensationalism of news on Reddit weren't the thoughts I was expecting myself to have, but I can't deny that they followed the only logical path that the research and observations I conducted
My Final Thoughts on the sensationalism of news on Reddit weren't the thoughts I was expecting myself to have, but I can't deny that they followed the only logical path that the research and observations I conducted