Too Crowded for Crowdsourced Journalism: Reddit, Portability, and Citizen Participation in the Syrian Crisis

Abstract

Background This article explores the complexity of citizen participation in social media and crowdsourced journalism by utilizing the case of r/SyrianCivilWar, the sub-community of Reddit where users discuss the Syrian crisis.Analysis In examining the limitations and affordances of the platform, the article identifies features that characterize the r/SyrianCivilWar community, namely: algorithmic driven public discourse, deliberative communication, reflexivity and transparency, and database journalism. These features shape the functioning of the community and have broader implications for citizen crowdsourced journalism projects.Conclusion and implications The article demonstrates that alternative media practices, such as crowdsourced journalism, are limited in their capacity to reach mainstream consciousness. In the commodified landscape of media, portability—a capacity for complex issues to be distilled into a simple or simplified concept—is made important.Contexte Cet article explore la complexité de la participation citoyenne dans les médias sociaux et dans le journalisme financé collectivement en recourant au cas de r/SyrianCivilWar, communauté sur Reddit où l’on discute de la crise syrienne.Analyse En examinant les limites et avantages de la plateforme, cet article identifie certaines caractéristiques de la communauté r/SyrianCivilWar, à savoir : un discours public basé sur des algorithmes, une communication délibérative, la réflexivité et la transparence, et un journalisme de données. Ces caractéristiques influencent le fonctionnement de la communauté et ont des implications plus larges pour les projets journalistiques financés collectivement par les citoyens.Conclusion et implications Cet article démontre que les pratiques médiatiques alternatives, telles que le journalisme financé collectivement, sont limitées dans leur capacité à rejoindre le grand public. Le caractère commercialisé des médias traditionnels rend importante la portabilité, c’est-à-dire la possibilité de transformer des questions complexes en concepts simples ou simplifiés.

“Ain’t Nobody Got Time for That!”: Framing and Stereotyping in Legacy and Social Media

“…In other words, social media has served as a reductionist and essentialist echo chamber for those marginalizing stereotypes pervasive in legacy media. As Merlyna Lim (2013) writes, social media has dramatically accelerated the production and circulation of information, necessitating simpler and shorter narratives, only reinforcing the trend that was already in place in legacy media as it tried to adapt to the increasingly competitive and technologically expedited media environments (see also Lim, 2018;Mitchell & Lim, 2018). Moreover,…”

Seal Hunts in Canada and on Twitter: Exploring the Tensions between Indigenous Rights and Animal Rights with #Sealfie

“…Although #sealfie itself generated opportunity, in that it has provided a platform that allows defenders of sealing to come together, it is difficult to assess whether it has had much impact beyond that. Clearly, no deliberative dialogue (see Mitchell & Lim, 2018) took place where opposing views could be discussed, mutually understood, or reconciled. Indirectly, however, it is possible that legacy media's coverage of #sealfie has helped to raise awareness of the issues surrounding sealing in Canada.…”

‘I gave someone a good death’: Anonymity in a community of Reddit’s medical professionals

“…Though there is much academic research incorporating Reddit threads and user activity (Buozis, 2017; Massanari, 2017; Mitchell and Lim, 2018; Park et al, 2018; Sharma et al, 2017), much of the literature on Reddit is fragmented between the disciplines of communication, sociology, and support-based bodies of literature from varying social science fields. Communication scholars across disciplines have commented on the values of anonymity in high-risk posting (Donath, 1999; van der Nagel, 2013; van der Nagel and Frith, 2015).…”

“…In 2013, Duggan and Smith found that 6% of online users are also Reddit users, with lower age users (18–29) prevailing, and science and technology as the most Reddit-ed topics (Wasike, 2011). Reddit provides a platform that transcends physical, spatial, and temporal boundaries and has been explored regarding crises such as the Boston Marathon bombing, crisis in Syria, and exchange of criminal evidence (Buozis, 2017; Mitchell and Lim, 2018; Suran and Kilgo, 2017). Aside from a forum for public discussion of news, Reddit studies have also involved stigmatic medical topics including addiction, mental health, patient-to-patient support, and regretful decision-making (Bers, 2009; Moore and Abetz, 2018; Sharma et al, 2017; Sowles et al, 2017; Qiu et al, 2011).…”