Reddit and What I Found There

            I have never used Reddit before so this was a little bit of a challenge, but a definite eye-opener. I love how it is an open forum where articles with high activity can be bumped to the top for easy access. I also love how it covers basically any topic imaginable and anyone can speak their mind. Links to the different articles are embedded in the responses.

Edublogs. "How To Use Reddit" 6/30/2014 via Youtube.
Creative Commons Attribution License.

1. What kinds of things do people in the Reddit forums seem to be arguing about, debating, disagreeing about or otherwise engaging in meaningful exchanges of ideas about? Give us a descriptive and clear sense of the kinds of stories you're seeing in the Reddit forums.

            Since I am a Pre-Business student (looking at a Business Management degree) and going for a Pre-Health Minor, I checked the r/business forum as well as the r/premed forum. The business forum seems to be all over the place, with no usual trend on topics. It ranges from Google testing its 5G internet drone to Amazon's shipping getting slower for non-prime members. This thread tends to cover obscure stories you may not encounter in bigger magazines. The premed forum "trend" was no surprise to me; everyone on their is asking for help on how to increase their chances of getting into med school or how to score better on the MCAT. You can tell how on-edge all of these students on their are, just by their #1 thread "Monthly What are my Chances? Thread."


2. In your opinion, what are the two most interesting debates/disagreements you found in the Reddit forums? Hyperlink us to the two different Reddit threads and explain why you found those debates interesting. 

            In the r/business forum I found this feed about a new startup called The Zebra which is like the Kayak of Auto insurance. A lot of redditers seemed to be bashing on this service because the idea isn't novel or genuine, but I happen to think it's genius. It compares the auto insurance quotes for most insurance companies. Sure, it is a little flawed, it is just a startup, but it just received 17 million dollars in funding to perfect its services. The current state of this company seems a little rough, but I think once it starts to perfect itself, consumers will be more please. People seem to think it will be helpful when it works out its kinks. However, for now it is receiving heavy criticism for having a shitty website and not being a "new" idea.

            Looking through the r/ premed forum, I came across this one post that I feel like I'll be able to relate to in a few years. This one user has over 100 hours of volunteer hours in the ER, over 1000 clinical hours, a 3.8 GPA, but her MCAT score is a little low and they are worried about not getting in anywhere. Other redditers seem to be very supportive, but at the same time, realistic. Some say that they should be doing better because of all her experience, while others are telling them to study more and try retaking it. However, another group say they shouldn't take it anymore because it will be the 3rd time. Those commenting on the feed are giving the publisher many options of what to d next, and it's nice because this is all information coming from people in the same boat. This publishers post brings one of my biggest fears to the surface.


3. Overall, what impression do you get of your discipline based on what you saw happening in the Reddit forums? Were the people in those forums talking in ways you expected or did not expect, about things you anticipated they'd be talking about or things you had no idea they'd be discussing? Explain in concise specific detail.

            The r/premed forum was what I expected for the most part. It seemed to be a bunch of stressed out pre-med students trying to get answers to any and all of their questions that don't let them sleep at night. I have a pretty good feeling that I will be on reddit in the upcoming years frantically seeking for some help. Everyone was supportive but realistic which is just what I would like in someone who is responding to my questions.

            The r/business forum was a little hard for me to grasp. The topics were all over the place and it was a little hard for me to find a topic that I could connect to. Seeing as though there are a lot of types of businesses out there and people will tag "business" to anything, there were thousands of feeds available to read from. the type of audience one received is really dependent on the topic at hand. Sometime you will get a well-educated answers, and other times it's just some kid trolling. The Zebra article seemed to have an audience that was well-informed on the topic of "price comparisons."