3. Rhetoric of Network Communication, (Reddit’s /r/IAmA platform)

Concepts: (1) surveillance (marketing, corporate, …), (2) digital labor (crowdsourcing, customer feedback,  …)

Reddit is a platform that connects millions of users – one of the most successful “subreddits” (or communities) is /r/IAmA, a place where (typically) famous or successful folks show up for Reddit users to ask them questions. For readers, the content of the /r/IAmA thread might simply be entertaining or interesting. But on the opposite end, the AMA serves as a powerful tool for marketing, self-promotion, and gathering user feedback. Market researchers are able to directly interpret customer comments/feedback and promoters are able to pitch their product/generate interest. All of this occurs within the Reddit platform – and can genuinely be a good experience for all parties involved.

To connect this with the reading, (1) surveillance plays a huge role in the /r/IAmA platform. (Doyle & Fraser) ask, are these new forms of surveillance empowering individuals, or are users allowing surveillance to enter their personal space? One could argue in favor of empowerment by merely pointing out that these individuals would likely never have the opportunity to speak to a CEO of a big company – or a famous actor – or a revered politician. But in my opinion, the relationship between posting a comment and receiving a response from a public figure can typically be classified as a novelty experience. These Q&A session rarely yield any responses with lasting impact, and for the most part, controversial questions are simply ignored. And that brings us to the next point …

As /r/IAmA has grown and expanded, more and more high-profile individuals have ventured into the subreddit to host their very own AMA thread. As a platform, Reddit allows these individuals to tap into a trove of (2) digital labor. Users are actively engaging in these Q&A sessions, creating exposure for whatever brand or image is being promoted. When a CEO or spokesperson for a company is the subject, users provide valuable feedback and discuss their consumer experience.

Two years ago, Barack Obama appeared in /r/IAmA; the thread hosts over ten thousand comments, and caused server problems for the entire website from all the traffic. I created a discussion in /r/TheoryOfReddit about the implications of the AMA, and one user points out: “We’re not learning anything new here, and we’re not getting truly personal responses”. So why the AMA? Because generating interest and ‘engaging’ with communities is good political strategy. The very same can be said about why a company executive would do an AMA. To that extent, a lot of threads are nothing more than elaborate PR stunts. There are countless instances of backfired threads, where the marketing or corporate intentions are far-too obvious, or are performed in a dishonest fashion. Whether it’s a company creating shill accounts and answering their own questions, or Woody Harrelson shamelessly promoting Rampart.

/r/IAmA is a great place to visit for the sake of entertainment. But it’s important to keep in mind that there is no guarantee of integrity. Since difficult or controversial questions can be dodged, a lot of the content ends up feeling generic and fluffy. As a platform, it can provide interesting discourse and conversations can genuinely be useful for all parties involved… but that is not necessarily the case.