Snark subreddits are subreddits created to gossip about and express frustration toward, or "snark" on, public figures, largely female influencers such as YouTubers and TikTokers.[1][2][3] Members of snark subreddits are known as "snarkers".[4] Some snark subreddits, such as r/Blogsnark, r/NYCinfluencersnark and r/LAinfluencersnark, discuss influencers in general, while others focus on particular individuals or families. "Fundie" snark subreddits—such as r/DuggarsSnark, which discusses the Duggar family of the TLC show 19 Kids and Counting—include discussions on Christian fundamentalist influencers and often consist of ex-fundamentalists. Snark subreddits have been criticized, both by critics and by their targets, as a form of cyberbullying and as invasive of their subjects.
Subreddits
editThe subreddit r/Blogsnark was created in 2015 to discuss influencers and bloggers, with threads dedicated to subsections of influencers like family channels, food influencers, and podcasters. In March 2020, it rose 300 spots on the list of the subreddits with the most members; its membership more than doubled from 2020 to 2022, by which point it had more than 100,000 members.[5] Geoff Weiss of Business Insider described it as "arguably the most popular" snark subreddit in 2023.[4] r/NYCinfluencersnark focuses on discussions of New York City-based influencers and had over 95 thousand members by 2024, while r/LAinfluencersnark covers Los Angeles-based influencers.[2] r/munchsnark, a subreddit surrounding influencers that members accused of faking their illnesses, was banned for violating Reddit's rule against promoting hate.[6]
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r/SmolBeanSnark focuses on writer Caroline Calloway and provides updates on her life and career. They also, as of 2024[update], organize meetings and create crafts based on their dislike of Calloway.[7] r/HilariaBaldwin focuses on Hilaria Baldwin, the wife of actor Alec Baldwin, and promotes theories that Baldwin is lying about her life.[8] A snark subreddit for influencer Trisha Paytas, r/Trishyland, was created in October 2021, soon after her exit from her collaborative podcast with Ethan Klein, Frenemies. It had over 42,000 members by 2022, with its membership doubling after Paytas announced that she was pregnant.[9] After an article by Kat Tenbarge examining the subreddit's harassment of Paytas was published in 2022, Reddit banned r/Trishyland.[2] r/sevdaelasnark focuses on food TikToker Sevda Ela.[10]
r/MadiaSnark was a subreddit about Brianna Madia, a Moab, Utah-based vanlife influencer. In March 2023, Madia posted a video describing how she was doxxed by users from the subreddit and stated that the subreddit made her suicidal. She then released the names of 25 snarkers from the subreddit and revealed her discovery in October 2021 that her then-husband, Keith, had posted in r/MadiaSnark. It was later taken down by moderators of the subreddit.[4] Lifestyle influencer Lily Chapman posted a series of videos about her experiences with snark content about her in 2024, in which she stated that she had nine separate snark pages dedicated to her and that they prompted her to pursue legal action.[11] The subreddit r/snarkingonthesnarkers was created to critique other snark subreddits for bullying and harassment.[1]
r/DuggarsSnark and fundie snark
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r/DuggarsSnark is a subreddit surrounding the Duggar family, the stars of the TLC reality television series 19 Kids and Counting. Posts often revolve around the family's fundamentalist Baptist beliefs, their promotion of purity culture, and members' negative experiences growing up or interacting with Christian fundamentalism.[12] The subreddit became particularly active during a December 2021 trial against Josh Duggar, whom the subreddit nicknamed "the Pest", for possessing child pornography.[13] The subreddit grew from 8,000 members at the beginning of 2021 to 135,000 by December, while its posts shifted toward empathy for victims of child sexual abuse.[14] The subreddit also organized a fundraiser for the Children's Safety Center of Washington County.[6] By June 2023, the subreddit had over 174,000 members.[3] Its popularity also led to the proliferation of other snark subreddits for "fundie"—a pejorative for Christian fundamentalist—influencers. r/FundieSnarkUncensored was started in 2020. It had over 169,000 members and was in the top one percent of subreddits by membership by December 2023.[3] Its members, as of 2023[update], are largely female and queer.[15]
Response and criticism
editFor The Guardian, Katy Kelleher wrote that, despite occasional commentary on snark subreddits about "the expectations that are placed upon women living in 21st-century America", "snarkers" are typically "just mean".[7] Emily Courter of Business Insider wrote that users of r/Blogsnark sometimes expressed admiration for influencers, but that the subjects of its posts were "often heavily criticized and arguably even trolled, which leads to concerns that these spaces have gone too far".[5] Business Insider also faced online controversy in late 2023 for posting a story about the underwear brand Parade in a snark subreddit from their Reddit account. For The Washington Post, Taylor Lorenz described "the vast network of snark subreddits" as "a thorn in [Reddit's] side" in 2023 due to their being "tied to stalking, doxing, and mob behavior" and for "frequently devolv[ing] into networked harassment against women".[1]
For NBC News, Kat Tenbarge wrote that, even if snark subreddits about "entire genres of influencers" like family channels and beauty YouTubers tended to be "more nuanced, newsy and speculative", snark subreddits about specific people could "often turn hateful". She also described r/Trishyland as "a coordinated harassment campaign" due to its members' attempts to involve themselves in Paytas's personal life while she was pregnant. Molly McAleer, a cofounder of HelloGiggles stated that snark subreddits about female influencers were "less about accountability and more about bullying, often over their target's appearance".[9] Annie Rauwerda wrote for Input that, because "gossip triggers the brain’s reward circuitry", there could be "positive, pro-social outcomes of shared snark", but that it had the potential to "go too far". She particularly criticized aspects of r/DuggarsSnark as being "invasive and cruel" and likened them to cyberbullying.[6]
Feven Merid of the Columbia Journalism Review wrote that, though snark subreddits "are not well moderated", "often get details wrong", and have posts that "sometimes engage in body shaming and bullying", snark subreddits are "often the only places taking a close inspection of how the [influencer] industry and its most successful figures operate". She added that they contain "dozens of threads" about influencers' deceptive posts and practices, expose how influencers earn money, and "can inform readers about online trends that they may not have realized were likely paid influencer campaigns", which allows Redditors to play "a role that mainstream journalists so far haven't been able, or willing, to."[2] Sophie Hayssen of Mother Jones wrote that subreddits like r/FundieSnarkUncensored could "play a key role in helping [ex-fundamentalists] reexamine their past beliefs", but that they could sometimes "go too far, moving from critique to bullying".[15]
Outside of Reddit, forums such as Get Off My Internets and Tattle Life have also been described as snark communities.[16][10]
See also
editReferences
edit- ^ a b c Lorenz, Taylor (December 1, 2023). "News outlets turn to Reddit as Musk's X descends into chaos". The Washington Post. Retrieved May 9, 2024.
- ^ a b c d Merid, Feven (March 25, 2024). "The Reddit pages that investigate influencers". Columbia Journalism Review. Retrieved July 30, 2024.
- ^ a b c Mendez II, Moises (June 6, 2023). "How the New Duggar Family Docuseries Amplifies the World of Online Snark Communities". Time. Retrieved May 11, 2024.
- ^ a b c Weiss, Geoff (May 8, 2023). "A van-life influencer has released the real names of Reddit users that made her life a living hell. But her quest for vengeance has made her a target once again". Business Insider. Retrieved May 13, 2024.
- ^ a b Courter, Emily (April 30, 2022). "A Reddit forum dedicated to 'snarking' on influencers is home to over 100,000 members — some think the community has gone too far". Business Insider. Retrieved May 11, 2024.
- ^ a b c Rauwerda, Annie (December 14, 2021). "There's an entire Reddit community dedicated to hating on the Duggars". Input. Retrieved May 13, 2024.
- ^ a b Kelleher, Katy (March 9, 2020). "'It's so toxic': why we're addicted to mean online gossip about women". The Guardian. Retrieved May 9, 2024.
- ^ McNeal, Stephanie (April 8, 2022). "Why People Can't Stop Making Up Theories About Hilaria Baldwin". BuzzFeed News. Retrieved May 9, 2024.
- ^ a b Tenbarge, Kat (August 28, 2022). "A famous internet troll is facing frightening harassment near due date". NBC News. Retrieved May 11, 2024.
- ^ a b Rawlings, Amber (February 29, 2024). "I'm a lurker on Tattle Life: Unpicking my obsession with snark". Hunger. Retrieved July 30, 2024.
- ^ Sawyer, Charlie (June 4, 2024). "What is snarking? TikToker Lily Chapman reveals intense online harassment she's experienced on Reddit". Screenshot. Retrieved July 30, 2024.
- ^ Weekman, Kelsey (December 15, 2021). "Critics are using the Josh Duggar trial to help deconstruct harmful beliefs: 'Dripping with the effects of purity culture'". In the Know. Retrieved May 13, 2024.
- ^ Skinner, Paige (December 9, 2021). "How The Reddit Community That Makes Fun Of The Duggars Came Together During Josh Duggar's Child Sexual Abuse Imagery Trial". BuzzFeed News. Retrieved May 9, 2024.
- ^ Bolin, Alice (December 20, 2021). "How a Josh Duggar Subreddit Became a Forum for Sexual Trauma". Jezebel. Retrieved May 9, 2024.
- ^ a b Hayssen, Sophie (December 11, 2023). "How former fundamentalists are finding healing on Reddit". Mother Jones. Retrieved July 30, 2024.
- ^ Van Syckle, Katie (January 21, 2016). "'It put me on antidepressants': welcome to GOMI, the cruel site for female snark". The Guardian. Retrieved July 30, 2024.