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Comment by cookiecaper | Hacker News Reader

So is reddit intentionally trying to alienate potential older users? I see no reason to celebrate or mourn the success or failure of a given political issue site-wide like that. It just emphasizes the idea that reddit has a commonly-accepted set of political ideals and that if you don't agree, you shouldn't be there.

And redditors will definitely treat you that way. They usually don't care if your objection is well-reasoned or articulately expressed, they just instantly destroy anything vaguely pro-religion, pro-life, pro-traditional-marriage, etc.

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This is not a given. When I do post on that site I very often contradict the hive mind (even on religious subjects on occasion) and usually get (to my surprise) positive karma from it. I've never gotten worse than -10 ever.

The people who are celebrating it would say it's not a political issue, it's a human rights issue.

That's nice, but they know that idea is not commonly held. The only reason to make a logo for it is to intentionally scare off/irritate people who disagree, further contributing to reddit's homogeneity.

>That's nice, but they know that idea is not commonly held.

Only amongst those opposed to gay marriage. It is very much a human-rights issue for everyone I know, particularly those who are gay. As for the decisions reddit takes as a site (not the community), they are generally both popular with the community and the admins. Take, for example, the stance they took on running pro-prop 19 ads, or their decision not to run anti-gay marriage ads. The first was genuinely political, but it was also popular. The second was a matter of principle.

No it's not, why would they want to do that? The logo is to celebrate something they think ought to be celebrated. They're not afraid of having personalities and letting those show on the site. Given they're young, relatively liberal and techy, then they'll appear young, relatively liberal and techy. You also don't have to agree with them, as I'm sure they'd agree. It's a delicate line, having opinions and also moderating others opinions, but I think they're making a fair fist of it so far.

You reckon they are intentionally trying to create a homogenous atmosphere? How do subreddits fit into this? I don't think that makes real sense.

the illusion of freedom...

It will be, take another look at that graph over time. Miscegenation used to be a controversy, too.

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