Online users of the community hub reddit were so excited about being given a forum to rant out racist diatribes that thousands of controversial comments caused the site to almost go kerplunk this week.
One user of the Ask reddit section of the popular website posed this question on Monday, September 26: “What extremely controversial thing(s) do you honestly believe, but don't talk about to avoid the arguments?” After the query was bombarded with 13,000 responses in five hours, the question was temporarily blocked from receiving new comments as a flood of traffic rendered the website almost unusable. Is the Internet the only place where true free speech is really obtainable in America or is online anonymity just an excuse for web surfers brimming with hate and rage to really let loose? Whichever side you side with, the bottom line is that, in America, people really like to voice their opinions. Really. By Tuesday afternoon, 14,186 responses were contributed to the thread.The original user that proposed the thread posted a few examples for users to take heed when responding. Redditor Ntang told the community that statements like “Troy Davis was probably guilty as sin,” “Western civilization is superior in many ways to most others” and “Affirmative action is white liberal guilt run amok, and as racial discrimination, should be plainly illegal” should serve as a framework of posts to come. What Ntang didn’t probably expect, however, was that thousands of responses would come in mere hours, exposing some of the true feelings of members of the online community. In response, some of the top-rated responses to the thread include such brilliant gems as “I really disagree with giving money to charities helping individuals in Africa,” “I don't think retarded people should be allowed to have kids” and “I think that your genetics affects your behavior, attitudes, intelligence and athletic ability, and that people from distinct gene pools often have similar behavioral characteristics that are influenced as much by genetics as by culture.”Adds that user, “That makes me a racist by definition.”Well, at least they are being self-aware. Reddit has long been a meeting place for online users to share their opinions, but given a forum encouraging deep down, feelings has caused some the site, ranked number 45 in traffic in America, to go a bit haywire. Earlier this month, redditors rejoiced as the community’s popular Jailbait forum, a place for images of underage girls, was reinstated. Now, at last, people can see scantily clad 14 year olds and hate on those different from you all at the same time.Some of the other popular posts within the last 24 hours include, “I believe in population control. Maximum child limits and, ideally, an application process for parenthood” and, of course, “half the black people in my area are lazy complainers.”