The Cult of Reddit
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This is Sounds Like a Cult, a show about the modern day cults we all follow. I'm Issa Medina and I'm a comedian. Every week on our show, we discuss a different fanatical fringe group from the cultural zeitgeist, from diet culture to doomsday preppers, to try and answer the big question. This group sounds like a cult, but is it really?

This week, I'm so excited to bring on my very smart and funny friend, writer, content creator, Yale graduate, Lydia Keating, to chat about the cult of Reddit. But before we get into the episode, I just want to let everybody know this is my last solo episode on Sounds Like a Cult, and Amanda and I's last joint episode will be coming out December 12th.

But Sounds Like a Cult will go on, and I hope you all keep listening. I've loved being a part of this podcast from the beginning as a co-creator and host, but don't worry, I won't be too far away. I'm really excited to start a new project. I'm starting a new podcast with today's guest. You'll be hearing more about it soon, and I can't wait to show you what we have in store for you. But for now, here's my last solo episode with my friend Lydia Keating on the cult of Reddit.

There are so many different categories of cults that we've covered on this podcast, you know, doomsday cults, political cults, sex cults, religious cults. And I feel like Reddit is really where all of those things join forces in individual little threads, subreddits, big reddits, all the little Reddit threads that exist individually.

It's also often said that cults are founded on ill-informed and outlandish ideologies. And I think what is more loco than a bunch of people with no profile pictures getting online and upvoting each other's wild theories with very limited resources or no resources to back them up?

But it can also be a fun place to build community and laugh and honestly the original source for a lot of the most famous memes. I mean, it's known in the comedy space that a lot of comedy content is actually stolen off Reddit and repurposed on Twitter where people, instead of threads, can collect followers and monetize content. So is Reddit a cult? And if so, is it a live your life, a watch your back, or get the fuck out level cults?

Today, my very special guests and I are going to talk about it, the positives, the negatives, and the worst case scenarios, of course, with some cheeky personal stories where we almost fell into the cult Reddit rabbit hole ourselves and took advice from total strangers. So without further ado, here is the cult of Reddit.

Lydia, I'm so excited to have you on the podcast and for us to be podcasting together. I know. It's so exciting to be back on Sounds Like a Cult. I was here in the very beginning. You were. You were literally one of our first guests on the Cult of Marathon Running. But for those of you who haven't met you before, can you please introduce yourself and who you are to our listeners? Yes, I would love to. My name is Lydia Keating. I'm a

I'm a writer, I'm a content creator.

I'm a former comedian, although I might get back into it. And I'm a friend of Issa's and coincidentally just ran my seventh marathon. Not to brag. That's so braggy of me. No, I don't think so. I think it's actually something you should brag about there. Yeah. Well, okay. I didn't mean that in a braggy way. I just was like, Oh, the timing is so fun. Like here I am back. But yeah, you know, I, I'm trying to run 10 before I turned 30. And if I do that,

then it will be something worth bragging about. Yeah. Oh my gosh. That would be really cool. How many, what is like 26 times 10? That's so many miles. Uh, 260 plus all the training. Yeah. Oh,

Okay, I was thinking like 26 point whatever the decimal number. Oh, but I like... I think it would be 280. Not to try to be like a math whiz, but 0.2 times... Okay, with the decimal, you know the exact number too? Well, 0.2 times 10 is 2. Oh, no. Yeah, 0.2 times 10 is 2. Okay, no, no, no. So it'd be 280.

Okay. You don't have to flex. Yeah. Yeah. It's fine. In fact, I was trying to flex and now it's not a flex. Cause then you couldn't. Yeah. I couldn't quite make it to the finish line on that, on the math, but could on my seven marathons. Yeah. You, you could, you did it all the way through. I never thought I could do one, but I don't know. I ran a half marathon. I ran my third half marathon last year and it wasn't as bad as like the previous ones. Cause I just ran it at a really good pace. So I do feel like,

It's all about the pace. Yeah. Also, I don't know if I've ever told you this, but you strike me as such like an active person. Like you're you're full of vigor. And I feel like you're just like a doer. And you really do give like marathon like you could 100 percent do a marathon. If I were to think of people in my life like, oh, who could complete a marathon? You would 100 percent be someone like.

Thank you. Who would come to mind? I'm going to take that with me and carry it on. You should. To when I run one. But today we are here to talk about the cult of Reddit. It has been a highly recommended topic by listeners. And I also think it's pretty relevant to kind of the new podcast that we're starting in a way.

Which I'm so excited about. And we can't say too much, but we're pretty much going to have a podcast where you learn fun facts. We have a fun giggly banter. And you just tune in every week to learn something new and have a good time. And I feel like with the cult of Reddit, we can kind of do that.

Yeah, I think so too. I think this will be like a little teaser for what's to come with our podcast. And yeah, I'm so excited about it. I feel like I don't know how much we can or should say, but all you guys need to know is it's going to be a good time. It's going to be a good time. It's going to be positive vibes, good energy. You're going to want to tune in week after week. Yeah.

Yeah, yeah, yeah. You're going to want more and more and more and more. You're going to turn greedy. Yeah, you're going to be like, I want this on my commute every single day. And I don't know if we can give that to you, but we will. We can't. But we can do one a week. One time. One commute. Yeah, but today we are still going to do a classic Sounds Like a Cult structured episode. And we're going to talk about the cult of Reddit. And just kind of to get the conversation going, Lydia, do you use Reddit? Yeah.

I am a consumer of Reddit. I have never posted on Reddit. I actually like the last time I was regularly going on Reddit every day, I had a little bit of a scarring experience.

And I, yeah, and it was, it was during like a very dark period of my life and like Reddit, I feel like almost facilitated that darkness. And it's not probably what you're thinking, which is just like as someone who has like a public online personality, there are, I think I've seen like a couple of threads about myself, but none of them really have been that bad.

I just don't think I'm like big enough or like people care about me enough to shit on me, which I ever, that is a sign. Like if you have a big following, like if you have haters, that is a sign of success. So sometimes I'm like, thank you then. I am so successful. Yeah.

Yeah, you're killing it. No, but it's true. I'm literally killing it. It's true. It's like if you have people talking shit about you on an anonymous online forum, your career is taken off, okay? Yeah, that's funny. I mean, I'm the same as you. I personally have never used Reddit. Like I've never posted on it. But I have, you know, I've scrolled around as one does on the internet. And I really thought it was something that like people, like that like people got really high and like went on to like...

Kind of scroll on like late at night. You know, it was like a very collegey thing. Yeah. I associate with like 17 year old boy. Exactly. Yeah. And in fact, sometimes I feel like when I'm on, I feel like the fact that I discovered Reddit as like a woman in my late twenties, I, it makes me kind of feel cool. Like I'm like tapping into, I'm like, this is what the kids are doing. And this is like deep cut internet shit. And it makes, it makes me feel like I'm like almost alt-

to be on Reddit. Yeah. Yes. That's so true. I mean, Reddit is one of the few like social media platforms that still is kind of like janky looking, you know what I mean? Oh yeah. Yeah. And I think that's been so intentional. Uh,

that they've kept it they've kept it like early 2000s internet vibe exactly and that it that is when it was founded it was founded in 2005 by three uva alumni hello hello they were uva roommates alexis ohanian and steve huffman and then their third friend not a roommate sorry my guy uh didn't make the cut

Aaron Swartz, they founded it. And then it was acquired by Condé Nast Publications in 2006. And you'd think that...

it was like always super independent by the fact that they haven't like really developed it into like a prettier website. Yeah. But little by little, they have been raising tons and tons of money. In 2014, they raised $50 million of funding by Sam Altman, including investors such as Snoop Dogg and Jared Leto. And that put their company at a

a $500 million valuation at the time. And then in 2017, they raised another $200 million. So they got up to a $1.8 billion valuation. And then in 2019, they raised $300 million funding, which put them at a $3 billion valuation. Wow.

And then in August of 2021, they raised another $700 million, which put them at a $10 billion plus valuation. So it's not a small company by any stretch of the imagination. And then in December 2021, it IPO'd, which is actually one of my favorite terminologies.

Wait, only in 2021 did they IPO? Yeah. That's kind of shocking. I don't know. I just, I, when I think of Reddit, I think of it as a platform that's up there with Instagram, with Twitter, with TikTok. I mean, personally, as like a consumer of social media, I don't, it's so, I would consider, it is social media. Well, okay. There's two reasons I go on Reddit. And this was what I was alluding to earlier about like,

like the dark period of my life when I was really using Reddit. But were you like,

like privy to the Moscow murders that happened last winter around actually this time. I think it was like, no, right before Thanksgiving. It was these four students in at university of Idaho who got stabbed in there. Oh yes. You told me about that. And I was on, I saw a bit of it on social media. Yeah. Oh yeah. There were two actually Reddit threads that formed and I was like checking both every hour and it became, it was like,

quintessential internet sleuthing. And then like people who like suspects who were seen on certain video cameras, like where some of the victims were last seen became like doxed because people on Reddit figured out their identities, which is super harmful, especially when the individuals who are doxed ended up being completely innocent. And it was like a kid who had to like leave campus because these Reddit threads had like exposed him and,

But yeah, I became like all consumed. I never contributed. So I'll say that because I think there is some like ethical...

I don't know, stakes on the line when you're contributing to threads like that. But yeah. And I mean, I think that kind of paints the picture that it is this cult that you can observe from a distance, but it also is a cult that I feel like is as soon as you start participating outside of just like upvoting and downvoting. And as soon as you start commenting on the thread and like,

potentially adding to misinformation spreading, then you are very much a part of the cult. Yes. And you are not only contributing to its growth, but you are contributing to like the effects that it can have outside of the website and into real people's lives. Yeah. And there's like this idea of anonymity. I always mess up this word. Anonymity. Anonymity. Anonymity. When...

Look at me ESL And I know a word Yes Anonymity There Like I There's some Parts of Reddit Where like being anonymous Like makes a lot of sense Like the

ACOC, Adult Children of Alcoholics. There's Reddit threads there. And it makes sense that you maybe want this space and this forum to talk to other people who have had this shared childhood trauma. And you don't necessarily want your name attached to that account. I don't know. I think that's great that there's a space on the internet where people can find this community but not expose themselves and feel comfortable. But then I think of the threads...

like let's say influencer snark threads, which are now I think like a big thing. Like for me, I just think if you are an anonymous user contributing to threads like influencer snark threads, which if you don't know what that is, it's just people who are shitting on like,

content creators and influencers on these anonymous threads. Like I really do think it like has to beg the question that you as an individual have to ask yourself, like, why am I okay saying this on an anonymous forum? Yeah.

I don't know. Like, it's like, yeah. How does that not cross your mind when you're like commenting, like hate on, on these? It's like, it's, it's so weak to me. It's like, yeah, I feel like it allows people to like separate themselves from, um,

their like ethical persona because they have a whole, and that's very, that's the very culty thing about it is like when you talk to like people who have like survived cults or people who have escaped cults, they almost describe their experience as something that they were, they were an entirely different person and they didn't see themselves. They saw themselves in a different light. And I feel like that's the thing about,

creating an alternate persona online is that you are able to draw this invisible line of being like, that's me online, but I'm kind to people in my day-to-day life. And I also don't know what the consequences are of my online actions. So I can go to bed at night and sleep like a baby. Yeah.

Yeah, I mean, that's the whole... And there's already sort of this divider that people, I think, feel between reality and their behavior online just on normal social media that isn't anonymous. Like TikTok hate comments and Instagram hate comments and all that. But then there's this other buffer on Reddit that makes it even more insidious, I think. So we were just talking about how...

anonymity on Reddit is a bit more insidious than other social media platforms because everyone is anonymous and you can't really become an individual influencer on the platform. And I think that in that way, it's a very democratic platform, which makes it super decentralized because it's up to the people to like upvote the comments or download the comments. But

Who do you think is the ultimate cult leader in the cult of Reddit? Do you think it's like the founders? Do you think it's the tech investors, the people? Where do you think the biggest influence comes from? I kind of feel like because there is no algorithm like working to convince people of one thing or trying to drive people to care about

A certain topic. It feels like Reddit is a platform that is fueled a lot by confirmation bias and people have these existing feelings, have these existing beliefs and just want to hear someone like I have like research, some random ash, like put in some really random like,

search keywords and read it just to find one other person out there masturbate. So random, but just like find one person out there who's like shared an experience. And I can't even remember exactly what this is, but I just know I've like searched some like hyper, hyper specific thing. And it's just simply because you're looking for someone who's like, maybe also had this one very specific experience and,

And so in a way it feels like the cult leaders are like the individuals. Like you're literally just looking for people to confirm stuff. You already know, I think a lot. Yeah. It's almost like a mirror, a mirror like platform. Like you're looking for the cult leader and you're standing in front of the mirror. It's you, babe. Yeah. And you're like, this is so fun. Like, I can't believe I found these people who like,

completely align with like my past experiences and my beliefs about the world it's like you literally like looked for them and like you typed in the most specific search words to find these people this isn't random I'm trying

an example of like what to do if your boyfriend texts his sister that he's annoyed at you after you ate his leftovers like you know and I'm sure like that yeah exactly yeah that's really funny I definitely I can think of something I've typed about my relationship okay wait what have you I can't it's because it's mean

I'm sorry. I should have said that, but I just want to say that like in my like deep down, like when I was like down bad and things were not going well, I like literally wrote like such a specific, honestly, multi-sentence search about like. Wait, can I give one example that comes to mind, which you do not have to confirm or deny? Okay. Yeah. What is, why is my boyfriend like not staying hard on you?

That's definitely not it. No, that wasn't it. But like, yeah, like, boy, like here's, here's, here's an example. This is not mine, but like, this is a little play on what you just get gave. Yeah. Boyfriend can't stay hard during sex, but says I am the love of his life. Should we break up?

You know, and then you find people who've had this experience and you're like, wow. You will literally find like a subreddit word for word. It has like three comments underneath and you like take them as gospel. Yeah, yeah, yeah. You find like one other lonely person out there and you're like, oh, wow. This is a shared universal. I should stay in this relationship. Yeah.

That's so funny. But I think those are all really good points. I mean, it is really controlled by confirmation bias. I did look into this a little bit, but Reddit does have a little bit of an algorithm in that it will process the first few votes to weigh whether the content is hot or not. But then after that, it really is up to the people because unlike liking a video,

And versus not liking a video on Instagram, you can literally upvote it or downvote it. I think that's kind of what makes it to me a more green flag cult is that the comments are controlled. Like the popularity of the comments are controlled by the people. Yeah. Not the platform. Yeah. It's, it's not an algorithm. Like the people are the algorithm. Right. Um,

But again, to your point, like the negatives are the propensity to spread misinformation. Yeah. And hate. Yeah. Yeah. But like that could be that's true for so much social media now. Right. Like it's true for every platform. OK, so I want to know, what do you think are some of the cultiest groups on Reddit? Or have you ever come across one that you think was giving red flags? Honestly, like the the Moscow murder Reddit threads really, I felt were gave red flags.

because what it was, I think it was a lot of people who were really deeply disturbed by what had happened and they were vulnerable and they were scared. And these Reddit threads gave them some sense of comfort, control and community. All those three things at the same time. But that must be kind of similar to like the psychology of why people get into cults because they're scared, right? Yes, exactly.

Yeah, I think it's like there's a combination of people who seek community through like cult like groups are people who not only are scared and not.

always scared, but they're people who feel a little bit lost and who are seeking answers. And we always joke about this with like the, like live your life level cults, but it's almost like we live in a society where we have like decision overload, you know, like we have so many decisions to make on a day-to-day basis that, I mean, we've seen memes about it everywhere. You kind of want to be like, I'll join a cult just so I don't ever have to make a decision ever again.

Yeah. Yeah. You know, it's like, tell me what to do and tell me how to live my life. And so I think when it comes to murder and true crime, particularly the Moscow murders, people were scared and they were looking for answers and they wanted to have someone tell them either it was going to be okay or that there is a particular way to solve the issue or just like a next step, you know, like when you're,

When you're struggling with your life, you want a plan and you want a list of

what you want to do next. Yeah. And I, it's interesting that you say that because I think when that, when the Moscow murder threads were at their cultiest, it was when the police didn't have a suspect in custody for like two and a half, three weeks. And so I think that big unknown and that big question mark made the threads have this, um,

of like, well, we're solving it here then. And like the sense of like action taking that the police were obviously doing, but not, you know, talking about because they're literally doing a murder investigation. I think that's one of the cultiest red flags is when one of these people

cult-like groups creates some sort of like actionable stance outside of the group itself. It starts to affect everyday people in their everyday lives. And there were innocent people who were identified as potential suspects who then had to leave college because they were being harassed, right? Yeah. And the parents of the victims, there started to be some very harsh criticism of them and

And like, I don't know if that had actual tangible effects on these families, but it was a thing where like the, the impact of these threads started to expand beyond the people who are willingly participating. That reminds me of the Reddit forum for wall street bets and what happened with the game stock price as an example of Reddit threads and subreddits that, um,

have done that, like have kind of expanded outside of Reddit. Oh yeah. During the pandemic. For those of you who don't know, there was an army of traders on Reddit with a forum, which was like our slash Walt street bets that helped drive the meteoric rise in game stock price. And it forced halts in trading and caused a major headache for short sellers betting against it. And essentially the,

it created this whole story kind of of like the David and Goliath vibe of like the everyday people rallying together to fight against Wall Street. And I think that was like one of the most amazing shows of like public unity against a corporation. So I wanted to give this as an example of what good can come out of Reddit. Skims is crazy.

I am so excited to tell you about this iPhone game that I am newly absolutely obsessed with. It's called June's Journey. If you're a true crime fan, but you don't like anything too violent, I feel like this game is totally going to be up your alley. June's Journey is a hidden object mystery game that takes place in the 1920s, so the aesthetic is very colorful.

and vintagey. It centers on this protagonist named June who has to travel back to her family's luxurious island estate to solve the mystery of who murdered her sister. And you participate by finding hidden clues to help uncover the murder mystery. And I love that you also get to decorate the island estate as you go, which makes the game so fun and aesthetic and relaxing. I feel like I'm generally pretty bad at iPhone games.

but you truly cannot be bad at this one. I like to play it when I want to be on my phone, but I don't want to be on social media. I just want to relax and find something fun and distracting. It's great for that. Can you crack the case? Download June's Journey for free today on iOS and Android.

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after you place your order be sure to let them know we sent you select podcast in the survey and be sure to select our show in the drop down menu that follows i think one of the main sources of good that comes out of reddit is like something we've already touched on is like giving people who maybe are a little community-less the sense of community like even i don't know there's what's the the i think the biggest reddit thread is literally called ask reddit

Do you know this one where it's like, it poses a question, like what's the most embarrassing thing that's ever happened to you? And I don't know. Sometimes the questions don't hit, but sometimes the questions like pop off and like the Reddit thread goes viral and gets like thousands and thousands of responses. Yeah. All that is, is like people sharing stories and fostering like this kind of strange sense of connection. And, um,

with other humans and what I love about it and what I find so strikingly different around between that and like kind of the, the connection that forms on other social media platforms, namely Instagram and Tik TOK, which is like the parasocial one that exists between like content creator and consumer of content is like Reddit is literally a place where people like an egalitarian platform where people are sharing their, their stories with each other.

And there, there isn't, it isn't like centered around one person, one creator, one influencer. And I think there's just like, it's kind of giving campfire. It's giving everyone sitting around in a circle, holding hands, talking about sometimes their darkest secrets and,

And there's, I think that is like, there's inherent goodness in that. Yes. And that also makes me think of the fact, like the way that you described the community, it's like, everyone's telling stories around a campfire. It also makes me think of like the,

The fact that people bring stories from other platforms, they bring stories from Twitter, they bring stories from TikTok, they bring stories from Instagram. And there isn't this, there is not like an us versus them mentality on Reddit against other social media platforms. It's not like people like wear Reddit like with the same pride

of like Reels versus TikTok, you know? - Yeah. - Like there is like a culture around comparing Instagram to TikTok and being like, oh, this one's better, this one's for Gen Z, this one's for millennial, we're Reddit.

it's all generations and all people jumping into the campfire to tell their stories, whether they be true or false. True. And I remember this is, I have two things today. One of them is that I remember I had like a very impactful experience on Reddit that actually kind of did change my life, not to be dramatic, but, um,

It was an ask Reddit thread. And the question was, what was the best piece of... Or it was either like, what was the best piece of advice someone's ever given to you? Or what is the best piece of advice you would give to your 20-year-old self? And someone's advice, and I'm paraphrasing here, was...

It's never too late. You're never too far in a relationship to break up. You're never too far down the line in a career to switch career paths. If there was other examples, but like you can always like you can still change your mind because it's

Let's be honest. I think like once you start getting married and having kids, like, yeah, you can change your mind, but it's going to be tough. Yeah. You know, and getting a divorce with children. I cannot imagine. No. Yeah. And, but I think like people, I mean, I know friends who like, you know, they've, they've been in the same relationship for their entire twenties. Maybe they met their partner in their, in college. And,

And they definitely have, maybe they're not like totally happy. And there's like a version of them out there that could be happier, but they have this sunk cost mentality where they're like, Oh, I've, it's been nine years. So might as well make it a 10th and then might as well get married. And I think that whether that be a relationship or whether that be a career, it's like totally a thing where like, even when we're so, so young, like, you

In your 20s, you're so young. In your 30s, you're still so young. But you still are like, well, I'm old now because I'm not 12 years old. Suddenly, I'm old. Anyway, this is a tangent. But basically, I saw this piece of advice. And it's like something you know. But then when you see it written down, you're like, whoa, that's really real. And I was at this kind of like...

you know, very much like a pivot point in my life. I had to like really do some navel gazing about what I was leaving behind and whether I actually wanted to return to exactly that. And I kept thinking about that. And then I ultimately did decide to make some pretty major changes and

to my life. And that was a good thing that came from like, that is like incredible that I read something from a stranger and it's like, wow, radically changed my life. Yeah. I like that you mentioned that you read it and it was like literally not, not that you literally read it. I read it. You read it on Reddit and it's giving Bible. It's giving kind of like, you kind of have to see the words written on paper to believe them. Yeah. You know, yeah.

Yeah. You need the ink to be painted onto your heartstrings. Yeah. And, and that's so important. I do think that's like almost like a spiritual thing about Reddit in a non, in a non red flag way, in a way that you can read something and then you can process it throughout time and then come back to that thought later. And then to your point of like, it's never too late.

to break up with someone or there are people who kind of just stay in relationships for a long time because it's easier. That's why I've never dated anyone. That's why I'm going to die alone. That's, that's actually why I'm single because I don't, I don't want to get caught. Yeah, for sure. It's real. That's a real fear though. That's my commitment. Yeah. I do want to say though that there is, um,

like again, like championing Reddit here, there is like that, that piece of advice. It's never too late. Kind of a, like we've heard it before. Like it's not like the most like unique, original, profound piece of advice. But like I said, it did have a profound effect on me. And I think one of the reasons for its profundity, profundity, profundity, profundity. Is that a real word? Yes. I don't know if I pronounced it correctly, but yes. Oh, profundity. Profundity. Yeah.

It doesn't have an S in it, does it? No, no, no, no. It is profundity. Okay. Is because I think there's something really powerful, like what you were talking about earlier about like Reddit enabling subreddits. So like there was all sorts of pieces of advice given on this one AskReddit thread, which was what's the best piece of advice you'd give to your 20-year-old self.

But then the one that really impacted me had a whole chain of like people commenting under that, either sharing anecdotes of like how they did make these radical changes in their like twenties and they were so grateful for it. Or people who were like, I wish I had heeded this advice when I was that, that age because it really bit me in the butt, you know? And that's, that is such a different experience for,

as like a reader than for example, reading, reading that advice from like someone's like self-help book, which might be like a super smart, wise self-help book. But like,

I don't know when you're reading about real people's experiences who are not, they're also, no one's profiting off of sharing this advice. Yeah. Like people are saying this because they feel so compelled to share it that like they really think it matters. Yeah. And like, whereas like an author, like a psychologist author who's like giving you advice, it's like, okay, you wrote a book and it has great advice, but you're also making money from me like buying it and reading it. I don't know. There's some sort of like falsehood. There's more, I feel like biased or like personal interest involved. Yeah.

in like the consumerist culture of giving advice on platforms outside of Reddit. Yes. Yeah.

So I think Reddit is very unique and special in that way where it's like people are speaking up just for this because they believe what they have to say is like important, not because they're clout chasing, not because they're making money from it, just because they're like, I want other people to, to know this. Yeah. And I don't want to harp too much on the point of like literally reading, but you mentioned it again and how like it's up to you to interpret those words more

like in a non-biased way and I think that you're able to do that more when you read something when it doesn't have a face to it you know like if of course there are people on TikTok or Instagram or even Twitter who are giving advice and who are telling stories with advice attached to it but let's see I see a video of a girl telling me like oh I wish I would have done this in my 20s

I'm a human. And so I'm going to watch that video and I'm going to judge it based off of her looks, her voice, her tone, her delivery. And that's going to like alter my perception of the advice given. And so I do think that that's like a really precious thing about Reddit that like it's up to interpretation. Right. The kind of like, again, Bible constitution vibes, you know? Yeah. Yeah. It's giving up to interpretation.

Yeah, like you receive, how you internalize things from Reddit is like much purer than how you would receive like maybe the same piece of advice on Instagram. The other thing that I was going to say is I know I was like poo-pooing the like, or the snark, influencer snark pages on Reddit, but this is really for me to show. If anyone's a snarker, I'm about to show you how enlightened I am.

If you're on these Instagram snark pages, honestly, I think there's value in those too. Even though it's people just spreading hate and vitriol against strangers that they don't know. It's offering who

the users, you know, the snarkers on those Reddits, some sense of community, which clearly they desperately need. They desperately need some sense of people who are like-minded and whether that thing that's bonding them is hate or not. I don't know. Maybe that's not important. If it's giving people comfort, I don't know, this is like a little bit of a utilitarian perspective of...

For them, as long as like the people who they're snarking never read it, like if it's giving you some sense of comfort and being okay, then that's creating utils. And that's good. You know, whatever. Yeah, and it also gives people a voice because I mean like even... It's kind of like a dumb example, but it's kind of like I do watch like Bachelor in Paradise and sometimes when I watch it alone, I'll go on Twitter to like tweet my thoughts because...

I want, I want to have a voice. I have an opinion. I'm watching something and I'm having like an immediate reaction and I, and I want to put it out there. And so you're right. Even the threads that aren't necessarily like net positive have some sort of like community element to them. Yeah. Yeah. And I'm like all about community. So however you can find it.

I will say though, to push back on that a little bit, I'm going to push is that when people, when people stop prioritizing having community outside of the internet, like making real life friends that you can have real life discussions with about your thoughts and about,

or social media or influencers or the news, that is when it can be a little concerning because then they're only talking to people online. And the same way that it's great that texts and written words are up to interpretation, it can also be a bad thing because someone might be writing a response that they think is like neutral and then you might read it as an attack.

Totally. Yeah. I feel like conversations online or take either the form of like you exist in a bubble and you're just being people are just agreeing with you or you're in like a vicious fight with someone. And that is not like.

That's not what debates and disagreements and conversations in real life are like. And so if you're only having those sort of like disagreements or discussions online, then you're really losing touch with reality.

Yeah. And it reminds me a little, like, obviously it's very different, but this conversation reminds me a little bit of like the cult of Peloton in that there is this online community and you can like high five people and like, you can avoid going to a gym for the rest of your life and making friends. But yeah,

that's fine. It's all fine and dandy if you are online a lot. I just think like, again, it's just important to keep yourself in check and make sure like, oh, I still have friends IRL. Okay. This is like fascinating because I also think the opposite of someone who's like a Luddite who rejects all social media and kind of like shits on social media and shits on any of the, all of these platforms. Like

Sometimes I think that like, I feel like those people are like revered as these like super socially healthy people who have like, we're completely tapped out of this, like the digital landscape. And part of me is like, I don't think that's healthy either because social media is whether we like it or not, part of the fabric of our society. And these like online discussions, online debates, like it's, it's literally like to be like,

almost like culturally literate. You have to have like some knowledge of what's going on over here. What's maybe not necessarily what's going on on Reddit. I'm walking here. Yeah.

But like you, you, you like, I don't know when someone's like, oh, I don't, I don't, I don't use Instagram. Like I've never ever seen Instagram. I never have seen TikTok. I'm like, grow up. Yeah. It's like, okay, well then you like don't really know what's going on because like. And that's why they are happy because ignorance is bliss, but also ignorance is ignorance, babe. Yeah. You're ignorant. Yeah. Yeah. And you stay ignorant. So yeah, I think there are positives of online dating.

but there are also negatives of online community. So we've talked about like all these scenarios and I want to bring up a worst case scenario where a Reddit discussion and a Reddit thread kind of manifested itself in real life outside of Reddit. So I wanted to talk about the January 6th

insurrection because that was actually an idea that was partially planned on Reddit. According to a Washington Post article written by Craig Timbers and Tom Hamburg, Trump and his supporters used social media sites to spread falsehoods about the validity of Joe Biden's victory over Trump and

in 2020. And many posts in those threads called for extraordinary action, including violence, and in some cases to prevent Biden from ascending to the White House. And on January 6th, Congress was meeting to certify the election results. And as you probably know, hundreds of Trump supporters bashed their way physically, aggressively, and violently into the

Congress the building as a part of clashes that left five people dead. And it is wild that that really happened. But Congress has been trying to hold social media companies accountable and no social media company has provided full accounts of its role in spreading these falsehoods. But because they haven't really

been open to helping Congress solve where these riots came from. The January 6th committee subpoenaed tech giants, including Reddit, Twitter, and Facebook to hand over information that could help them in their investigations. So that's kind of a worst case scenario situation. Right. Five people dead.

Literal coup. What the fuck? Yeah, that's like as pretty much as bad as it gets. Do you think that Reddit was a leader in this? Do you think it was kind of played a cult leader role? Or do you think that this could have happened with or without Reddit? I don't think it could have happened at the scale of...

And therefore, like, what actually happened. Like, the reason why so much violence occurred and why five people died was because... Like, it was, like, the amount of people that came to the January 6th insurrection. Like, it was enough people that could, like, storm the Capitol and actually enter the building. But, you know, I think everyone who found these Reddit threads, they had these beliefs prior. You know, I think they... I would...

wager that they sought out the community that aligned with beliefs that they already had. Yeah. You know, I don't think Reddit was the reason they believed that Biden's

presidency was fraudulent. Yeah. It's almost like they were already, and we see this a lot with cults. It's like people who are susceptible to one cult are susceptible to other cults. Right. But it's like they were already in the cult of Donald Trump. Yeah. So what was them, what was to prevent them from joining another like sub cultural cult of that? It was just like the next level of ascendance for their Trump cult. Right. Right. Right.

Okay, I do have one more question for you before we wrap up. And that is, do you think the cult of Reddit is a live your life, a watch your back, or a get the fuck out level cult? Probably watch your back. Like if you find yourself returning daily to a Reddit thread, I think you should ponder that and figure out like what it is you're actually seeking. Um...

And get a life. No, I'm just kidding. And fucking stop being a loser. Yeah. Just kidding. Just kidding. No, but like, yeah, I don't know. Just like, you gotta think about why you're going there and why you're, you're, you're snarking and like what, why, why you're doing that. And I think that could be true for so many different Reddit threads, but like, yeah,

just think about it. Just give it a good, give it a good navel gaze. Talk to your therapist about it. Talk to a friend. Literally. I think if you're not, I don't know, maybe this is a reach, but like, I feel like if you are not comfortable having like the things you're looking for, the conversations that you're looking for on Reddit, if you're, if there's no one in your real life,

that you're not comfortable having that conversation with, if there's not one person in your real life that you would be comfortable having that exact conversation with and saying that exact thing with, I think that's an issue. I don't know. Do you think? I mean like there, I would agree. Yeah. Like, like, yeah, if there's just, if you, if this is the only place you feel like seen on this specific subject matter, I think then there's something maybe wrong in,

Yeah. And I actually think that there's made something wrong in like not an insulting way. Like we're not saying like you're a bad person. We're just saying like maybe see what steps you can take outside of the internet to find that community in person because it is so important as a human being to have that. Right. Right. And if you find like like an example I can think of that makes me feel like really bad for people is like LGBTQ youth, you know, right? Like they

they who don't feel comfortable coming out to their family and who don't feel like they can talk to anyone in their lives about it seek this community online and I think that's a perfect and valid community and stepping stone to have those conversations but

You can't live the rest of your life not having anyone in person who you can confide in. Totally. And so, you know, safely and cautiously, however it works for you, take those steps to find that community in person, whether that's like an after school club or whether that is like reaching out to someone in a safe way to see like, oh, maybe it's another kid in my school feels this way or another person at my job feels this way, you know?

Yeah, this like is a little bit of a reach, but my coach in college used to say, and I think this is maybe like a Buddhist saying, but true happiness is when what you think, what you say and what you do are all in alignment. And I think about that often. And with like Reddit, like this example you're using about like LGBTQ youth, like

Like, that is maybe the... If they're, you know, about, you know, on the... Thinking about coming out, what they're thinking and what they're saying on the internet may be, like, aligned, but what they're doing is not quite there yet. And that's okay because it's, like, a long journey and it's, like, you have to be gentle with yourself, but, like...

Yeah. Like, I guess like you maybe would, I don't know if this is like, maybe I'm going to get canceled for this, but like you haven't achieved full happiness yet because if, if in your real life, what you're doing isn't aligned with those two things, then like,

You're not quite there. Yeah. And I feel like you probably mean like it's not that you're you're not incapable of happiness, but you will be a lot happier. Totally. Once you are true to yourself and it's OK that it takes time. But I urge everyone to like take steps towards that. Yes, totally. Yeah. Well, you heard it here first, folks. Reddit is a hard, hard watch your back. Yeah, you agree. Yeah.

Yeah, 100%. I think it's very good for community. I think it's very good for just fostering discussion, allowing people to express their opinions. But I think like a lot of internet culture, it's really important to not let yourself get sucked up into it too long and too hard. And I feel like this conversation was...

Really like reflective of like a lot of the things that we're going to talk about on our new podcast. Yeah, I know. And I'm so excited. Yeah, I am too. Is there anything you want to like tell the listeners about the new podcast or about yourself personally?

Um, sign off. Like where can our listeners like find and follow your cult? Yeah. Well, people who listen to sounds like a cult. My name is Lydia. I'm a content creator on mostly Tik TOK and Instagram. My content like has taken so many different iterations, but I would say mainly I'm a kind of like recreational running content creator. And that's what a lot of people know me for. Um, also do a little bit of food content, but, um,

Yeah, I just moved to New York and I'm just out here. Yeah.

I'm moving to New York. And I know Issa through, I used to stand up in the early, early days when I used to live in LA. And yeah, so I guess sometimes I'm like still a little bit funny on the internet, but not in a formal way. I think you're hilarious and so smart. And I think Lydia is like a very humble person. She literally, I just have to say it. She went to Yale. I'll say it. Oh, that's kind.

She went to Yale. She rode in college athletic and she also got her MFA in writing. So we have a smarty pants on our hands. And I'm just so excited to start this new podcast where we can banter and be funny and also informational and do it week after week. Yeah. Yeah. I always say that.

I feel like I, there's like, there's obviously many brands of humor, but I think there's like two big categories and one is cynical humor and the other is earnest humor. And I feel I'm like often like, like compelled by cynical humor. Like when a man is like cynical and funny, like I like fall in love. But ultimately I think that,

humor, it reaches a dead end after a little bit. There's like only so many times you can like make fun of like our, of someone before it gets kind of, I have a point here that I'm going to make, by the way. Yeah. Like there's only, yeah, there is a point that I'm about to make. Anyway, I feel like both of us, um,

Like, I just feel like we are both very earnest, but then also, and this is me like kind of pumping my own tire here, but I'm like mainly trying to give you a compliment, but like also very funny. And that ultimately I feel, feel like comedy. The point of it is like to get at a deep truth.

And when you're earnest and you can still be funny and you can still laugh like that is like the language that needs to be used to get it like true, like the truest of truths. And this is the thing, guys, for those of you listening, that's what we're going to be doing on our new podcast. We're going to be earnest. We're going to be funny and we're going to be exposing the truths of this world. Yes. Yes, we are.

And I'm so excited to do that with you in New York. We're also going to have so many truths to tell. We will. Yeah. And we'll, we'll, Oh, sorry. Go on. No, you go on. Well, just that the whole podcast is just us being like, no, you go, you go. Nope. No, God. Just that. I think like, we're going to also be getting to these truths with, with fun guests as well. Yes. With fun guests who are going to be,

and they're going to be comedians and they're just going to be people with experiences on the different topics that we're going to cover every week. Yes, it's going to be great. Well, that's our show. Thanks so much for listening. We'll be back with a new episode next week. But in the meantime, stay culty, but not too culty.

Sounds Like a Cult was created, hosted, and produced by Issa Medina and Amanda Montell. This episode was edited, hosted, and produced by Issa Medina. Our theme music is by Casey Kolb, and I'm on Instagram at Issa Medina, I-S-A-A-M-E-D-I-N-A-A, or you can find me on my website, issacomedy.com, I-S-A-C-O-M-E-D-I-D-I-N-A-A, or you can tell me where to perform stand-up or find information on my new podcast that I'm launching in 2024.

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