Don’t like Reddit’s r/atheism community? Just go to r/athiesm

They call r/athiesm atheism for bad spellers but it seems to be another atheist community. Sure, it’s much, much smaller but the conversation is typically more fulfilling. There’s also been the addition of r/GodlessWomen for women concerned about the sexism in other communities. Also, for skepticism, check out r/skeptic. Personally, I don’t think r/atheism (spelled correctly) is that bad. What I mean to say is that there is no more misogyny than you would find in any anonymous forum. I actually think the atheist subreddit has less misogyny than, say, r/funny or on another website full of less geeky people. The misogyny other places on the internet is much worse. That surely doesn’t excuse anything but it helps to keep a bit of perspective.

I run into more transphobia on Reddit more than anything. The homophobia is bad and the biphobia is worse but the transphobia and gender-queerphobia is atrocious. I’m just pointing out something I have noticed. This, in no way, makes it “OK” for any sort of hateful comment against anyone.

I have noticed some women, even *gasp* feminists, exhibit a lot of transphobia. When dealing with issues of men and women, it’s important to remember that gender, like sexuality, is on a scale. Not everyone will fit into a neat little box.

That aside, anonymous comments are everywhere. We all know YouTube is one of the worst. I don’t put up many videos but I never check the comments. It’s the lowest common denominator of people who don’t read their entertainment. Everyone goes to YouTube at some point but those who hang out there often are probably not the reading type.

In any case, people have expressed concerns with r/atheism, so other communities are now emerging. I’d also like to say that r/atheism is a default subreddit, therefore non-atheists see it all the time. It is worth mentioning that not everything on r/atheism is even by atheists. People get their rocks off by making us look bad. But, if you still don’t like it, there are many other places even within Reddit that may be more palatable to some.

EDIT [July 9, 2012] There’s also r/TrueAtheism for a similar experience to r/atheism with less junk.